Studying

Mary (after Michelangelo), 8" x 10", oil on panel

Please forgive the poor image.

This grisaille (monochromatic painting in shades of gray) is a study of Michelangelo's Pieta. At this point, it is actually just an underpainting.

I was concerned about fat over lean (paint layers need to go from less oil on the bottom to more oil on the top otherwise they will crack when drying), so I used Underpainting White (Titanium and Zinc Oxides) and Mars Black (Iron Oxide?). I didn't want to use a white with safflower oil (which drys slower than linseed oil), and I didn't want to use Ivory Black because it has a high oil content.

This combination (Underpainting/Mars) however, dries VERY fast. The paint became tacky in 2-3 hours, making wet-into-wet a little challenging. I ended up sectioning my work much like a fresco, although that meant I needed to go back in the end to bring some uniformity to the regions in terms of value.

I've never done much glazing so the next phase should be a learning experience.