Ah now I get to start with the detail. I love the detail. A bit too much really.

Now I am beginning to add details as well as balance colours.

There are a lot more layers than just three, but these give an idea of how I have built a couple of sections up so far.

Everything will need further work to add edge lighting and deeper shadows, except for our lovely fire giant who really does not need so much help with anything at all really.

The zombies are beginning to come to life... They all need at least another dark layer, another look at the blood and gore depth and then light from the right hand explosion.  I was tempted to make them colourful, but the whole painting is pretty colour heavy so I opted for blue/grey zombies who luckily still bleed red.

Everything is lit by some kind of white/blue light emanating from over our right shoulder, without this it would all be too dark to see anything.  Mind you it would be a quicker painting.

I am pretty sure that soon I'll have to start work on our heroic couple.  It's a worry that they are smiling really, but if you ever met them you'd understand...

More colouring in

Really, this is layer after layer.  The only danger is that I ignore the bits that look tricky and concentrate on details.

Soon I will have something on the canvas for everything except Lauren and Steve, but our two lovely heroes will just have to wait.

Right now I want to get colour layed down into which I can work depth and detail bit by bit.  All the time stepping back from the canvas to make sure I like the way it is coming together.  In this case I think it will do that coming together thing at the last minute when the final shadows and lighting and gratuitous bloody splatters are added.

There are things that I know I am putting off though, as I am not sure how to handle them.  The winter gardens and Odin...  I will probably have to stop avoiding them soon.

After this post I will only be showing sections of the painting.  So that when it is done the people who will see completed item first will be Lauren and Steve.  They might let me post the finished thing, but it will be their call.  They might jut burn it for all I know ;D

Told you there'd be colour

Okay, I can't put it off any longer.  I have to actually paint.

I want vibrant colours so chose simple bright oils - titanium white, cadmium yellow, cadmium red, french ultra marine and prussian blue (Daler-Rowney Georgian).  All mixed with Liquin Original (Windsor and Newton), which greatly speeds up the drying time. 

Firstly I lay down quite simple colours, all of this will be worked on to add detail and depth.

Honestly this bit is almost paint by numbers.  Maybe not the explosions.   A small part of the reason for doing this blog is to show that this is not as complicated as people think.  Like a lot of things it is mostly about doing it rather than talking about doing it.

That said I guess I should be... erm... doing it.