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I started this painting earlier in the week, and have continued to work through the underpainting according to some of the methods taught by Jacob Collins and his wonderful group of teachers and students at The Grand Central Academy. You can see the work done on Day One as well as the initial sketch.

Light and the Changing Seasons

I find it challenging later in the day to work in my studio when the sun streams in from a large south facing window. At some point in the day, I always get visually tired. This usually happens around 2:00 in the afternoon for me. I start early in my studio, around 5 am and sometimes before the sun rises.

In the winter, the light changes dramatically in a very short period of time and from November to the end of January, it’s tough to fit in some quality lighting time in the studio.

The summer…of course…has a huge timeframe for me to work in excellent natural light. You can see how much the light changes in the second leg of this video.

I’m interested in artistic process and would love you to share your thoughts on your own process here.

Palette

I’m working with a different palette than I would normally use to execute a portrait, as well as the different technique so this is very much a learning process for me.

I use M.Graham Walnut Oils. Love their pigment concentration and I’m not allergic to them, which is a huge bonus. I don’t need lots of crazy turpentines in the studio, and the workability of the paint is to die for.

The palette is one suggested by Scott Waddell in his video and as this is sort of my own self-directed learning workshop, I thought I’d go with what Scott uses in his demos. The only thing that I have added is a cobalt blue.

Here’s the palette:

• Titanium White
• Ivory Black
• Cadmium Yellow
• Yellow Ochre
• Burnt Sienna
• Raw Umber
• Cadmium Red
• Alizarin Crimson
• Cadmium Orange
• Cobalt Blue

I’m finding the palette a bit of a challenge, as I have never used Ivory Black or Burnt Sienna before, and have opted for a time-consuming glazing and over-glazing technique in the past vs. a more direct use of mixed paint in this technique. I’m beginning to see how this could speed my process a bit and how I might use the glazing to really augment the depth and feel of the work once I’m in the later stages. This will take a few days to dry now, so look for another progression post perhaps next week! Here’s the video for Day One and Day Two that has brought me to this point:

 The Artist’s Daughter – Day Two, Work in Progress by Janice Tanton

Related Posts:

• The Artist’s Daughter – Day One
• The Initial Sketch 
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