I've been working my way through Rembrandt's self-portraits over the years, this one being from 1669. This also happened to be the final year of his life, having outlived, his wife and son.
Why copy Old Masters? Because there is always something to learn, by trying to emulate what the other painter did. It forces you to step out your well worn paths of habit and try something different. Will Rembrandt's approach ever be a great influence on me? That's hard to say, but I can say I enjoy the exercise.
What I found curious about this painting, is his use of heavy dark lines to sketch up the painting. Normally I use something near a mid-tone and painted thin so as to disappear into the paint. Rembrandt on the other hand, simply makes them part of the painting, buy using them in the shadows, and by dragging lighter colours over them to create optical greys. It is a very economical way of working.
In his later years, Rembrandt like to paint with thick chunky paint. So keeping the paint on the palette and reusing it the next day helped create more texture in my study.
This study, is just a portion of the original and is panted with oils on canvas.
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