Banana sketch

10/12: Banana sketch, oil on canvas panel, 3x5 in.

I attempted here to use a bigger brush than usual and suppress my urge to break up the broad marks. I really like the green in the back - I'm still amazed by that discovery.

When I was laying down the ground on some of these recent panels I took the time to smooth the surface with the edge of my long palette knife, getting the little holes in the canvas filled more. It makes a huge difference, needless to say, in the movement of paint across the surface. This is something I should have been doing all the time, properly at the white priming stage, but I haven't always been oil-priming these panels either. I need to get a proper priming knife (or cake frosting spatula) and a bucket of oil ground, and become a real painter one of these days.