A day off the perch today to give this bass and herring piece it's penultimate glaze. Glazing is a very old oil painting technique that's been around almost as long as the medium itself - the oil paint is mixed with a transparent glaze medium which is then applied over the existing layer of paint. It can be used to darken, lighten and/ or change the colour of a painting, either with subtlety or in a more dramatic fashion. Here the aim is to darken the water slightly and soften the contrast betwe
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A day off the perch today to give this bass and herring piece it's penultimate glaze. Glazing is a very old oil painting technique that's been around almost as long as the medium itself - the oil paint is mixed with a transparent glaze medium which is then applied over the existing layer of paint. It can be used to darken, lighten and/ or change the colour of a painting, either with subtlety or in a more dramatic fashion. Here the aim is to darken the water slightly and soften the contrast betwe
117.3K viewsJan 25, 2023
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The first layer is now complete on the new large perch painting, with all the fish and habitat roughly established. I'm very excited about the light on this one as it goes from strong sunlight to deep shadow, which hopefully will give the piece atmosphere. I'm trying, as ever, to do justice to the character of these beautiful creatures - to capture their " perchiness ", which I have a strong idea of in my mind's eye from 45 years of loving the species.... | David Miller Art
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The first layer is now complete on the new large perch painting, with all the fish and habitat roughly established. I'm very excited about the light on this one as it goes from strong sunlight to deep shadow, which hopefully will give the piece atmosphere. I'm trying, as ever, to do justice to the character of these beautiful creatures - to capture their " perchiness ", which I have a strong idea of in my mind's eye from 45 years of loving the species.... | David Miller Art
6.3K viewsApr 4, 2023
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Still working, slow and steady, on this large perch and pike original. As always my hope is that the painting will rely mostly on the composition and quality of light for its impact, but the detail is important to me too. Part of the joy in how I see the world is the detail in any aspect of nature, and I love paintings which reward close scrutiny. I've added scales to this perch today, and here am just putting an accent of pale violet on the edge of the upper scales, which often occurs where a f
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Still working, slow and steady, on this large perch and pike original. As always my hope is that the painting will rely mostly on the composition and quality of light for its impact, but the detail is important to me too. Part of the joy in how I see the world is the detail in any aspect of nature, and I love paintings which reward close scrutiny. I've added scales to this perch today, and here am just putting an accent of pale violet on the edge of the upper scales, which often occurs where a f
59.7K viewsFeb 6, 2024
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Spent the day developing the head on the largest of the perch in this latest painting, trying hard to capture something of that Buccaneer character that they have. I'm searching for something that exists very strongly in my mind's eye alongside looking very carefully at underwater photographs of one particular individual fish. The " perchiness " that I'm searching for goes right back to 2 huge perch ( for me then !), caught from Greenfield canal, Saddleworth. This was over 40 years ago, and I ca
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Spent the day developing the head on the largest of the perch in this latest painting, trying hard to capture something of that Buccaneer character that they have. I'm searching for something that exists very strongly in my mind's eye alongside looking very carefully at underwater photographs of one particular individual fish. The " perchiness " that I'm searching for goes right back to 2 huge perch ( for me then !), caught from Greenfield canal, Saddleworth. This was over 40 years ago, and I ca
7.9K viewsApr 13, 2023
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Almost ready for the next stage with this large perch original, which is to start adding transparent glazes. These are very useful for subtle changes in tone and colour, for bringing elements together, and augmenting the atmosphere that you often get with a sunlit underwater scene. | David Miller Art
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Almost ready for the next stage with this large perch original, which is to start adding transparent glazes. These are very useful for subtle changes in tone and colour, for bringing elements together, and augmenting the atmosphere that you often get with a sunlit underwater scene. | David Miller Art
100.6K viewsMar 16, 2023
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In between working on the smaller studies I've been making subtle adjustments to this pike and perch painting, adding coloured glazes to augment the atmosphere, and today adding a few roach fry. The overall effect after the 4 glazes so far is to have flattened everything slightly, but after the final glaze a few judicious highlights will be added on the foreground lilies, the pike and the perch. I love adding little extras like the roach fry as it's part of the picture telling a story, and there
