Lackawanna Valley, Day 4

I went back to work on those mountains again, trying to match the color and value. It looks pretty close to me in real life in the Gallery, but doesn't look at all the same in the photo! 

I happened to pick a very popular painting, and two school field trips came through in quick succession before I even had a chance to get started. One of the tour guides got me involved in a Q&A with the students. They had some very good questions and I didn't mind. This was how it looked when I went to lunch.

After lunch, I worked here and there on the rest of the painting. I put in more darks, and starting working on the big tree from the bottom up. I put the little figure in, but left his head off for now. At around 3, I totally ran out of steam and just stopped painting for the day. I forgot to photograph it up in the Gallery, and took this picture down in the copyists' locker room. The lighting in there is fluorescent and looks much different than upstairs in the museum.

As always, click on the image for a larger view.

My iphone was close to dead, and I knew I wouldn't be able to listen to the audiobook I've been listening to ("Orange is the New Black"), so I bought a very cheap sketch book and a clever ball-point pen that looks like a tube of paint (!) in the National Gallery bookstore so I could draw on the Metro on the way home.

I think I've finally gotten back in the groove of going to the National Gallery every week. This morning it was snowing, and pretty chilly and windy. They called it "flurries", but it was more of a snow squall -I couldn't see the Capitol from two blocks away. I'm ready for spring!

Lackawanna Valley, Day 3

As it stood when I broke for lunch

Coming along. I spent the first hour and a half repainting the sky and mountains again. Still not satisfied, but I don't know if I'll ever get the color and value right. Part of the problem might be that the painting has a light shining on it, and my copy is kind of in the dark, so my hills just look darker? I still haven't put in the large tree, because I want to do that over a dry sky. Started to work my way down, putting in some of the buildings in the town (Scranton, PA), and starting to define the trees.

Lackawanna Valley, Day Two

I got to the museum this morning just before the doors opened - it's always nice to arrive just then, so I get the maximum time to work on my copy. A couple of other copyists arrived just after I did, and we all chatted in the copyists' locker room for a few minutes. Having just switched my copying day to Tuesday, I'm enjoying meeting the other copyists who work on that day. Then I went upstairs to my gallery, only to discover that I forgot to bring my paint thinner with me. Back down to the locker room, where I met another copyist who had just arrived. Finally I was back upstairs in my gallery and ready to get down to work.

I worked for a couple of hours, repainting the sky and the mountains. My mountains are still too dark at the top, so I'll be repainting them again next time. Then it was time to break for lunch.

One of the delights of copying at the National Gallery is seeing all the fantastic art that just sits in out-of-the-way places. This sculpture of a dancer is in the area at the top of the escalators that go down to the cafeteria. I think she's wonderful, so I took some pictures of her today.

I'm fascinated by marble sculptures that depict weightlessness and grace, from the diaphanous fabric to her dancing feet. 

After a nice lunch with another copyist, I went back to work. I managed to cover almost everything with paint, but there is very far to go.