Julie Donec

Young woman dressed as an angel #1

This image was drawn onto a pre-stretched store bought 16 x 20" canvas. I applied a thin wash (mixed only with Turpenoid) of Winsor Newton Terre Verte over the entire surface, and then used a rag to reduce any visible brushstrokes, softening and lightening the whole effect. It looked very green before the ragging, and I worked it down to a soft 'minty' hue that I think will be better. When dry, I began to apply the first layer, which was made with Turpenoid and Yellow Ochre, mixed with very little Burnt Sienna and Raw Umber. Starting on the second layer, I've begun to build up the forms, adding more Raw Umber to create darker values. I didn't apply the yellow ochre/umber hues on the face - I'd like it to remain very light for the glazing I plan on doing a few steps down the road. Before the glazing, I'll be working up the face in 'verdaccio'. The term 'verdaccio' is an Italian name for a mixture of mars black and yellow ochre, resulting in a grayish or yellowish soft green gray (depending on the proportion). Note that in the 'deadlayer' or layer 4 in "The Girl with a Pearl Earring' , the deadlayer was done with Ivory Black, Titanium White, Yellow Ochre and Indian Red (Old Holland brand). The Indian Red gave it a warm tone that I liked very much. In this image, I'd like to try something different - I'll quote a popular line about the verdaccio technique - "The resulted "white to olive green to black" underpainitng is "like being lit by moonlight:", and does not affect the tonality of the final painting.