A little late -Steppes

Steppes 

 A bit late getting this post out this week.  I did want to finish the piece above so I delayed posting until I had got it to a point close to done.  A portrait study - trying to get likeness.  I have posted a few sketches of folks in different poses.  I have been doing these everyday.  I am doing them in pencil also.  With the oil painting I held off on the portraits until I got some zinc white - which I got today. I did push ahead with the wolf study.  I will do another pass to push the darks and lights and put in the tree.  

Portrait study 33

After Alfred_Wierusz-Kowalski_-_Samotny_wilk

Sketches 36

Sketches 37 

Revisiting

Revisited

 This is a reworking of a piece I did a while ago.  I wanted to go back and see if I could push it further. 

Still working on the oil techniques.  I changed it up and went to copy a work by Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski.  I also tried another Rubens.  This one definitely got away from me but I will keep working on it to see if I can get a better likeness.   

After  Alfred_Wierusz-Kowalski_-_Samotny_wilk

After Alfred_Wierusz-Kowalski_-_Samotny_wilk

Rubens_Pieter_Paul_-_Infanta's_Waiting-maid_in_Brussels

The messenger

After Rubens 

So got a first pass completed on the old gal.  The plan to complete these by doing successive layers was somewhat abandoned.  I didn't have any zinc white to hand only titanium white which is too opaque for glazing.  I also figured out I was not going to make it to the anything like the finish of the original progressing with glazes without the white so I compromised.  Regardless the grey layer really helped and after the colours were mixed the painting too no time at all.  
I got a second pass on bearded guy and here the glazing did help pick up the hue.  
I think it would take quite alot of playing around and adjusting to get a good process down. I have a few more panels prepped so I can continue .
  The last image is a copy of ALFRED VON WIERUSZ-KOWALSKI   the messenger.  Did this study because I liked the massing of dark and light.  

After Rubens 

 After ALFRED VON WIERUSZ-KOWALSKI  The Messenger

Mask

Mask Inktober 31 

 The last of Inktober is here.  I spent more time on them than last year and tried some different inking techniques.  The most useful thing from this year was coming up with the design in a more systematic way and drawing practice. The ones at the start of the month went straight to ink but by the end I was pencilling then drawing.  
Did a selfportrait for Nov 1st but kept it straight forward.  
I also kept working on the series of paintings using the Flemish method.  I have 3 running simultaneously now -all copies to focus on the process. 

Found Inktober 30

Selfportrait

After Rubens b

After Rubens a