A Work in Progress...

The imprimatura:

This stage is about setting the general value of the piece. I cover the whole panel with a solution of 2 parts turpentine to 1 part Damar varnish into which a few good slugs of burnt umber oil paint have been mixed. It is very lean, and when painted on the panel should give me a light middle tone. I let it dry about a minute or two and then wipe it off with a soft cloth.

The tonality has the effect of unifying the image, then I go back in with clear turpentine to reclaim the highlights. In some areas the white does not come back strongly enough, so I return with a paint I have mixed of titanium white dry pigment (a bright, opaque white) with emulsion. This paint covers well and dries within a few hours. I reclaim all the important highlights. And set it aside to dry. The image is starting to come together nicely. There is yet a distance to go, but this underwork shows me what I hope to achieve in a more viscous fashion through the succeeding layers of oil paint.

For the back side, a clear tonality to unify the background. I'll bring the white text back in on the next layer.

.