grisaille

Grisaille Underpainting of a Visionary Episode from Zechariah

I wanted to share a series of images showing the process of the making of an underpainting which I have been working on for the past few months. The image itself is an illustration of a vision of the biblical prophet Zechariah laid out in chapters 3 and 4 of the book of Zechariah in the Old Testament. It is a beautiful story of God’s grace and restoration, rich in symbolism and images. It is not very long and is certainly worth reading.

This grisaille is done in egg tempera on an oak panel, built from an oak that came down on my father’s farm in Greenwood county, was subsequently milled (quarter sawn) and air dried for 10 years. The panel has been cradled with walnut and ash to help keep it flat over time. The surface is a traditional gesso as describe out by the 14th century Florentine Cennino Cennini in his Il libro dell’arte. Once the grisaille is complete, I will start to paint layers of translucent colored oil glazes, hopefully to beautiful effect.

the original drawing
the cradle on the back of the panel.
the walnut stiles are “floating” to allow for seasonal expansion and contraction across the grain, held in place only by the ash rails
laying out the main geometry and locations of vanishing points
redrawing the image onto the panel
ready to start painting
part way through
detail of the upper center of the image, using artistic license, I have inferred the trinitarian presence from “the Angel of the Lord”
detail of Satan accusing the high priest Joshua
the little porcelain pallet I use for mixing
on the work table early in the morning
detail of Joshua receiving new garments
current state of the grisaille- nearly completed

Thomas and Jesus

Underpainting Complete!

The grisaille underpainting of Thomas and Jesus, et all is finally to a point where I feel ready to begin applying glazes of color.  After 6 years of work I thought I should take some decent photos of the whole thing before the next phase.  Thank you for watching.

Geometry of the Wounded Savior

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This grisaille (grayscale underpainting) of the interaction of Thomas and Jesus and the gathered disciples and their community, has been slowly developing over the past three years, the drawing took about two years before that.  I feel like the end of this particular phase is finally in sight on the distant horizon.  I look forward to seeing the structure fully unfold and ultimately to the beginning the glazing of colors.

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Saint Thomas Grisaille

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Grisaille underpainting of the remaining disciples of Jesus gathered together in a locked room as Thomas touches the wound in Jesus’ side.

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Thomas Grisaille

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Progress on the underpainting in grisaille for the Thomas panel since abandoning egg tempera.

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DSC_0110I have been working with Tad Spurgeon’s text lately.  It is chalk-full of information on the craft of painting, from technique to philosophy, historical research and criticism to in depth analysis of oils and their endless permutations, pigments, resins, additives, and etc, with many useful formulas and recipes.  I have not explored enough to venture a review, but I am enjoying it.

Crushed By Egg Tempera

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Saint Thomas is now on the easel to receive a grisaille underpainting in oils.   After being crushed by my attempt to make an egg-tempera grisaille underpainting on this panel of Thomas and Jesus, et al.,  I have decided to move my historical experimentations to a panel of more manageable dimensions.  Moses in the Rock is the only picture I have made using egg tempera as an underpainting and it is quite small.  This represents the largest panel I have ever undertaken with the most fully developed charters as well.  Egg tempera is very slow (and I already work very slowly), and having already allowed a 5 year window to make this picture,  I shall try to fully embrace those other challenges in a noble fashion in addition to honoring my time.

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Mixing the medium for the thinning of colors for underpainting.

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Applying a coat of thinned shellac over the absorbent gesso and egg tempera.

Please take a moment to visit my friend Mike Schultz interesting post on his blog the other day.