Demonstrations:   

       Material World I

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I started on a toned paper (canson"s oil/acrylic painting paper, with a coat of titanium oil primer mixed with a warm, earth red oil paint) and  then blocked in with a turpentine wash of terra rosa.  I tried to use area more than line, and to look for negative spaces.  The limited range of values (light and darks) made me look for ways to add contrast.

Using titanium white mixed with yellow ochre and a very small amount of terra rosa, I broadly stroke in the lighted areas.  As I use the thick paint on my brush and have small remaining amounts, I stroke in smaller and lighter areas.

Here is a simple way to blend the oil paint, lightly work your brush across the previous stroke but in the  opposite direction.  Notice that if the original stroke went down, most of the blending is going across. This is just a guideline, to soften an edge, stroke the paint in the same direction as the original stroke. 

Using cobalt blue mixed with a little cadmium red, I make a dark brown-blue.  I use this mixture as a dark "outline," as shadow accent (the darkest part of the shadow), as a  corrective mark. 

i block in the background. Now I can begin judging the value contrast between the figure and the background.   The red drape is approximately a mid-value.

Adding design to the tapestry gives the composition a richness and detail. I try to be careful not to let it  overwhelm the figure.  The large dark background shape is broken up.  I let some of the direction of the brushstrokes describe the space.  across for the floor, vertical for the floor.

Material World -- Study I

2006