Rembrandt, self-portrait
 

This painting was attempted when I first got back into painting several years ago. I was in a 99p shop in Dublin (the equivalent of a 99 cent store over here) and saw a box of oil paints for 99p. This painting was done with those paints. The Frick Library's website has a scan of the original and will allow you to search for it. I believe it is called Rembrandt: Self-portrait. I think you will see it if you click here:
www.Frick.org/html/pntg38f.htm .

extra note: no burnt sienna, raw sienna or yellow ochre in this painting.

Hi Rochelle,

I'm glad to see others posting old-master copies. Would you elaborate on your statement regarding earth pigments? What kind of research went into the portrait copy? What lessons were you faced with as you proceeded?

Here's the original:

Hi Mari,

Thanks for posting the scan. You can see it looks somewhat darker and much richer than my reproduction. I used a picture from a book that my grandmother gave to me as a child. The biggest lesson seemed to be layers. This painting and another Rembrandt that I worked on at that time are like puzzle pieces of layered glazes that have to be placed one after another in the correct order. Another big lesson was mixing colors. There was lots of burnt umber, mixed with yellow light and yellow medium, cadmium red and alizarin crimson. Somehow it worked. I used up a whole can of turpentine cleaning my brushes which are now completely frizzed. Also, I was able to lock myself up in a room for hours and frequently look at my work in a mirror.

The compassion of his eyes still haunts me.