A special unique 1/1 hand painted dial for Danish Journalist and 

Watch Blogger Supremo, Kristian Haagen.

"Haagen Skull" unique hand painted dial 1/1
© 2014 TIMOTHY JOHN

About my work on hand painted watch dials...

I admit I am not a miniaturist nor am I interested in creating perfect painstakingly detailed pieces with the use of magnifying lenses (I work in natural light with my normal eyesight), 

I do greatly admire  the work of such artists, those that can paint in minute detail, it really is amazing, however I want my work on watch dials and pens (I also create unique pieces for Montegrappa) to have the passion and the emotion of my work on large canvases. 

I want my dials to have the 'soul' of my larger works, I want you to see the process, the creative force behind the imagery...

I want these pieces to be more than 'slick' decoration.

I create my watch dials on blank metal discs, I hand prepare each disc by sanding and cleaning, over a period of several hours, then depending on the imagery I want to paint, I will lay down several layers of coloured oil paint pigments, then burnish and sand back with ultra fine wet sand paper, these layers need to be thoroughly dry before I proceed to the next stage, I do this until I get the desired depth of colour and surface texture.

Then I concentrate on the featured painted image for the dial. 

I use oil pigments, the same that I use in my works on canvas, as I am comfortable with them and their permanence is unquestionable, I use small sable brushes, but I have also been known to use my fingers and other instruments, to get the desired results...
again, it is very similar to how I create my large works on canvas.

In the case of my skulls pieces, I underpaint the skull structure, slowly building up the image with consecutive layering of oil paint, until I have reached the desired effects I want.

Again, each of these painted layers needs to be thoroughly dry before I proceed to the next stage.

After I have completed the image, I leave it to dry for several days, I then hand burnish the entire dial by gently rubbing it by hand with glassine paper and finally with a pure silk cloth, this burnishing happens for long periods over several days,

then I leave the dial for a few more days to "settle", after which I seal the image 
with either a gloss or matte spray lacquer.

The finishing process  can take anywhere between 7-14 days, and a completed dial takes approximately 1 month from concept to completion.

At the end of the process I want to be able to hold the dial in my hand 
and feel at the same time a preciousness and a strength.