http://www.painters-online.co.uk artistApril 2016 17
Materials
I use Winsor & Newton Artists’ oils and have around 30
different colours. My palettes are rectangular MDF boards. I
cover them with transparent plastic, the sort typically used
to wrap flowers. This is resistant to white spirit and to palette
knives, even when vigorously mixing colours, and it can be
pulled off and thrown away when the painting is finished.
This saves me the time and the effort of cleaning the palette.
In general I use various ranges of Rosemary brushes, short
and long flat hogs, synthetics and sables. My favourite
canvas is a Spanish hand-made primed linen called LC
Lino Fina. It is thick and resistant but still very smooth from
having four layers of preparation. It suits my style of painting
in which brushstrokes are exposed individually in more fluid
gestures and are not too influenced by the texture of the
support. I buy it in 15m rolls. I stretch my canvases myself
when I have decided the size of the painting.The Fall – Runner, oil on
linen, 25^1 ⁄ 2 333 ⁄ 4 in (65 85cm).
The figure of the fallen runner
came to mind when I met Zoe
in a park. I was painting en plein
airand asked Zoe if she could
pose, which she was happy to
do. While talking with her I
realised how much she needed
to escape from her routine at
work. The weekend run was one
of those few activities that
made her feel a taste of
freedom. In the painting her
mobile phone and headphones
have fallen behind her; her
expression shows no sign of
amazement that suddenly she
has fallen and she faces her
solitude in complete silence.
Her almost automatic running
has come to a halt, and perhaps
she is realising that sport is, in
reality, just another routine
activityThe Fall – Artist, oil on linen,
251 ⁄ 2 333 ⁄ 4 in (65 85cm).
To conclude the series I couldn't
help painting my own fall, so I
made this self portrait with a bit
of irony. In my case, however, it
is my painting and some of my
painting tools that have fallen
in the lake. Plein-airpainters
know how easily the wind can
blow away a canvas if they are
not careful. Clearly I haven't
been careful and I don't mind
losing my painting and my
tools – they are drifting away or
have already sunk, while I stare
towards the horizon. Like the
other characters that have
fallen, who forget about the
surrounding world and stare at
the emptiness, I accept my loss
and give in to my thoughtsMichele Del Campo
was born in Italy and now lives
and works in London. He has a
degree in fine art from the
Universidad Complutense of
Madrid and a degree in Illustration
and Printmaking from the
University of Dundee. Michele has
had solo exhibitions in Italy, Spain,
UK, Switzerland and Peru, and group exhibitions around
Europe, US and Asia, and has won many art prizes. Michele
holds workshops and life drawing classes at his studio in
London. He also tutors small groups of previous workshop
participants, focusing on colour theory and working alla
prima. For more details, see http://micheledelcampo.
com/workshopsor telephone 07853 538527.
TA