Following on from the previous post, I have been applying glazes to Mwinga's skin tones to create depth. I was fairly happy with his expression and the features were about right but the portrait looked flat and the background needed knocking back for a more classical approach. I covered the whole canvas firstly with burnt umber and carefully lifted out the highlights. This glaze gave him a warm undertone and unified the background. I also remodelled the T-shirt as it looked a bit muddy round the edges! After leaving the glaze to dry I brought out the highlights again, brightened the teeth and eyes and corrected a few shapes. The next few glazes make all the difference in creating a 3-D effect on the canvas but don't show up well in the photos so I haven't included all of the stages. Yellow ochre, indian red, raw umber and paynes grey have all been worked in and lifted out in places. The painting has gradually gone darker in order for Mwinga to pull out of the shadows.
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