This is a significant day in the growth of this painting, because with the completion of the Raw Umber work on the legs I’ve pretty much finished with the en grisaille layer, with the exception of the cherry trees that will have to wait until the sky is done.
I’d like to correct the architecture on the left side of the courtyard, because the foreground wall rises too quickly into its arc, making it appear a little distorted. Easy to correct, I can figure this out while I work on the sky without interfering with the blues and whites that I’ll introduce above the girls. I’m looking forward to getting some foliage into the piece, which feels a bit too clean at present. Once the marble veins and cracks are done I can experiment a little with some flowers and creepers.
In my mailbox this morning – The Pre-Raphaelite Papers – what looks like a good collection of documents by and about the Pre-Raphaelites, which I hope will give me some more insight into their painting techniques. I’ll report later this week.
It’s getting gloomy earlier and earlier, making the light in the studio change a lot. I’ve moved a daylight corrected light over to my easel so that I can get a better sense of the colours although I think this lamp is a little yellower than the actual Northern daylight I get from the high windows above my work area.
