It was my first time with this process, and this is how it went. I used my friend Emily as a model for a portrait, and used Old Holland Zinc White (a little less transparent than Titanium White) and Ivory Black for my underpainting. I also made sure my underpainting was thick enough to offer the glazes something to stick to for later on. It couldn't be too smooth.
After that, I used a reduced French triad palette to glaze--Old Holland Indian Red/Flesh Ochre and Yellow Ochre. This gave the flesh an flat and fake-tan look, but I had to be patient and trust the process. The background was first thinly covered with OH Green Oxide, then I added some OH King's Blue Light, OH Yellow Ochre Light, a small amount of OH Pthalo Green and Schvenigan Warm Grey for some of the darker areas on the right side. Then I layered it up with Liquin and prepped for the next layer, hence the glare in the photo.
After that, I added some Williamsburg Cad Red Light and OH Yellow Ochre Light, adding in some OH Naples Yellow Deep for bringing up highlights.
At this point, I began to use some higher key values in my highlights with colors like OH Nikel Yellow and Wmsbg Brilliant Yellow Pale. They helped considerably in showing the protuberant areas of the chin, cheekbones and forehead. I liquined, as I had been doing between all the layers. I also went back in to correct a few drawing problems and go over the hair with copious amounts of OH Ivory Black, OH Sepia Extra and a little OH Raw Umber. Added some other finishing details, like the highlights on the pupils and the sclera, the highlights on small spots like the eyelid and fingernails, and the glazed shadow beneath the lips.
The past three months have been overflowing with change for me: I've moved twice, started working three new jobs, left one job to pick up another, and have been attempting to paint in between all of them. Amongst it all, I've been painting in an almost-set up studio, and finished a portrait in an ancient process that is new to me: grisaille. Grisaille (pronounced gra-SIGH) is a French technique in which the entire subject is laid down in black and white at full value (making the under painting entirely monochromatic) and the colors are thinly layered in glazes until they fully cover it and bring it up to full color range.
After adding those highlights to the face to test the waters, I continued into the hands. After doing that, I realized that I had lost some important contrast and added some Schminke Translucent Brown Oxide, along with some OH Sepia Extra to go back in on top of those darker areas, and even added some more OH Flesh Ochre to warm it up. I also chose to add some OH Schvenigan Warm Grey to darken and warm the background corner, and threw some of it into the creases on the shirt to heighten the contrast there as well.
After oiling it out with Liquin a few more times, it was finally ready for the frame. And voila! A finished portrait, grisaille style. Maybe in a few months it might get a nice varnish. But for now, it's getting prepped to hang in the group invitational show at Mary Ran Gallery.
