This is a lay-in for "Lemons" oil on linen, 9"x12", done over an umber rub-in on a toned canvas. As I stated in a previous post, I've been getting away from using thinned down washes in my underpaintings and using a frottis, rub-in, method instead. I just don't like the milky look of the wash-in and it doesn't motivate me for the overpainting. So after the rub-in I'm painting fairly directly, with large brushes and not too much paint to establish a good foundation for my next finishing pass. I'm really growing to love working with daylight setups and I'm going to have a hard time giving it up come September. I have my arrangement next to a north facing window and the same light shines on my easel. It's a little hard to see at first and it takes some getting used to, but what I've learned to do is to turn on my studio lights at the end of each session and to spend some time adjusting some of the things that look a little awkward with the lights on. It's a little bit like memory painting and it's giving the paintings a character that I didn't anticipate.
"Still Life with Portrait" 16"x20" oil on linen, is almost done. It's got that haze before oiling out for final touch-ups. I'm still not completely satisfied with the portrait placed the way it is. Last night I dreamed that I painted a frame around the portrait, so I think I'll give it a try. The grisaille is from my Tuesday night figure drawing group. We're doing one pose for the summer, about 8 weeks total. This is on a 16"x20" linen on gatorfoam. I wasn't completely happy with my drawing but the model was moving like crazy, so I locked him in, rather than chase the pose, and relied on my previous knowledge to finish the underpainting. I'll research the anatomy and make adjustments where needed. The self portrait is on an 8"x10" linen board. I'm following Speed's procedure of stating the basic planar divisions in the first pass, just trying to get that to feel right with very little detail. Yesterday, I went in and repainted it ading a bit more detail, but I may have lost the drawing, so I'll have to work that out before going in again. It's a challenging way of working and I'm really loving the whole process.
