Monochrome Studies

[Paulo Ruvalcaba]

"Doña Delia", 9"x11" Oil on Gesso Panel, 2.5hrs

This is Doña Delia, my cousins grandma. She posed for us this weekend at my Tía Amelias house for a portrait painting session. She did such a wonderful job modeling.!

"Self Portrait", 4"x6" Oil on Gesso Panel, 3hrs

I'm going on a six month stint of monchrome/ value studies. These are some pics of my progress. I find it almost inevitable not to do color studies as well. Especially when they day is beautiful and I just want to quickly capture those fleeting colors. But for the most part, I'm forcing myself to black and white, or some form of monochrome in order to better understand my brushes and materials. I really want to diversify my ability to make a wide range of marks. Hope you enjoy them!

[Paulo Ruvalcaba]

Thanks Richard! I'll give the Ultra Blue + Burnt Sienna a try on the next study.

[Richard Robinson]

Beautiful work Paulo! I especially like your paint handling and in Doña and you're really seeing those subtle value changes - awesome stuff. I like to use Ultramarine Blue + Burnt Sienna to make a black for these sorts of studies - allows me to play with warm and cool too. Love to see some more.