Heather Underpainting Study. 8.5 x 11 in. Acrylic on Canvas. 2012
Just yesterday I was lucky enough to attend the Los Angeles Fine Art Show, which showcased some of the most premier art galleries and artists from East to West. It was so inspiring to visually experience the magnitude of each painting, especially those by Tim Solliday, Jeremy Lipking, Jordan Sokol and Adrian Gottlieb. I actually had to pick my jaw up from the floor when I saw Jeremy Lipking in the flesh for the first time... Not too bad for a Saturday afternoon.
Gottlieb's paintings really caught my eye because of his ability to emphasize luminosity through his portrait and figure paintings. Wanting to try his method of working myself, I read that he used various techniques of underpainting for his work, one in particular, Verdaccio. I dove in and grabbed some steps from this old master technique to try in my own painting and so far I have what is pictured above. I washed in a Burnt Umber acrylic background, marked in my figure and scumbled Titanium White (Open Acrylic from Golden) to bring out the lights. With Open Acrylic, it seems like you can get the best of both worlds with oil and its plastic counterpart.
