Ultimate fighter VIII - step I... experimenting on... primed canvas!

For a while, I've been thinking about the relevance of toggling back and forth between raw canvas and primed canvas to keep myself challenged and to remain on the path for artistic growth. After a year of using raw canvas, I have reached a pretty good level of comfort with it despite its relative "unfriendliness" as a support. It's a bit like walking on thick molasses but I love the watercolor feel when spreading diluted colors or stain. I went from a mixed staining/painting approach to total staining approach relying on walnut stain/chimney suit underpaintings for tones.

Today, I want to evaluate the impact of my newly developed raw canvas painting techniques on primed canvas. Moreover, my sister in law (an accomplished realistic painter) gave me a set of new acrylics colors from the US not commonly distributed in Canada, and after a few conclusive tests, I am very tempted to give them a try. This ultimate fighter scene in my back burner seems a perfect candidate...

I never thought I'd be using raw umber and raw sienna... but since they are semi-transparent, they fit the bill (my credo is "transparency"). My color selection doesn't have any blues but two purples instead. I decided to leverage this idiosyncrasy to create a different look... so far so good... I'm totally loose!

Note to self: "Ironically, I'm skidding around on this support from lack of resistance (it's like I've been training with weights)... I like the new painterly look and I will seek to replicate it when I go back to raw canvas! I'm after the depiction of movement, something that has been escaping me thus far..."

Subnote to self: "So much for deconstruction from pure realism... I prefer a one step approach!"