Bill Mason (1929 - 1988) Technique

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Bill Mason was a fine artist and loved to paint his wilderness surroundings. Read about his technique.

Bill Mason (1929 - 1988) Technique

Technique Bill Mason was quite shy about divulging his technique when asked how he painted. He wanted to spend a few more years exploring his method before releasing it in public. Unfortunately he was told his time was to be cut short by his illness. So one day he took his daughter Becky aside in his studio and guided her step by step through his palette knife on paper technique. Bill Mason's technique He lined up various colours of oil paint he might want on his glass palette for that day. Taking his small palette knife he mixed about five shades of colours. Then he took each mixed colour and piled them carefully one on top of the other. Lifting the large blob of layered paint from the glass he then scraped it across the surface of his smooth paper once. For the next palette knife stroke he'd start his mixing process all over again preparing for the next application to the paper. Becky remembers being amazed how haphazardly the paint appeared to be applied and yet could still create a detailed painting. Bill had a bit of a dilemma in his painting style. What drove him to distraction was that he couldn't seem to paint larger than six inches and maintain the loose, free style he liked. It has been said that some of his best paintings range in size from one inch square to three inches square and he would agree, except he thought they were too small! Bill and Becky would argue into the night talking about large versus small and which is considered to be art. Becky kept telling him "Dad, it's not the size of the painting, it's what people feel about it."
The Pukaskwas River has lots of exciting runs and it's always a thrill to look forward to seeing what's just around the corner. Read more...	What attracted Bill to this spot was not only the beautiful cliffs that he painted but also quite likely the native pictographs on the west side of the lake. Read more...	"After a big blow it can take one or two days for Superior to settle down. It's an exciting moment when the sun breaks through an opening in the clouds for the first time." Read more...	"Waterfalls are my favourite subject. I would canoe for weeks to get to a waterfall" Read more...