A Work in Progress...

The underpainting:

In order to minimize the amount of oil needed to achieve layers of color, I use a traditional egg tempera technique to begin the painting. Oil can be painted on top of egg (fat over lean), however egg cannot be painted on top of oil. Egg tempera  must be painted on a hard, firm surface, otherwise it will crack, thus the panel is prepared as noted above.  I use the egg tempera technique to indicate basic broad areas of local color: skies, trees, buildings and fields may be bright and strong, but must always be pure.  At this stage, I try to use single pigments only for spectraI purity; no color mixing is done on the pallette. Colors (like certain greens and oranges) that would usually require mixing are indicated through seperate layers of paint.  Brush strokes can be used to indicate the motion or texture of an object.  This layer will be dry to the touch almost immediately, but it should dry at least one week before attempting the next layer.  Oils will soften everything, but should not used to cover mistakes.
This time I have used the technique to lay down both local color as well as to indicate broad and basic areas of value.  Establishing this quantity of midtone allows for the use of a lighter imprimatura in the oil stage.  Perhaps a warm yellow ochre to more closely resemble the chromatic nature of the sunlight here?

Egg tempera
Some basics on painting with eggs.

Mixed technique
from the Ecole des Beaux Art, Paris.

Fresco
Some basics of painting fresco and fresco secco.

Encaustic
Some new expereince with an old technique.