Oils for Sale

There are broadly two approaches to painting with oils that I use.

In one, I mix oil paints on a palette and apply them with brushes to a white or tinted canvas or board.

In the other, I follow a mixture of methods from Old Masters.  I prepare a coloured ground from chalk mixed with size, on to which I paint layers of tempera and pigmented oil glazes.  This allows the painting to be built up quickly and in the finished work, lends depth to the image.  In technique, this feels akin to watercolour, with its thin veils of colour over white, which suits my working style.

I like the luminosity and depth that the under-painting technique achieves and the way it enables me to describe very fine lines, like the hairs of fur and moss.  Sometimes I paint on a smooth board, other times I prefer the weave of canvas.
JONATHAN SAINSBURY

'The show's most audacious image is Jonathan Sainsbury's big, brilliantly lit oil, 'The Game Larder''
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL

'Historically, game pictures like 'The Game Larder' have symbolized the excesses of privileged nobility, expressed mundane pleasures, or have served as pure decorative representation. Sainsbury treasures the beauty of the birds and their place in nature's continuum, and he views his still life as homage to them.'
LEIGH YAWKEY WOODSON ART MUSEUM, WAUSAU, WISCONSIN, USA