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In between working on the smaller studies I've been making subtle adjustments to this pike and perch painting, adding coloured glazes to augment the atmosphere, and today adding a few roach fry. The overall effect after the 4 glazes so far is to have flattened everything slightly, but after the final glaze a few judicious highlights will be added on the foreground lilies, the pike and the perch. I love adding little extras like the roach fry as it's part of the picture telling a story, and there
42.5K viewsMar 14, 2024
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Probably one more day before the excitement ( and mild terror!), of adding glazes... All Nature faithfully" - But by what feint Can Nature be subdued to art's constraint? Her smallest fragment is still infinite! And so he paints but what he likes in it. What does he like? He likes, what he can paint!” ― Friedrich Nietzsche | David Miller Art
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Probably one more day before the excitement ( and mild terror!), of adding glazes... All Nature faithfully" - But by what feint Can Nature be subdued to art's constraint? Her smallest fragment is still infinite! And so he paints but what he likes in it. What does he like? He likes, what he can paint!” ― Friedrich Nietzsche | David Miller Art
15K viewsMar 23, 2023
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A productive morning in the studio, starting and completing this oil study. As I say in the video this is a return to a much looser style that I used a lot many years ago - trying to leave more evidence of the brush work, and working with a more fully loaded brush. I like the style that's developed over recent years, which when reproduced on a small screen especially people often describe as " photographic", but a change is as good as a rest and I love lots of artists work who leave more obvious
12K viewsSep 21, 2023
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I was only going to do an hour this morning but couldn't resist establishing the darker tones that will help to establish the atmosphere in the painting. The quality of light in some of my main reference photos is truly exquisite, and I'm going to try very hard to recreate some aspects of that in the painting. There are dozens of habitat shots informing the work, which means making lots of decisions about tone, colour and the detail of the lily stems - none of which is an exact science, so there
8.9K viewsApr 7, 2023
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Another shark day in the studio today, picking up on another one of the three shark studies started about 2 years ago. Before beginning work the canvas was brushed with a mixture of Linseed Stand Oil and Sansodor, which gives a beautiful feel to the oils as you apply them. Will be doing a few new shark studies soon with a view to developing one of them on a larger scale, at least if I can find a composition/ atmosphere that seems just right... | David Miller Art
4.7K viewsSep 15, 2023
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In between commissions there's been some more progress on the large perch oil. This is hopefully a painting about composition, light and atmosphere, but the details are still important to me, so each fin will be carefully painted with the correct number of fin rays, and when the perch underpainting is complete each will have scales, which are always counted to make sure I'm accurate. Large works like this are a true labour of love, and this piece will be in the studio for many weeks - when the t
74K viewsFeb 3, 2023
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Still in a Zen like place of calmness with this, loving the process and not feeling any sense of time pressure. Apart from glazes this is hopefully the final layer on the background, which will help with pitching the tone on the perch and foreground lily stems. I'm often asked if " I work from a photograph?" - and totted up that in the folder for this painting there are 250 images. This means making a lot of decisions, and part of the process is trying not to make any bad ones that will make mor
233.7K viewsFeb 16, 2023
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Another painting nearing completion... | David Miller Art
2.6K viewsDec 21, 2022
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It's been another good day in the studio taking this perch original a step closer to completion, glazing the background and refining the two fish in the foreground. It's not a case of adding more detail for the sake of it rather trying to improve the elements that are already there. Paintings have a certain energy of their own, and sort of let you know if you're overdoing it, and if you keep on the right side of your attitude to a work which for me is to have the patience of Job combined with a
17K viewsAug 21, 2023
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Another day lost in the process of painting, working on the character of one of the main perch, trying hard to capture that aspect of their attitude that makes them a favourite for many anglers... | David Miller Art
12.9K viewsApr 24, 2023
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Waiting for the coloured primer to dry on the perch commission so I've had another afternoon on this large oil, starting to add the first layer on top of the Verdaccio. This piece is still at the exciting stage, when you don't even want to put the brushes down for anything, even eating ! | David Miller Art
297.2K viewsJan 20, 2023
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Still making slow but steady progress on this large perch original, adding scales to one of the fish today. I hope the light and composition will be the strongest aspects of the work, but the details are important to me, and perch without scales never quite look right . I'm frequently asked if painting is relaxing and quite often it's not at all, more a real challenge, but doing scales is very calming, with a Zen like state of meditative absorption needed, and a sense that time is immaterial....
