It's been a few weeks since I was last at the National Gallery, but I finally made it back today to finish my copy of "Before the Ballet" by Edgar Degas. I didn't feel like I had much left to do, and set to work to see if I could finish by lunch. And I did!
The first thing I did was adjust the color of the floor. I had made it too dark and too red, which was what I thought was the underpainting. On closer inspection of the original, I could see that Degas had painted a thin film of a light, cool color over the whole floor. So I mixed up a light value of Viridian green with some Alizarin Permanent to tone it down, and white. I lightly scumbled it over the floor using a pretty dry brush. And it worked to lighten and neutralize the red of the floor! Then I saw that Degas had put more Viridian over top of the light film. I really couldn't see the details of the painting that well from where I was standing - there was a doorway right beside the painting that I couldn't block, so I was standing about 8 feet away. I kept putting my brushes down and walking up to take a closer look. I soon began to feel that Degas painted this piece with just a few colors - probably Alizarin, Viridian, Yellow Ochre, maybe Burnt Umber, and white.
So I kept noodling away, working on the floor, and scrubbing a lighter cool over the walls. Then I finally re-tackled the two larger figures on the right. I went over their tutus, defined their hair and faces and arms and legs and feet. I forced myself to resolve little areas I hadn't dealt with yet. I finally felt like I was done, so I went to lunch.
This was a fun painting to copy, with the lively gestures of all the dancers. One of my fellow copyists remarked that Degas' compositions were always very different and exciting. She's right, look at Degas' work and you'll see how innovative he was.
Now it's on to my next copy. They're closing off the Impressionist quadrant of the museum to do renovations, so I wandered around the American, English, and older French galleries across the hall. I chose three that I'd like to copy and requested them from the Registrar. When I find out which one they approve, I'll stretch a canvas to the same proportions (but at least two inches smaller or larger as they require.) I'm taking next week off to give myself time to prepare the canvas, so hopefully I'll be back in two weeks with the first installment of my next copy.
Click the pictures for a larger view
