Thanks Josef. My technique, if you could call it that, is mostly just alot of patience. I haven't tried retarders, I don't usually do any wet-on-wet unless it is a large area with gradual changes, such as a backdrop background, or an arm. I usually have about three mixing areas on my palette, light, medium and dark.
I just mix as I need and apply, adding hints of another color to the mix and applying to make gradients. I quickly blend the edges out with the brush, I think it's called scumbling. Glazing is another method I use for creating gradual variations. I also use the tried and true finger method for smearing out edges.
If I make a mistake, I can usually just wait a couple minutes, or stick the painting in front of a fan until it dries, to make changes. Anyway, probably sounds like a lot of wasted time to you oil painters!
Marvin, thanks for the confidence booster. I'd be interested in your article in Step by Step, if it's available anywhere. I didn't see anything on dgusa.com.
So do you now have a certain affinity to or complete avoidance of wallplates, given your intimate knowledge of them? That would be an awful lot of work to make them so crisp and metallic. Ingenious piece.
I would like to try oils for the luminosity that I think could be achieved, however I'm afraid my learning curve would not be so quick as yours. The way I currently paint in acrylics would create brown mush with oils. After I learn form and coloring better (and hopefully make some money to finance the switch), I'll give oils a try.
By the way, your reply came at an interesting time yesterday as I was using for reference the face detail of the portrait of Jamie you posted on 6/21/02. I'm working on a little girl painting from a bad photo, and I couldn't see her eye form. (I know, bad photos are a waste of time.) Jamie's eyes were similar in lighting and were superb in detail. I hope you don't mind. Also, after following the progression of the "Critique & Anger" thread, I'm convinced I need to do some life studies. So I'll try a self-portrait next, instead of a sub-par photo.
Thanks again to everyone who replied.
Regards,
Holly