"Study Break," Oil on Wood Panel, 20x24 in. What a whirlwind and transformation this painting has been through this week. When we set up the model leaning her arms on a pedestal with a pillow under her arms, who knew what would come of it. As I lived with my reference photo for the last year or so, her ennui and gesture reminded me of someone lazily slumped over books during an all-night study session in college. Daydreaming... she would rather be elsewhere. I originally started a full figure version and spent the month of March on it. Something was bothering me about the composition so four days ago, I realized that i'd lost the focus of my original concept which was the expression on her face, the boredom, dreaming state she had. So I scraped the whole painting down, sanded it and focused on her.
My palette was slightly new and loved the flesh tones I could achieve with it. Gamblin Pure Titaniam white, Windsor Newton Yellow Ochre Pale, Windosr Newton Light Red, Old Holland Vermillion Extra, Utrecht's Cerulean, Rembrandt's Viridian. I added a few colors for the books: Venetian Red, Williamsburg Alizarin Crimson, Williamsburg Ultramarine Blue.
