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Original Creation

Study After Nicolae Grigorescu

dracula 03 Jul 2020

This is a small study after Nicolae Grigorescu - Street in Vitré (1879-1886). I liked the bold, almost impasto paint application of the original as well as the lovely lighting in the painting. I also noticed upon close examination of the photo that there was a matte quality to the paint, so for my study I used wax medium, which was pretty cool. In retrospect, I think it would have been better if I had done this up larger, but I had this panel (canvas mounted to board) prepped already.

Oils

Comments

Nice one. I think you got very close in a brush strokes, but yours look softer than the original. I see that surface is very matte I think this is what adds a bit of haziness to the painting. I guess wax adsorbs the shine?
I am so happy to be here in this site and learn from other about artists and new techniques and materials. Thanks Dracula for sharing your knowledge with me!

dracula Power Painter

@SunnyLady - Yes, in concentrating so much on not get too precious with the brushwork, the edges came off softer than the original. My study is about three times smaller than the original and I have the feeling, in retrospect, that if I worked with larger brushes I could have retained some sharper edges. I think I also should have done more value matching to capture the lighting better. I probably should have premixed some of the colors as you have mentioned in some of your paintings.

In that respect, I should mention, the wax medium dries very, very fast. Almost as quickly as acrylic paint. You are correct, it absorbs all of the shine and sheen from the oil.

All-in-all it was a fun experiment and I learned some new things.

I think you did totally great, Dracula! This small size adds more privacy to the painting. I have not thought about impasto witn the brush. However I have cad yellow of three different brands, and lemon yellow of student grade another brand. I have not opened one brand of cad yellow, but to me two cheaper ones are not suitable for impasto, they have way too much additional substances inside. I like that your paintings always make me think not only about beauty of the subject but also about techniques and materials. I hope one day I will be able to see your artworks in real life.

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