Please note, except for this one, no rabbits were harmed during the painting of this picture. 'Bunny', who wishes to remain anonymous, suffered 3rd degree burns, several cracked ribs, severe concussion and is undergoing psychological treatment at a hospital in Wiltshire. Bunny will return.

In 1993, I painted this picture, which I called 'Disaster'. It was my attempt at painting lightning but I failed dismally. I was not happy with the scenery, it was too bright; and I made the lightning bolt far too thick. I quickly varnished it to enrich it (or more correctly to be rid of it) and so it got shelved for 28 years!

In a recent clear out, I was about to scrap it, when I thought, as an experiment, why don't I darken the scenery down, real dark. I won't waste time, i'll paint straight onto the varnish, just to see what might happen. Well, the picture seemed to improve the darker I made it.
I played around with it for a while, changing bits here and there and with a fine hair brush, that I got for Christmas, I thinned the lightning bolt too.

I was now reinspired. It was looking good. I carefully varnished it, trying to lock the paint layer between the new varnish and the old. This worked for several minutes then damn, the paint lifted off because it didn't have a rough substrate to adhere to. A battle then ensued, with me repainting and revarnishing, again and again, too impatient to even let the layers dry properly.

Finally, a bottle of varnish later, the paint layer was locked down between the varnish layers. Phew, my aching back!

Photographing the painting was an impossible task. The high gloss varnish on the dark paint was too reflective. I photographed it, both, indoors and outdoors; on the stairs; upside down; in the bathroom; standing on my head; you name it, I tried it, and this was what I got.

Sure, it is darker than the original and the lightning bolt has been improved but the reflection from the mottled varnish, scatters light everywhere. This reflection appeared in all of the photographs to some degree. Using a mirror and the sun (yes the sun), I lit the canvas board from a low angle, to extract more detail.

Unfortunately, none of the photographs I have taken, do this painting any justice but overall, I guess this one is the closest match to it.

I carried out one more crazy step, though. I strapped a torch to my head and shone it on the left lightning bolt. Although it came out slightly over exposed, it has become the final photo (for now). You can see that one on the Disaster page.

This painting is dark, real dark. Not everyone's cup of tea. You probably wouldn't want this painting framed and hanging on your bright front room wall. Once, staring at the painting for a while, I became a little seasick. It may have been due to the fact that it has a blurry horizon or maybe it was just something I ate.

I'm not sure what will happen to this painting in the coming years, the paint may distort as the varnish layers crush together or maybe the coating will delaminate. Did I improve on the earlier version?.... I will let you be the judge. All I know is this; what was meant to be an experiment is now a 'Disaster'.