Auguste Fine Art
Landscape portrait of the artist in the studio
Nikita Schultz
Nikita Schultz is a classically trained oil painter working in the layered underpainting-and-glaze method of the Old Masters, in a tradition of dramatic, low-key light. I believe in the power of art to bring real human connection and help rebuild community, one commission at a time.
Commissions open — inquiries welcome.
augustefineart@gmail.com
The Process
Every commission moves through the same six layers, built up over roughly two months — the same underpainting-and-glaze method the Old Masters used to get real depth and luminosity out of oil paint. Here's what that actually looks like on the easel.
In progress — priming and sanding the canvas
Stage 01
Priming the Surface
Every painting starts with the surface itself. Canvas, linen, or panel is built up with several thin coats of high-quality acrylic primer — sanded lightly smooth between each coat — until the tooth is even and ready to accept oil paint. A well-prepared ground is what lets every later layer sit true, rather than sinking in or cracking down the line.
In progress — pencil drawing on primed canvas
Stage 02
The Drawing
Working directly from the reference photographs, I lay in a careful pencil drawing — proportion, likeness, and composition all resolved before a drop of paint goes down. This is where a portrait lives or dies; everything that follows is built on top of this line work.
In progress — monochrome underpainting wash
Stage 03
Underpainting
A thin, diluted wash of oil paint — usually a warm earth tone — blocks in the major shadow shapes. Thinned almost to a stain, this layer dries quickly and sets the value structure the whole painting will hang on, long before any color is introduced.
In progress — grisaille layer in magenta
Stage 04
Grisaille
A near-monochrome layer that fully resolves value and form before color arrives. I often work this stage in an unexpected hue — a vivid magenta rather than a traditional grey — which sits beneath the finished paint and quietly pushes warmth and luminosity up through every glaze that follows. It's an old master's trick dressed up in a modern color, and it's a large part of why a finished portrait reads as alive rather than flat.
In progress — first-stage color block-in
Stage 05
First-Stage Painting
Full color enters for the first time. Working fat-over-lean, I model the large forms — the big planes of light and shadow across the face or coat — to get the anatomy and the light source right before anything gets refined. Nothing here is precious yet; it's about getting the structure correct.
In progress — final detail layer
Stage 06
Second-Stage Painting
The final layer, and by far the longest — often taking as long as every stage before it combined. Opaque paint goes down with a smaller brush and a slower hand: eyes, texture, the small asymmetries that make a likeness unmistakable. This is the stage that turns a well-built painting into a finished one.
Interested in learning the method yourself?
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