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The following article is one of many included on the Work in Progress disc.For this internet version the photos have been scaled down and the links to larger versions removed, as well as links to some of the technical details mentioned in the text.

This and over twenty other articles covering work from all periods of my fairground painting are available on the Work in Progress CD Rom

All images © Paul Wright

TAYLORS BOXING SHOW

1981

Boxing Show top boards being painted on site, inside a Mirror Show. At this time (1981) I was using Woolworths household gloss paint and painting figures from a black background. The source photos can be seen on the stool. The photo would be divided into small squares, drawing straight over the photo. The same number of squares is drawn onto the boards to be painted, at a much larger scale, and the photo copied, one square at a time.

Once the outline of the figures were drawn in, the whole of the shape was painted matt black. The skin tones were then painted in working from dark to light. Because the paint dried so fast there was often not enough time to blend the colours properly. As a way around this I often used to use a series of little dots to make the transition from one colour to another. These would only be visible close up.