Value study of four objects

[moscatel]

A value study done yesterday. It's oil on canvas, 30x40 cm, colors for this study are: ivory black, titanium white, raw umber. I now wait this layer to dry until I paint over with colors. I post it again in color but I'm afraid the vegetable I must paint from photo b/c they are getting ready to eat. Next week Im out of studio on a plein air trip painting old churches and bridges so this painting might need to wait a bit. Anyway, here is the study:

Forgot to mention, the jar is similar to the one(s) Velazquez painted to his table setups. I found this jar after a big search in one market place in Seville last year. It is nowadays used in Sevillan restaurants for .

 

[Artyczar]

Wow! Really well painted and impressive work moscatel. I love this.

 

[moscatel]

Thank you, Arty! ☺

 

[moscatel]

Contrary to my plans I continued today with color. The under painting was dry enough. Now you can better see my three objects and they will soon be in a fry pan.
I'm posting from phone now and when I checked the post in my computer the photo showed very small (compared to my earlier posts) and was loading very slow. How do these two photos in this thread show to you?
Still need a title for this painting.

 

[snoball]

Excellent! I was going to suggest that you call it a grisaille and add color but I scrolled down and you've already started!
Title Squashed!

 

[moscatel]

Sno, thank you! I like the title!
Edit: now the latest photo is a huge layout and loads very slow in my computer. I posted both from phone.

 

[Artyczar]

I love this. That yellow is delicious! So well done. ❤

 

[moscatel]

Arty, thank you.

 

[laf.art]

Gorgeous, this palette is so calm and considered. Very mellow

 

[moscatel]

Laf.art, thank you!

 

[Trier]

Arty said it best for me, Moscatel.

 

[moscatel]

Trier, thank you!

 

[stlukesguild]

Tonal painting was the first lesson we were taught in art school. We moved on to a more direct painting manner ala Impressionism later. Shortly after art school, I returned to a tonal underpainting using white, yellow ochre, burnt umber, burnt sienna, and a touch of black. After this dried... the composition was already established in terms of light and dark and I could then move into full color. I felt it was a great way to paint.

 

[moscatel]

stlukesguild, thank you for your thoughts! Interesting what colors you use to mix the tonal under painting.

 

[stlukesguild]

Moscatel... are you using transparent/semi-transparent glazes over the under-painting? I know that the Netherlandish Renaissance painters used this technique. I looked more at Rubens and employed more opaque pigments over the under-painting. The under-painting just established a good working ground and the values.

 

[Maybenartist]

I think a grisaille is also good for painting in a more painterly style. Once you have the values you can do anything you want with it. I find this a lovely painting with the purest colour.

 

[moscatel]

Stlukesguild, no, not for this one transp. glazes. I´m painting over with thick paint only. Although, I´ve done before transp./semi glazes to other works. I had no idea Rubens worked that way. Interesting. Thanks for mentioning.

Mayben, that´s what I was thinking: first trying to paint grisaille values and then just enjoy painting over while having a guide of grisaille. I´m also looking for an easier way to finish a painting. I´m now spending too long with one normally. Thank you for compliment and liking it.

 

[stlukesguild]

Rubens remains my favorite painter to this day. I read up quite a bit on his history and studied his working methods. He begas most paintings with a streaky gray ground intended to give a degree of animation to the surface. He then used ochre, burnt umber, white, and a touch of black to establish a monochromatic underpainting that established the composition in terms of value:

Various journals and biographies state that Rubens used a medium similar to the traditional three-part oil medium of linseed oil, turpentine, and damar varnish. These paintings would then be placed in the sun to help avoid yellowing in the whites.

Rubens then applied the colors using a variety of glazes and impastos. There has been much study made of his glazing methods due to the fact that the colors remain so fresh, and the artist was able to paint far more quickly than Titian... the artist whose work he most admired. There have been suggestions that he developed a glazing medium similar to Maroger's that allowed for transparency and yet set up immediately... like a gel... holding the brushwork... and yet was able to be reworked for a reasonable period of time.

The artist began applying a full palette to the central figures. If the painting were a lesser commission, a project that needed to be quickly realized, or one that didn't fully engage him, he might have assistants and apprentices paint the secondary figures and the background.

In an important painting that needed to be rapidly completed, Rubens would employ any number of the top painters who specialized in various genre: Jan Breughel for flowers, Franz Snyders for animals, etc... The finished painting is polished with little or no underpainting showing through.

If you compare one of his finished sketches (above) with one of the finest paintings solely by Rubens" hand such as the Judgment of Paris
you will notice the free handling in the secondary details (no highly rendered leaves on the trees, etc...) and the steaky gray and ochre underpainting can be seen in the background: in the tree trunk, the sky, etc...

 

[WFMartin]

stlukesguild, do you remember that I told you I once held that actual, last painting (Judgement of Paris) in my hands, as I l worked with it to do a color separation of it for lithographic reproduction? I still have a printed reproduction of it framed, and in my spare bedroom. It was painted on a braced, wooden panel, about 3/4 " thick.

 

[stlukesguild]

Yes, you posted a reproduction of that on WC. That was actually a second version of the painting:

It's rare for Rubens to have made multiple copies of a painting... but not unheard of. The bottom version dates from 1636 and has been held in the National Gallery of Art in London since 1844. The bottom version, according to art historians, may date from before the London painting. It's now in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden.

There is a variation on the subject painted in 1638 or 1639. This version is now in the Prado and was completed shortly before his death while he was ill with gout. It was commissioned by Philip IV of Spain's brother Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria and on Ferdinand's death moved to the Spanish royal collection. In 1788 Charles III of Spain decided it was immodest and ordered it to be burned, but he died before that order could be carried out (thank God!)