Work in Progress - I now know why I was not a studio major

In my third year at university I took a very interesting summer course on the renaissance technique. While half the course was devoted to lectures, the other half was studio-based. Our major project was to create a replica of a seventeenth century painting, or, if the painting was large in size, of a detail (small, to-scale portion of the painting's composition).

We were given free reign over our selection, so I decided to choose something with vibrant colour and that was somewhat easy to do. I decided on "Magdelene Reading" by Flemish artist, Roger Van der Weyden. I chose a northern renaissance work because I thought that delineation would be more easily rendered. What I failed to think of was the draped velvet of Magdelene's dress.

After forty+ coats of gesso, I was finally ready to paint. The fear of marring the panel I spent so long to prepare scared the hell out of me, so every stroke was laid with extreme trepidation. Actually, most paint stokes I applied would quickly become finger prints, as I would nudge the paint into the proper lightness or darkness using my hands. I don't feel quite so badly about this since I've heard that Leonardo did the same.

When the course ended, I had not yet reached the colouring stage. I had not even finished underpainting the dress! So, two years later Magdelene still sits faceless, colourless on top of forty-some coats of gesso. I have not shaken the fear...still; I want to finish her, but I can't work up the gusto to paint without a professor's (*or my artist sister's) supervision.