Julie Donec

Goldfinch 3

I mixed two hues; the first using a large amount of zinc white, and a little yellow ochre, and the second a large amount of white, and a little cobalt and yellow ochre mixed together. Titanium white would probably be fine, (not as transparent as the zinc), but if layed in thinly, would work. I usually use Flake White when I do Master copy, as it’s a nice cross between the zinc and titanium, and is said to be the closest to the old Lead White that was used back then.

For the first layer for the background I’ll be using the zinc to allow the blue patches to show through, and will slowly build up the light areas. Working from dark to light in this case is more natural for me, and allows for better control of the light brushwork forms that I can see within the background. Think of those white on white canvases of the 60’s; a challenge to see the textures and faint forms. Same idea here.