Thanks so much for the question! I apologize for not being active lately on KZbin. If you're interested in seeing more videos, I've been posting on my Instagram account @brian_neher. Thanks so much again and have a great day!

Thanks so much for the comment! You can also get this book at www.fechin.com/nicolai-fechin-books/ for $125. Thanks so much again and have a great day!

Thanks so much for the question! I don't have any umbers or black on my palette in this video. I occasionally use Raw Umber if needed, but not very often at all. I like to mix my own blacks using different color combinations like Alizarin Crimson and Prussian Green as an example. Thanks so much again and have a great day!

Thanks so much for the question! This painting took a few days to complete. I hope that this helps. Thanks so much again and have a great day!

Thanks so much for the question! I'm not as familiar with working with zinc white, but I think that it may be more transparent than titanium white, as well as having a longer drying time. Because of this, I prefer to work with titanium white, by itself. It's very opaque and is easily mixed with other colors without getting too thin. Often, opaque paint is easier to work with than transparent paint. The reason I say this is because it is easier to blend opaque paint with a brush, palette knife, fingers, etc. The paint can be pushed around more and manipulated to get a soft blending effect. On the other hand, transparent paint allows very little overworking before you start to remove paint from the canvas, instead of blending it together. Having said all of that, I would encourage you to try a mixture of both, as you had mentioned, to see if that works better for your painting style or not. I hope this helps. Thanks so much again and have a great day!

Thanks so much for the comment! I apologize for the difficulty in purchasing the download. I've since updated my website, so it should be an easier checkout process. If you have any difficulties, just let me know and I'll be glad to help. Thanks so much again and have a great day!

Thanks so much for the question, Belinda! The only medium that I use, besides paint thinner, is Liquin. I primarily use it during the final stages of a painting when I want to introduce a subtle color or value into a specific area. Other than that, I paint with solid paint (paint that hasn't been thinned down with any mediums). This way, I'm able to more easily blend with my fingers, rather than removing paint in the process. I hope this helps. Thanks so much again and have a great day!

Thanks so much for the comment, Beth! It's greatly appreciated! Sargent is one of my favorite painters to study. His portraits are phenomenal and his full control of values, color and brushwork are amazing. Another great painter to study from that era is Anders Zorn. He was a Swedish painter who was a contemporary of Sargent. Many artists consider Zorn a better draftsman than even Sargent. Thanks so much again and have a great day!

Thanks so much for the comment, Dennis! Yes, having the opportunity to meet Eya Fechin and listen to her talk about her father was a fantastic experience. She was so kind and spoke so highly of Nicolai Fechin and his work. It was a memory that I will always cherish. Thanks so much again and have a great day!

Thanks so much for the comment, Cynthia! I find that converting an image to black and white helps me to focus on the value relationships (how light or dark a value appears when compared to another value). Color can often be deceiving, in that it may appear to be lighter or darker in value than it really is. This is especially true with reds. Value and color are inseparable, so finding the right value is one of the key elements to getting the right color. Value sets the stage on which color performs. Thanks so much again!

Thanks so much for the message! It's greatly appreciated! I'm so glad to hear that the video was a help to you. If you want to learn more about painting flesh tones, I've produced an online class that is dedicated specifically to this topic. It can be found at www.craftsy.com/class/paint-better-portraits-realistic-skin-tones/. Thanks so much again!