Misse and Luttine, day 10

Well, I made it in today, a little late, but I got there. Only thing was... I forgot my medium! Argh.

I painted with undiluted paint, which was OK, just not what I'm used to. I brought in some Yellow Ochre, which I usually don't have on my pallette. I do think that's what was missing in the white dog's coat. That, and the fact that Oudry probably used lead white, and I'm using Titanium, which is much colder. The Yellow Ochre did help. I worked on the white dog for about an hour, - I repainted her whole front half - the lights are laid on with many parallel strokes.  I also worked on the sky, deadening and lightening the blue. I started to feel like I was hurting it more than helping it, so I stopped after only an hour and a half. I also wanted to beat the rain home, which I did.

click the images for a larger view

Misse and Luttine day 9

I almost didn't go in today, because... intertia. But Hal said, "You should go", and I listened. It was too late for the VRE train, and it was after rush hour, so I decided to drive in. As I approached the Metro station, there was an electric sign announcing that "Parking is Available" at Vienna Metro. So I decided to Metro in.

I got to the NGA by 1:00, and sat down on the wall outside to eat my lunch. By the time I got set up in the gallery, it was 1:30. But I painted non-stop until quitting time at 4:00. I feel like I got as much done as a normal day when I get there at 10:00, but I felt better. When I go in early, I have to get up early to catch the last VRE train at 8:03. After having worked until 9:00 on Thursday night, and often not sleeping well, I'm pretty tired. I normally paint until 12:30, take an hour for lunch, and get totally exhausted not long after. So I think I like going in later better. It's worse coming home, though. Traffic is worse from the Vienna Metro in evening rush hour than it is coming home from the VRE. Maybe next time I'll stay in DC later so as to miss rush hour. The Portrait Gallery is open until 7...

Today I focused on Misse's face. I painted her ears and went over the brown patch. I mixed up a warmer white, but in the photos it still looks much cooler than the original. I went over much of her front half, repainting all her highlighted fur with the warmer white. I also mixed up the darker tone in her fur, which worked with just raw umber plus white. It still looks too disjointed, especially in the shoulder muscle, so I'll try to unify that area next time.

I also mixed up a better green for the trees in the middle of the painting, and repainted them. No Prussian Blue this time! I think it's a little better.

Next time, I will work on Luttine and the distant landscape. When I'm happy with the landscape and sky, I'll paint in those few trees in the background on the right. I still have to put in that weird little plant in the middle foreground, and paint their names. The end is in sight, maybe 3 or 4 more times.