Painting Demo: Stage 5

I want to say a hearty "thank you" to all of you who have been following this demo thus far! I'm looking forward to seeing how my painting will turn out and I hope you are too!

Painting Progress

After establishing the drawing (Stage 4), I began to fill in my outlines with the correct shapes and colors. Below is the sneak peek image from Stage 1 (Don't worry, I'll show other pictures too). Don't forget, you can click on any image to view it larger.

The hand in the above picture is an example of how I "block-in" or "mass-in" an area before painting it more fully. Notice how the hand is simplified down to just one flat color for each major plane. This helps me establish a strong structural foundation before laying the details on top.

Here is the finished hand with the second hand blocked-in. I also worked on the shirt, desk and book (sorry, the colors in this photo look a bit dingy).

Top hand complete,
bottom hand in progress

And here's a closeup of the hands that shows my brushwork.













So, I admit I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to discuss in this particular post ("Yep, there's the hands all right... sure tried tuh paint 'em real good... hope ya like 'em..."). But one of my most faithful followers suggested that perhaps some of you would be interested in hearing about my current palette.

My Palette

I said my "current" palette because it varies every now and then. Right now, I'm using a full color palette, which I'll outline below. If you are a beginning painter, I suggest using the palette of Anders Zorn, which consisted of ivory black, white, yellow ochre and either vermilion or cadmium red medium/light. It may seem like such a limited palette would be very difficult to use. However, the Zorn palette is best for beginners because it forces the painter to think in terms of temperatures rather than colors. If you are just on the verge of graduating to a full color palette, I suggest you limit yourself to two of each primary (a warm and a cool version of each), an earth tone (like burnt sienna) and white.

Here's what I have on my palette right now. Yes, I use Winsor & Newton's student grade pigments (Winton) for some of my colors. But I still have a lot of the stuff left over from school, and I'm trying to use it up and not be wasteful.

Cadmium yellow pale hue (Winton)
Yellow ochre (Utrecht)
Cadmium orange hue (Winton)
Cadmium red hue (Winton)
Alizarin crimson (Winsor & Newton)
Transparent oxide red (Rembrandt)
Cerulean (Utrecht)
Cobalt blue light (Rembrandt)
Ultramarine blue deep (Rembrandt)
[Yes, three blues. I know, I'm crazy]
Sap green (Rembrandt)
Viridian (Rembrandt)
Titanium white (Utrecht)

For Sydney's purple dress, I might pull out my Old-Holland tube of cobalt violet dark. I rarely use it because it's my most expensive pigment! And I do so love keeping things inexpensive (hence my Winton pigments).

And there ya have it! Oh, and I use Viva brand paper towels.

OK, now I know all of you are just on the edge of your chairs in eagerness to ask questions or comment on this demo, so let me get the ball rolling. Has anyone decided yet what the story is that I'm trying to tell with this picture? If you have time, let me know by commenting at the bottom of this post or on Facebook. Any comments, questions or suggestions are welcome! By the way, I also need a title for this piece. Any ideas?

Thanks everyone, and have a great night! Be sure to return tomorrow, Friday the 11th for Stage 6!