The Artist_s Magazine 2016-03__

March 2016 41

a lighter color such as violet cut with white or

orange.AttimesIaddedabitofMarsblack

to reinforce the dark and stabilize the color

temperature. his was particularly useful on

Glenn’s vest.

With his mass of rusty, wiry hair, Glenn’s

head has a leonine appearance. When I wanted

to work back into that area, I prepared it irst

by brushing on medium thinned with odor-

less mineral spirits. After a few minutes the

area would become tacky and new paint could

adhere more easily. Sometimes I sanded the

area to knock down the surface and make it a

little less glossy.

When dealing with smaller areas of the

painting,suchasaheadorotherplacesthat

required a little sharpness, I relied on what

I refer to as“magic” brushes—Nos. 4 and 6

Dynastyrounds.heseareinexpensivenylon

brushesthatIdiscardafterafewpainting

sessions when they’ve splayed and lost their

spring.Iparticularlylikedraggingalightcolor

intoadarkcolorwiththesebrushes.histech-

nique also helps me achieve the skipping, broken

efectIdescribedinrelationtothecarpet.

Mirror Reflections

With Glenn’s igure established in space, I

was able to work with him alone for a couple

ofsessions.SincethefeetofYaelwereestab-

lished in relation to the carpet and her height

was set in relation to the chair, I could do the

Materials

Compositional drawing materials: charcoal and Wolff’s carbon

pencils on Canson 18x24 paper

Compositional painting surface: 18x24 Belgian linen

Transfer materials: blue tape, acetate, Sharpie marker (for drawing a

grid on the acetate), Winsor & Newton medium vine charcoal (for draw-

ing a grid on the canvas)

Full-sized painting surface: heavy cotton canvas on a sturdy poplar

60x72 stretcher frame I designed and built; canvas sized with rabbitskin

glue and then primed with Williamsburg titanium oil primer

Oils: Winsor & Newton (WN), Gamblin and Williamsburg (W)

Basic palette: Cremnitz white (WN), titanium zinc white, titanium white,

cadmium lemon, cadmium orange, cadmium red light, alizarin permanent,

raw umber, burnt umber, raw sienna, burnt sienna, Mars orange, Venetian

red, terre verte (WN), dioxazine violet, Provence violet bluish (W), kings

blue (W), French ultramarine (WN), cobalt blue, phthalo blue, phthalo tur-

quoise (WN), phthalo green, sap green, Mars black, a neutral mixture of

ultramarine blue and cadmium orange, and a dark mixture of ultramarine

blue, alizarin crimson and phthalo green

Brushes and Applicators: palette knife, Dynasty Golden Stag nylon

fi lberts and rounds (especially Nos. 4 and 6 rounds), Robert Simmons

bristle fi lberts and rounds, Utrecht Nos. 6 and 8 kolinsky sable rounds

Medium: two parts stand oil, two parts damar varnish and one part

Venice turpentine—sometimes with a little Winsor & Newton Liquin Fine

Detail added; Dorland’s wax medium

Other: straight edge (for carpet), 150- or 180-grit sandpaper to lightly

knock down an overly glossy paint surface

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