The Gaul is nearing the end...

Meanwhile, back at the academy...I've cancelled the summer break that I intended to take in order to get this painting done and move onto my first Red/White/Green still life...

You know it's time to finish when the statue has accumulated so much dust that the values you first painted now need to change. This happened to the top of the cloth upon which the status is resting; it's now so much lighter because of a thickened layer of dust (which wasn't there at the start). I had to lighten up my own copy to match this week while finishing the base. (I raised the painting on my easel so I could reach the bottom easier). There's still some touch up work to do there...



Here's the close up below. Notice the "parallax" effect of my camera; the side of the canvas seems to bend but it's straight of course.



I can now count on one hand the things I need to do to finish up:
-- second paint the stand and all of the background, including the cast shadows in one go.
-- paint the underside of the beard (the part in shadow)
-- paint the eye socket: needs burnt sienna tint
-- second paint the light area of the statue's plate (the bit between the stand and the fur coat collar)
And that's nearly it, until told otherwise, and I'm sure I will be.