Four hours. Every painter knows the rule, "Treat white as poison - don't put it in the shadows." It's generally a good idea to follow, because white has a tendency to chalk things up fast. However, when you paint with a limited palette consisting of titanium white, cadmium red, yellow ochre, and ivory black, every now and then you have to be brave enough to break the rules.
Today was one such occasion. The set-up involved a warm spotlight as the key and skylight filtered through north-facing windows as the fill. Since the color of the dome of the sky is blue, that meant I needed to mix a blue for the top-facing planes in the shadows, but the only way I can mix that color with the Zorn palette is with ivory black and titanium white.
You have to be really subtle while doing this and focus hard on nailing the correct value, otherwise you risk dismantling the whole structure of the painting. Hope I was successful.
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