Egg Tempera IV

Apologies for the lack of images this week but tomorrow I will post my work. By the end of day yesterday, I was less than satisfied with where my painting was going. (I think that was reflected in yesterday's rather short-winded and less than enthusiastic post.) Today was a joy! Although I can still see plenty of problem areas, I made good progress with stone work and then worked more on the egg. Bless Koo for all her encouragements--both with what is accomplished as well as setting up next step expectations.

This morning's discussion delved into scumbling and glazing. These were presented in last week's workshop but this week we take them to action.

Scumbling with a very thin layer of titanium white helps to pull the value and chroma together while generally cooling the temperature. The "very" in very thin is important. What looks like almost no white at all can be most apparent when applied! Today I used a few scumbles on the egg and I'll probably do more tomorrow.

Glazing a very light layer of paint can affect value, chroma, and temperature. I used glazes of prussian blue, alizarin crimson, and burnt umber on the background. I used a glaze of yellow ochre on the egg. Also glazes of burnt umber and prussian blue on the stone. Green earth glazing was applied for half tones on the egg. Tomorrow, per Koo's advice, I will apply green earth glazing across the background and egg to unify, to help the egg to not jump out so much.

Next was a demonstration on lettering. Koo showed us a few techniques, from painted on, to scratched down lightly to a base color, to developing incised characters. Good planning and attention to detail are essential!

I'm working to build lost edging on the egg. That's most interesting and needs a good bit more attention.

I am discovering how much there is to learning to see form by being aware of value. Subtle (to me!) variances were coming into view after being pointed out by Koo and a fellow artist.

More tomorrow as my second week wraps up. Bittersweet, it will be.