I finally learnt how to paint.
The subject is a 20cm-ish plaster cast called the Pisellino, Italian for willy or 'baby penis'. It's a torso of a somewhat fairly muscular cherub. Definitely a humbling experience putting together all the wit I know so far for creating the illusion of 3-dimensionality on a 2D plane. Six full weeks of intense value studies using a monochromatic system of colors. Simply meaning I only used had shades of grey on my palette for this project (also a little raw umber and a tad of burnt umber).
There were a couple of things that were introduced in this project:
1) Oil paints - getting to know them intimately as Maestro puts it
2) Mediums - Liquids containing oils, varnishes and thinner to aid the paint application process and how to handle them precisely
3) Understanding the mixing of colours
4) Learning how to apply paint on the canvas with the right amount of pressure
5) Preparing the light field of colour, or campitura to the canvas
6) Creating a efficient cleaning system to wash out the oils
7) Seeing warms and cools on a cast
And of course there's already the drawing and sight-size measuring in place. How hard can it be as the Maestro always jokingly says? :)
Maestro got me started on the project and Bruno facilitated the rest of the it.
Final artwork - a work in progress torso (left) and a finished piece (right)
I added the other torso on the left because the dead space was just crying out for something.
