The sky has been painted gray in preparation for a coat of Cobalt Blue, which is the favorite (and most expensive) blue chosen by Alma Tadema for those intense, richly vibrant skies that set off the marble in the foreground of his classic paintings. This evening I picked up two 150ml tubes made by M. Graham, which should be enough to cover the skies of both the Empress and the Virtues, allowing for clouds and the central bright area of the big painting. The empress will be a solid blue, so I must work a fade into the gray before applying the blue in order to find that soft progression from light at the horizon to darkness up high.
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