A break from set duties gave me a chance to get a little more paint on Mona and to begin the steps to complete the frame. I'll have to post shots of the BACK of the panel, too, as I cut in a recess for the walnut butterfly in the back that keeps the split in the original in check My panel has a split going in ALMOST the same location (it was a happy accident, really, not planned.) Hopefully, the butterfly on my panel is in close enough proximity to the split that it'll secure that on my version.
So, what have I done? I continue to fine tune shading and detail. Mostly in layers of glazes on the arms and dress. I printed up enlargements of the Prado Mona Lisa because the background is less obscured than the original. I've begun to map out the detail in the landscape, which in the original is pretty hard to decipher because of the darkened varnish. Once the details are laid in, I'll mute everything to bring it into the realm of Leonardo's painting.
I also have started darkening the veil on the left of Mona's face, and darkened the chair and lower portion of the painting. Oh, and I've drawn in more deatil in the veil on the right side shoulder.
As for the frame, I applied a layer of American Walnut stain to replicate the exposed wood tone on the original frame. From this point, the frame will be gold leafed, then aged and distressed to match the real frame.
