Sunday, October 5, 2008

Hermes -- First Painting Continues

I'm still working on the "first painting" stage, concentrating now mostly in the shadows on the right side of the head... The head looks too large at the moment and not angled correctly -- this should be fixed by: correcting the line of the left cheek, defining the the hair line/ear better, and by articulating the rivulets in the hair and on the contour.

My camera distorts -- the canvas is brighter than it seems here, although I haven't added my yellow ochre to the whites yet so it does seem on the white side... I'll try using a tripod next time. My easel is also a foot closer to the camera than the statue, which adds further distortion I find.


Patroclus Copy in Progress

Jacques Louis David created this life painting while a 15 year old student! I've made a copy as a drawing, and have since transferred it to watercolour paper for a quick study (below). The values are hard to replicate in watercolour paints. I will eventually do a full study of this painting in oils on linen, starting in a couple of weeks.

Second Cast Painting -- Dry Brush Stage

Two years ago, I drew a cartoon of this cast for a charcoal cast drawing (bottom of photo). I've returned to it for a second cast painting. I transferred the drawing to linen that had already been given a ground of gesso. The easel used to be on the left, but now it's on the right. This has created some changes in shadows and shapes, even though the light is similar and the statue at the same level and position as before. So I find myself redrawing the image in dry brush, taking longer than I'd hoped.

The source of the sculpture is unclear. I've heard it called both Moses and the Gaul (from l'arc de triomphe in Paris)...