A Close-Up Look at My Dry Brush Technique

Dry brush is a technique where you paint with less moisture on the brush so that the brush strokes have a more rough textures, sometimes leaving a kind of tread mark from the bristols. It's a technique I've developed over time, inspired in part by artists like Robert Fawcett and Noel Sickles.  Here's a close-up look of a piece in progress so you can get a better sense of what I do:

Another inspiration is Rembrandt, who had a way of getting just the right character of expression with just the right mark. Here you can see I incorporate a variety of marks in a very intuitive way. Often I have to start again when it's not quite working out. I can never control the brush completely, and there's always surprises and accidents that enrich the image, and in the best case scenario I can make less marks do more work. This one will eventually be in full color, so come back soon and see how it all worked out!