SATYR (painting)

Good icy morning to you all! We had an inch of snow followed by sleet, then rain. Good day to sculpt. If only I did not have this miserable cold! This is the view outside my studio window this morning.
Okay, the snow blower has died so I just finished clearing the driveway by hand. Onto the work of the day!

If at first you don't succeed... Here is another failure which I felt was important to share. Would not want you to think that all you are getting is the best of my work. I did the first paint job on this guy last night using my regular acrylic washes. Decided that I wanted a different color for a woodland creature, more earthy. So I cleaned him off and started again. This time I decided to use oils. Thought I had it until this morning when I looked at him in the daylight instead of my studio lights. Epic failure number two. Too earthy! Even a bit too red. So now it was back to the start again. I decided this time to take you through the steps with me.

I was shooting for a color like the female here however, I broke my own rule of painting which is not to paint at night. 

 A little work with acetone, a rag, and a stiff brush and we get back down to the basic clay again. Don't be afraid to start over if you mess up!

 I will use Windsor Newton water mixable oils to patina the skin for this figure. A mix of 4 parts Yellow Ocher, 2 parts Raw Umber, 1 part Raw Sienna are mixed straight from the tubes without diluting them.

 The paste is applied with a stiff brush.

 A mop brush is used to move the paint around a little more so there are no thick layers on the figure.

An old water color brush is used to stipple the surface and even-out the paint. I want to stain the skin more than paint it.

 Basic skin tone is done.
I add 2 parts Raw Umber to the mix and use that on the lower part of the leg. This is blended up into the upper leg.

 This same amended mix is used to add darker pigmentation to some areas for contrast.

 The finished base coat on the front. I have darkened the armpits, crotch, under the jaw, center line of the torso, and around the nipples.

And the back. I have darkened the back of the elbow, the spine, the crack of the backside, and base of the neck.

He will now go into the oven at 170 for 2 hours to accelerate the drying process so I can do the next step in the paint job. More on that later today (?) Maybe after a nap!
Have a great day!


 ** This is wet paint. The color will shift when it is dry. It will also lose the sheen.




















ADDENDUM !!!
Wanted to add these since they are part of the painting for today. Sorry, I am working then posting in real time these days to keep up.

 He has come out of the oven and cooled down enough to work. Wanted to show that the drying need not take long if the paint is applied thinly.
The next step is to polish the surface with a soft cloth. This will add a slight sheen to the skin just like ours. It also removes any wet paint so if in doubt, wait a few days to do this!

 I hope you can see the difference in the polished surfaces here.

 I then add highlights with Adobe Red acrylic paint and a dry-brush technique to add some color back into the skin.

Next we will look at the eyes. Tata!