Today I finally stumbled on a post of Bouguereau’s paintings that gave the name of this one. I hope to show this in the near future but I will include ‘Master Copy’ in the title. I am surprised at how excited I am to be painting something that is not my design. It certainly is a learning experience. Today I darkened the background and this is only the first of several glazes. It is necessary to get this background established for several reasons. Mostly, it is needed to balance the values in the rest of the painting. Also, this dark needs to be under or behind the model. But, I had to place a lot of the brighter hair and blouse before I began. These will preserve the drawing even though I might have to paint over them. I then found my way around the maze of hair, to establish light, dark, curl, depth and fly away hairs. After this dries thoroughly I will put a halfpaste over all the flesh and the blouse as well. I am pleased to be using a birch ply, sealed with a zinzer conservative sealant, and with a linen surface glued with an archival glue. I often do this because it is easier than using stretched lined and I can have the ply cut to fit a frame that may not be a standard size. Any pieces that are left, can be made into small canvasses as well.
Class tomorrow, so I better get some sleep. Hugs, Diana