A Yellow Lure for the Fishing Scene

I've added the final element to this painting: the yellow lure suspended above the book between the lamp and the fabric. This was the colour anomaly that is intended to add "life" to this still life. Tonight I applied a second coat over the first one that wasn't masking the dark background very well (Most yellows are transparent; I had to find an opaque one called Naples Yellow and add some Flake White to cover the black background adequately.)  With everything painted "once", the second painting stage has now begun and I'll be concentrating on blends and edges...

Below is a photo of my set up tonight. The dark background which weeks ago was fresh has now sunk in to a matte colour. It will come alive again when I paint over it once more with

Holbein - Colour, Values, Detail

In previous weeks, I've been working solely on the drapery, the robe, and in particular the velvet red arms -- leaving the skin colouring in the face for another day. The arms were easier than I thought. I used Cadmium Red Deep with pure Cadmium for the highlights.  In most online reproductions I've seen of this painting, the robe appears to be pure, solid black, which isn't likely given the light thrown on the figure. I decided to give it an indigo tint, just like the hat, to help bring out some of the folds.  I took the photo below outdoors and suddenly the green background seemed much brighter than I intended.

So on the next pass, each area will go several values deeper.  I have to concentrate on the darkest darks before moving into the lighter areas to get the correct range of values.

I made a start on the centre of the golden chain of office and will slowly lay out the basic shape before honing in on the details (close up below)... And there are exquisite details: a series of esses linked by chains, coming together at the centre with a Tudor rose strung .  It is supposed to be made of up a chain of esses, a pair of portcullises, from which hang a Tudor Rose, a combination of  the red rose of Lancaster and white rose of York.  As I'm painting the pedals, I can imagine a rose within a rose... 

Curiously, in other areas like the drapery, the paint layer is very thin. Either Holbein did it very quickly, trying to conserve paint, or conservators stripping the varnish to clean the painting pulled away some of the green.  What's left is very transparent.