Christ the Bridegroom: Part 1: Garments

Christ the Bridegroom

In this series of blog tutorials I will take you step-by-step through the process of painting Christ the Bridegroom. In part 1 we will be starting with his garments. You will find links to the bonus videos on Patreon which show the real-time painting process if you would like to follow along. The Bonus videos can be purchased for €5 in my Patreon shop without a subscription.

Sketch

The bonus video of the sketch is available on Patreon here.

Panel prep

I first prepare the panel with some egg emulsion diluted 1:2 with water. I cover the panel with 2-3 layers of this solution as it seals the gesso making it easier to paint on. I then paint a layer of yellow ochre. This creates a warm layer that unifies the colours. Finally I paint over the sketch with a mixture of yellow ochre and black.

Background

I chose a neutral cream background (White + yellow ochre + a tiny bit of black) with a cool green border that will contrast with His red garment.

Proplasmos

The red proplasmos is a mixture of medium mars red (to give it a cooler tone), black and a tiny bit of white.

The bonus video showing the whole process of painting the garment is available here.

1st Grapsimo

For the grapsimo I’ve used medium mars red and a little black.

2nd Grapsimo

1st Grapsimo + black

3rd Grapsimo

2nd Grapsimo + black

1st Photisma

For the 1st photisma I add a touch of black to the proplasmos to cool the colour and then add white.

2nd Photisma

For the 2nd photisma we take some of the 1st and again add a little white. We then create the forms within the 1st photisma. As I don’t want this garment to be too light I’m only using two photismata and the second one is only on the broader/lighter side of the figure, which helps to project the figure towards the viewer.

Glory to God!

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