Mona Was Framed!

Well, after months of anticipation, the incredibly all hand-carved frame arrived! I'm very pleased and excited to have it finished! Or...unfinished, really. I still have to stain, age and gild the frame, and of course finish the painting! And finish the BACK of the panel as well...but it's getting there, and I think the frame is an amazing addition! Thanks so much to Ian Agrell and his great team!

And Now For Something Completely Different...

Look Familiar? For those of you who have seen the real thing, you may remember the Renaissaance-era frame that the Mona Lisa occupies at la Louvre. This is a fantastic section done as a test by Ian Agrell and his team in northern California. It's all hand carved poplar, and I think it's a great recreation of the original. Ian will be carving the frame, as I determined I was pretty inept as a wood carver. I want the frame to reflect the same concept as the painting. That is to say, I made an effort to get poplar panels to paint on, hand ground my own oil paints and tried to re-create Leonardo's technique. I originally was going to sculpt and cast the frame, but I want the frame to be as close to the original as possible, too. The frame that holds the Mona Lisa is a renaissance era frame that was all hand carved. In researching frames from that area and era. I determined that the frame is most likely hand carved poplar, which was either gold leafed or painted. Ian does beautiful work in recreating moldings of various types and took on the project as well. I'm looking forward to the final frame!

New developments!

I found an incredible new supplier of lapis lazuli pigment, Master Pigments, who grind their own pigment from raw stones and refine according to Cennino Cennini's formula. The paint made from this pigment is AMAZING! I repainted the sky and started cleaning up areas of the dress. I've added in vermillion shadings in the face as well. I'll clean up SO much more in the final version of the painting. I also have glazed in highlights on the chest and face with lead white. I'll continue to develop the painting as I go. I also have contracted with a master woodcarver to hand carve the frame! I should be getting a sample soon. I'll be sure to post pictures as soon as I get the sample carving!

Closer and Closer!

Here's yet another Mona picture!

Mo'Na!

Continuing to build up shadows with glazes of color (mostly black and italian umber) slowly!

A New Picture!

Hey! I HAVE been working on Mona! This image shows the current state of the panel. Mona's been waiting patiently as I've been out of town working for some time.

This shot shows layers of semi-transparent and transparent glazes on the panel especially in the face. I did two layers of white lead mixed with a little vermillion to mute the underpainting and give a luminous surface to the flesh tones. The white lead mixture and the subsequent glazes of italian burnt umber and black were mixed with sandarac resin and walnut oil to make the glazes.
I'm continuing to refine the underpainting on the rest of the painting as well as the finishing on landscape areas. I've found a supplier of Lapis Lazuli that I'm happy with, and will likely repaint the sky once I have new Lapis paint ground.

By Degrees...

I haven't posted an image recently. but as the painting is in a state where one has to look rather closely to see what progress has been made, I figured there wasn't much to show. I've eliminated most of the bad lines in my underdrawing at this point, and I'm close to laying in the white underglaze on the skin, to even out the underpainting further and increase the smoky look of the shadows. I've continued toning the dress and arms a bit, and am in the process of completing the shadowing on the threads of the embroidered neckline of the guarnello. I also have refined the white sleeve top that shows through the silk at Lisa's left shoulder (viewer's right)

I'm still quite unhappy with the Azurite and Lapis pigments, and may try regrinding them in a mortar and pestle to refine them further. the graininess has made it difficult to paint the mid-ground landscape well, and I'm not happy with the Lapis glazes in the sky. it's like painting with sand!