Just when I thought I was done, the painting pulled me back in. “Jennie No.2” is a painting that I thought I had finished. I even wrote a blog post about the painting titled “Spontaneous Endings.” Well, the ending became even more spontaneous after I stared at the painting on my wall for a few months and decided something was missing.

One thing that bugged me was that the source photo (from Jennie Baldry on the Museum by Sktchy app) had rich skin tones. While my original version was fun and expressive with the alla prima style, I didn’t capture those deep colour tones that caught my attention in the first place.

I had just completed “Mustached Man in a Hat,” where I took my time with the final wax and oil layers and played more with the palette knife. I thought this might be rewarding with “Jennie No.2.” I didn’t record any timelapse videos or anything, I just put on music or an audiobook and moved paint around (I was listening to East of Eden by John Steinbeck, which is nice and long). I took a lot more time to match my paint colour tone and values to the source photo and this came through in the end result.

My colour palette (oil paints from Gamblin oils) for “Jennie No.2” was:

• Titanium white

• Yellow ochre

• Alizarin crimson

• Sap green

• Phthalo turquoise

Mediums:

• Gamsol

• Solvent-free gel

• Cold wax medium

I love the rich red-brown created by the combination of alizarin crimson and sap green. As well, the crimson and yellow ochre combo creates easy skin tones. I’m always trying to go odorless with my mediums for a less toxic work environment (and cut down on migraines) and the cold wax medium creates thick textures almost like an impasto. Using palette knives is fun and expressive, but also a breeze for clean-up, no brushes, with less waste.

If you’re interested in purchasing this painting or wish to commission your own custom original fine art oil portrait, please feel free to shoot me a message at the button below or visit my Commission page for more information.