I spent 3 hours with the model adding color over my previous underpainting.
Well, the bad new is that I haven’t felt well all day so I was painting at Ann’s home with the model feeling terrible. That took away a lot of my focus but I think I learned a lot regardless.
First thing I was having trouble with is the lighting. The model had a natural blue light cast upon here while my canvas had a very warm light on it. Plus the light that was on my canvas was quite dark. I had to take the painting in other light every break just to see if I was going in the correct direction.
The first mistakes I was making was adding way too much white to each mixture. But one look at the painting in brighter light and I quickly changed my mixtures.
Time was flying so fast while I was painting this, it seems like each 20 minute pose took only 5 minutes. So after three hours it doesn’t look like I accomplished a lot.
Honestly I’m not sure how much further I want to take this painting. I don’t feel that the working up of values in burnt umber has helped any at all. In fact I feel as though it just helped in keeping my colors a bit muddy.
Maybe from now on when I decide to paint I will work up the drawing in charcoal or graphite first on a gray gessoed canvas, then work in oils from there.
nice lay in