The Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts is a beautiful new museum in my area. When they contacted me to request an artist presentation/demonstration, correlating with the current show "State Of Grace", I thought of how beautiful it would be to situate my daughter, Lauren in front of one of the beautiful paintings, and paint her in similar pose.....
The demo had to be done in two stages: I already knew that I would not be allowed to paint with oils, in reverence and protection of the beautiful collection, so I chose to demonstrate a grisaille technique, beginning with black and white acrylics on a grey-stained "Yes" canvas. The size was 24 x 30 inches. The first session took 50 minutes to complete.
After 10 minutes with the hair dryer, I began glazing with a palette of three completely transparent acrylic paints. They were Golden Fluid Acrylics: Quinacridone Gold, Quinacridone Crimson, and Turquoise. I talked about how the old masters glazed (often over months) using a similar technique. I started with the warmest colour first using Quinacridone Gold as my yellow....
Then I glazed red over those areas that represented the red robe, taking care to do it in thin glazes, rather than slapping on the crimson. Note previously applied yellow gives a warmer red. I added thin, transparent layers of red to the frame. Notice how very transparent the Golden colours are, achieving a baroque-looking frame with just a few strokes!
Now I'm adding the turquoise and at the same time creating some cool tones in the white robe. (Her cheeks look a little rosy don't they! I'll have to fix that some other time.)
I have made some beautiful, rich and organic blacks to enhance my drawing and add the darks that I see. I also added more whites to re-glaze and create more depth to folds, etc.
After a further 40 mins., the painting was completed to this point, and the demonstration over...
In the end, I was filled with gratitude... For the chance to paint and be inspired in such a beautiful museum with my subject being one of the people I love most in the world; For being so inspired and honored to be surrounded by the amazing masters in the exhibition and surrounding me on all four sides; For Rosemary Hickman and Tim Novack for having the faith in me to afford me such a special event; A special shout out to Jerry's Artarama for sponsoring my supplies....and last but not least, to the wonderful crowd that came to share the experience with us. Support your museum! Support the Arts! Have a fabulous day!