Something Different

Something Different

Portrait of a Woman -  unfinished demo study    egg tempera  Not for sale

It was egg tempera class today and I brought in an old master
copy to demonstrate the strokes following form.
The original was painted in 1430 by the flemish master, Robert Campin.
He has been credited as one of the founders (along with van Eyck)
of the realist style of oil painting in the Netherlands.
The original is in the National Gallery, London, and I was really
mesmerized by how alive her eyes were - almost with a sense of fun.
I thought she was a nun at first, but reading more I found it was a headdress.
The companion piece, Portrait of a Man,  was done the year before
and he is wearing a marvelous red headdress
so I think Robert was into painting fabric folds.

Egg tempera is a linear technique and you build up with many layers to
create the marvelous colors and shading. I have done a close-up here for you to see.
They are not this obvious in the actual piece.
As you can tell from the top view, I have drawn in the painting first with a
watered down India ink applied with a brush, establishing the dark areas.

There is quite a revival going on with egg tempera and I am thrilled
to have a group of talented artists here in Las Cruces who are
enjoying exploring this fascinating medium.