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Jewelry Study
Step 1:
Gesso your board or canvas
Step 2:
Choose a painting that includes jewelry from the following list of artists. Crop the image to focus on the jewelry.
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Ingres
Holbein
Vermeer
Memling
Van Eyck
Bronzino
Fra Angelico
Step: 3
Sketch out the general structure/composition on the board with pencil
Step 4:
Completely cover the surface with a LIGHT translucent wash. While wet block in the large areas of dark and light by adding more painting or wiping off the wash with a rag to reveal the lights. Let the underpainting dry.
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Step 5:
Develop the painting in full color using paying attention to areas of light, dark and middle tones so as to create a sense of volume.
- You may want to glaze transparent layers to get a sense of depth.
- Note that gems are cut into planes or facets that reflect and refract light.
- There will likely be high contrasts in value. Also possibly in chroma.
- Step back frequently.
Step 6:
Keep in mind that the qualities that create the appearance of shine are:
- high contrast
- reflection
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Note that highlights are rarely white. They are usually tinted with color. Try to see and mix that color
Step 7:
Self critique and make changes to the composition, color, and surface where necessary. Finish.
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