This time I didn’t have the luxury of natural light and had to use artificial light sources. I wonder how it must have been for Rembrandt and Vermeer working by candlelight and how they were able to achieve such great tonal values without going blind.

In preparation for this painting, I repositioned my desk lamp several times to achieve the most dramatic effects. I first created a linear figure study with the same palette as the previous exercise.

I created a grayscale and matched the values to those of my linear study. I added some gestural marks to help define his features. Unfortunately, I lost contrast when I applied the greys.

This where I feel a bit stuck. I began glazing, hoping to bring more contrast, and am now not sure how to continue. I’m sure it could be much better, but do not know how exactly how to improve it without damaging it further. I believe it has something to do with the balance of warm and cool.