A Work in Progress...

Session two - Red, in the Mixed technique:

I covered the panel with a mixture of medium and Crimson Lake and after a minute or so, carefully wiped it back off, leaving a light film of red containing a slight tack. I began reclaiming all the highlights by applying a brush loaded with clear glaze (it functions like an eraser). After I had re-established by general value schema, I began painting my choices into this glaze. At this point, the opaque paint lends mass and weight to the composition. Thus, I worked tints of gray, yellow, orange, or red into the red glaze. It took about 14 hours to cover the panel once again.

I covered the back side of the panel in the same way. Into that slightly wet, tacky surface using a large brush I freely painted in an open pattern-less pattern. On my pallette I had blobs of warm gray, red and yellow all mixed to various tints with lead white. When I was done, I went back in with clear medium to reclaim the text which had become tinted. I didn't want it to disappear - just yet. In about a week's time the surface will be ready for the final level.

Predijkherrenrij Grande back, Bruges, Belgium 2010. Mixed technique level 2, over imprimatura, egg tempera, india ink and silverpoint 44 cm x 59 cm