Zechariah

Egg Tempera Underpainting of Zechariah 3 & 4

This is a progress update of a painting that I began last year illustrating one of the visions of the old testament prophet, Zechariah. After making a complete grayscale (grisaille) in egg tempera, I have been doing a base color layer in egg tempera with a limited palette, of two earth tones, with a red, yellow, blue, black and white. The final layers of the painting will employ translucent oil glazes.

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 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

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

current state of the grisaille- nearly completed

Zechariah

Zechariah, proof of a 3- color lino-cut.

I’ve been tinkering with this print for a few months now trying to get it right- not really sure that I am getting anywhere. While the 3rd block still needs a little adjusting- some of the lines are too narrow and gather ink to fast- it seemed ready to offer up here. Maybe you can give me some insight.

The print employs 3 different blocks, and there are in truth 4 colors if you include the white of the paper, which is part of the design. To cut down on time between printings in developing the proofs, I have been using water based inks. The final edition will use inks with oil as the vehicle. I have included a number of images from my process and some variations of the actual print along the way.