Blog

Day 29

Paper: Arches 140lb, Cold Press

Paints, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna

I decided to end this challenge with a more of a challenge.  Can I use everything I have learned over this month to create a finished 16x20 figurative painting?  The reference is from a workshop I taught last fall.  One of the staff members posed for a photo shoot and was terrific at playing up expression and using the props.

I decided to use the underpainting method I learned about in the Mario Robinson video.  I did change it up a bit and decided the underpainting would also reflect color temperature as well as value.  Since the model was posed under a cool light source anything in the light is cool and the shadows are warm.  I used ultramarine blue and burnt sienna to give me two washes.  One had slightly more blue and one had more sienna in the mixture.  I know from the last painting that much of this will disappear as I progress and deepen the values.

This is my first time working on a stretched paper and it is harrowing to see how the paper will buckle when I put on the background wash but then magically flatten out as it dries.  Maybe I did not stretch it well enough, guess I will just keep painting and find out!

What I learned:

I like the absorbing quality of the the Arches paper.  Corrections may not be as easy to make as they are on Aquaboard but I like the look of the paint as it sinks in.

Using two different washes to map out the temperature as well as the value should help me set up my color mixtures easier.