Of all the themes I worked with, the illusion of drapery moving with the breeze has been one of my most successful. So much so, in fact, that my workshop students requested that I give a class that features this illusion.
The first step, is to lay in the sky. Always work from the background to the foreground, since egg tempera leaves such sharp, clean edges, and the detail work is painted in last. Artist's tape is used to help define the window sill and sash.
Then the background undercoat is worked in. Don't worry if some mistakes are made...egg tempera dries so quickly that new layers can be added easily, and mistakes corrected as you work. Like it's heavier counterparts such as oils or acrylics, you can paint a light over a dark, and vice-versa. Note that at this point paint is laid down very loosely. In egg tempera the detail work is last so don't get caught up in now. You will only be wasting your efforts.
Now some detail is added. The artist's masking tape is still in place, so feel free to paint what you need to.
Once the exterior is completed, the sash and sill are added, then work on the drapery begins. Find a neutral, gray tone as the under painting to lay in the shapes of shadow, but don't fixate on the color. You will be laying several coats on top, anyway. This is just to begin defining the shadow patterns. The semi-sheer drapes are more transparent in the shadow areas, as the sunlight's glow has a burnout effect in the sunlit areas where it strikes. When completed, the illusion of transparency is strong enough that folks think I've painted the drapery over a finished landscape. Not so. That would be way too much work.
Lighter colors are brushed in over the darker gray to simulate threads of fabric. I know it looks like a fine brush is used to make hundreds of delicate strokes, but it's not necessary. A small fan brush will complete the illusion with a lot less work. You can also take an old, cheap flat watercolor brush and feather the ends with a razor blade to do the job. Paint is applied with a near dry brush technique. Once you've mixed a color you like, work your brush into the mixture, but before applying it to the panel, damp off most of the excess paint. Then, when you paint, lightly move your brush over the area so as to leave a pattern of fine, delicate lines. Here are a few brushes I've used to accomplish this.
Then the suggestion of land masses is brushed in with a standard round brush. No detail is necessary, just a hint of the shapes and colors of the background subjects. Then add more light, dry brush strokes of fabric threads over that layer with the special brush. Go back and forth as much as you need to, until all that's left of the background is the illusion that something is there, in the distance, beyond the window. The detailed landscape that's visible around the drapery will complete the illusion, and the observer's eye will fill in the blanks. If it still seems daunting, fear not! If you take the workshop, I will be with you the whole time, demonstrating each step in the process, and then working with you one-on-one to help you get comfortable with the technique.
