Day 3, Copy after "The Concert" by Gerrit van Honthorst

Day 3. My goal for today was to try to get the white canvas covered - I did not succeed. But I made some headway. Trying to get the correct colors in, but leaving room for clarifying and correcting later. I'm not building up in glazes like I'm sure van Honthorst did. I'm painting more like I usually paint, trying to nail colors and drawing the first time. But this is so complex that I quickly got exhausted. 

Here is the painting at the end of the morning, and at the end of the day. I was so concerned with cleaning up and trying not to get paint on the floor when I took the canvas off the easel that I forgot to photograph the painting in the gallery, so I had to take the picture in the locker room before I put it away. Maybe on my next day copying, I'll be able to get the white canvas covered!

as much as I got done before lunch

in the locker room at the end of the day

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Day 2, Copy after Gerrit van Honthorst's "The Concert"

photo by a nice museum visitor

Today was my second day copying "The Concert" by Gerrit van Honthorst. I started with the dark, silhouetted man on the left, and I jumped in and started trying to nail the colors right away, but I think I'm better off sneaking up on them. I wiped off some of the red shirt I had painted in and went over it again with a thinner coat of the jewel-toned quinacridone red. I went on, laying colors beside each other. I had arrived late, so after painting for about 1 1/2 hours, it was time for lunch. After lunch, as I approached my gallery, I was startled to see someone standing very close to my painting, and then I realized that it WAS my painting that I was seeing!

Here's what I saw as I approached the room:

So funny! After lunch, I concentrated and covered as much ground as I could. Since I'm painting on a white surface, all the colors seem too dark as I'm applying them, but once I get the canvas all covered, I will make adjustments. I'm running up against some areas where the drawing is a little off, and I don't seem to have enough room for some elements, but I'll figure out a way to make it better.

I painted for another hour and a half after lunch, then suddenly felt very tired and decided to stop. Here is how it looked at the end of Day 2, in the gallery and in the Copyists' locker room, where the painting has to live until I'm finished with it.

Thanks for reading! Click the images for a larger view.