Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Mystery Portrait-Umber Stage 1

The picture has moved from a two, to a three-dimensional appearance. This happens simply by painting the shapes of the shadows. That is not a scar below his left eye. My drawing was a little off in some places, so I had to fix it. The "fleshy" colored areas are where I glazed on the Burnt Umber paint too thickly and I had to wipe out with turpentine. Each stage is a only a map to get to the next stage. I correct problems as I go; Refining with each step. The early stages are essential for getting values, (light and darks) right. A brilliant person once said, "I don't paint things, I paint the effect light has on things. " I've found this to be true.

My opinion is that the grisaille, or the dead layer is the most important point in the process. This umber stage is a only a step to help that stage look more realistic.

I hope to paint one more stage in Burnt Umber, (a dark brown oil paint) in order to refine a few details and I'll be ready to paint the Dead Layer.

No guesses yet as to who this may be...?

2 comments:

Unknown said...

...old pic of R.C.

;-)

Chris said...

Nope...guess again.