Joseph II Emperor of Austria Bust post #2

I am now working on the medals, waistcoat and details but I thought I would put up this post showing the painting of the coat using step-by-step photos as I did with the face. In talking to Mike Cramer the owner of the beautiful painting that this bust is based on, he mentioned that the coat had a brownish tint to it in the painting. I have not been fortunate enough to see the actual painting but I could see a bit of what Mike talked about in the photos I have. I also went online and pulled up other paintings of this individual and all show this very dark green jacket. In an effort to capture the feel of the coloration in the painting and keep with the spirit of the project I began with two thin coats of Greenish Umber over the white basecoat. No matter how opaque the oil paint, whatever color is underneath always shows through affecting the tone of the top coat. I try to use this in my favor. White basecoats brighten colors, the olive tone will give that brownish hue in the light of the case. Before applying my green top coat I painted the deep shadows with Mars Black. Once dry the coat was painted overall with Prussian Green. Highlights were added using a mixture of Prussian Green, Titanium White and Yellow Ochre to brighten the tone of the green highlights. These highlights had to be subtle to retain the darkness of the green jacket. The collar and cuffs were painted with Liquitex Deep Cadmium Red and Extra Deep Cadmium Red. Further highlights and shadows on the cuffs and collar will be completed after the waistcoat area is complete. I have left the red edge and lining of the coat until the end to keep a buffer zone between the coat and the center panel remaining to be painted. The waistcoat is white silk or satin and this with the medal ribbons and sash are fun to paint.