127.1K viewsMar 7, 2023
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We've still got a lot to learn but are slowly making headway on effectively filming a painting in progress. This is approximately three hours work condensed into two and a half minutes, although we did miss adding the colour on top of the verdaccio as the Sony Alpha eats batteries! I do get asked a lot about my process so hopefully this will be helpful to some painters and interesting for anyone who enjoys my work. We'll be adding a voice over for YouTube and filming the completion of this work
13.8K viewsJul 3, 2024
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14:29
Painting a puffin underwater in oils
2.1K viewsJul 25, 2024
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Still early days on this tench original, but there's a sense of space developing already, which will be exaggerated when the front fish is stronger and more detailed, and the back two fish softer. The plan is to try and do as much as possible with one layer of direct painting on top of the Verdaccio, with glazes to follow that will augment the quality of light and develop the atmosphere. Glazes are a great help, in all sorts of ways, but always work best if the initial layers of direct painting
3.3K viewsOct 23, 2023
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Another small oil in progress, searching for a composition that works well enough to develop on a much larger scale. The mackerel is still a species that I feel there's a lot for me to learn about, both in terms of capturing their beauty and character but also having the skills with composition to portray a scene with hundreds of fish rather than a dozen or so.... | David Miller Art
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Another small oil in progress, searching for a composition that works well enough to develop on a much larger scale. The mackerel is still a species that I feel there's a lot for me to learn about, both in terms of capturing their beauty and character but also having the skills with composition to portray a scene with hundreds of fish rather than a dozen or so.... | David Miller Art
7.8K viewsSep 28, 2023
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Another bit of footage from recent freediving adventures. This was on a North Pembs reef new to me, and one destined to become another favourite, with a great mixture of underwater scenery and lots of marine life, including the exquisite little Corkwing Wrasse ( Symphodus melops ), often the first fish to investigate the strange intruder in their world. I am shooting a lot more video these days as the moving footage really brings back the experience and sense of place/atmosphere, plus the fact t
6.6K viewsSep 5, 2023
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Another productive day in the studio, working on this large bass composition whilst listening to the wonderful Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield, beautifully read on Audible by Richard Armitage. I know some artists like to work in silence, but I find listening to stories and music help with creativity. Good literature fires the imagination and that's at the heart of the creative process. Slow and steady is the approach with this painting, which will probably take the rest of January to com
2.6K views3 months ago
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Poetry in Motion. Easy to see from this little snippet why the small spotted catshark ( Scyliorhinus canicula), or lesser spotted dogfish to anglers, is a favourite for many UK divers - such grace and beauty in her movement... | David Miller Art
2.8K viewsMay 3, 2023
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It's been another productive studio day working on next year's 3 rod licence image, so I've treated myself to the last hour working on a new linocut design. This is a very rough marker pen drawing to establish the black and white elements and help make the decision about whether to proceed and move on to cutting the lino. It's a real joy to be forced into a completely different style by working in such a different medium. I have dozens of new ideas for linocut prints, but have to concentrate on
4.9K viewsNov 21, 2022
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A day of art therapy in the studio, adding scales to the bass in this large painting. Over 40 years of painting fish has taught me that there are no shortcuts if it's to be done accurately, so the method I use is to count the scales down the lateral line and work out from there. Very careful observation is needed though, as the scales not only change in size down the flank, but as the body is curved the perspective as they turn away needs to be taken into account. If you get it right it's worth
9.9K views4 months ago
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Almost 50 years ago I had my first moment of enchantment with the underwater world, watching sticklebacks in the boating pond at Alexander Park Lake, Oldham. I was trying to catch them with the classic cane handled net, and long after my companions had got bored and wandered off to do other things I was held transfixed by staring into the green shallows and searching hard for the movement that would betray my next target. Lying under the cover of a bankside willow today staring into the green wa
27.8K viewsJun 14, 2023
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Lost beneath the surface again today, working on perch fins, which does involve getting out the 00 watercolour brushes. From one perspective the level of detail I'm adding here is unnecessary, especially if you're viewing the whole painting from a few feet away, but I love paintings that reward close scrutiny. Working in the manner of Robert Bateman, the Canadian master who called himself " a professional appreciator", detail such as this is just appreciative of how exquisite the perch are. Deta
14.3K viewsApr 21, 2023
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More progress on this Gannet and Mackerel piece. Enjoying the process, and hoping I can rise to the challenge of a difficult and dynamic composition. Working title is " Fish Supper !" | David Miller Art
3.2K viewsOct 8, 2024
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More Skomer Island magic, with another video snippet showing the Auks doing what they do best - great to see guillemot, razorbill and puffin in action at the same time. You can see the natural curiosity of the guillemot here as she comes in close to check out one of my fins... | David Miller Art
1.8K viewsJun 13, 2023
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