Here’s a Jan Matejko master copy I finished today.

jameszenartist (62) in art • 7 years ago

Here’s a Jan Matejko master copy I finished today.

Greetings fellow Steemians!

In today’s post I thought I’d share and discuss this Jan Matejko master copy I finished.

I have to admit that this one was really fun to do. I just jumped right in with very little preparation. I decided to take a more direct/all prima approach with this one.

Once again I began with a loose drawing with thinned burnt umber. As you can see from above, some of the imprimatura and drawing is still showing. Usually I would’ve chosen raw umber, but I wanted in particular to keep the shadows and background especially warm.

After I finished the drawing I started massing in the background and the shadows (the eyes,under the nose, and under the beard). Not too long ago I discovered this little “trick” for keeping shadows dark, warm and luminous by premixing batches of cadmium red or orange and ivory black from a couple of painters from The Grand Central Academy that I follow. So far I have been pleased with its use as compared to just using an umber. As umbers are iron oxide (basically rust) earthen based paints, they have more often produced instances (sinking in) where I would have to oil out before beginning to rework.

So after I finished the shadows and background, I then began to simultaneously work all over the painting as a whole. Usually I am accustomed to working on a particular section and branching out from those spots until they’re completely finished (window shading), but this work demanded more of a unified and collective attention.

On this master copy, in some instances I would start at the top and work my way down, other times I would begin on the center of a form and work my way outside, and other times I would work outside to inside; constantly comparing adjacent forms to all others.

This painting I wasn’t too concerned with achieving a high level of refinement. I also actively chosen to paint a heck of a lot thicker than I’m normally accustomed to, saving the impasto lights for last.

The palette I used for this work was titanium white, cadmium yellow light, yellow ochre, cadmium red, burnt umber, and ivory black.

Please feel free to let me know what you think?

Thanks for reading Everyone!

-James Hansen
https://jameszenartist.weebly.com/

art painting allaprima mastercopy classicalatelier

7 years ago by jameszenartist (62)

$0.07

5 votes

Authors get paid when people like you upvote their post.
If you enjoyed what you read here, create your account today and start earning FREE STEEM!

Sort Order:

Trending

[-]

kayclarity (66) · 7 years ago

You are a gifted painter. I don't follow a lot of people, but would love to see more of your work.

$0.04

1 vote

[-]

jameszenartist (62) · 7 years ago

Thank you, I really appreciate that :) Most of my current available and archived work can be seen here, where I'm also currently in process of creating an e-commerce platform. Please feel free to let me know what you think?! :)
https://jameszenartist.weebly.com/

$0.00

[-]

kayclarity (66) · 7 years ago

Awesome! Hope you'll post a lot of it here. I'll upvote and resteem you once in a while! I'd like to see you do really well here with a gift like that. While I've let it go for a while now, one major hope for me on this platform especially when I first started was finding ways to build a strong, excellent artistic community where we are challenged and become BETTER. Our world needs good art.

$0.31

2 votes

[-]

rewardpoolrape (62) · 7 years ago

You're so nice for commenting on this post. For that, I gave you a vote!

$0.56

1 vote

[-]

jameszenartist (62) · 7 years ago

Yes, that definitely is the plan! One of my original goals for joining Steemit was actually to take what I've learned during my classical training and to progressively publish miniature lessons based off of it. I intend on sticking to that for sure ;) Thank you, it's those kinds of comments that really means a lot to me. Writing here on this platform has given me hope in the potential of making my work a part of my livelihood as I've always wanted. I know quite a few famous painters in the classical representational realm and I've heard countless stories on how much of a struggle it took them just to get where they are today. I can definitely see in that being an artist is one of the most difficult things you can become in our time. If it's one thing I'd advise is that you can't be afraid of hard work...oh and to draw CONSTANTLY!

But I would say that's a very noble goal. I hope it works out for you and I would very much love to be a part of it. But yes absolutely...Quality over mediocrity!