three living and three dead, update 3
I finished the bricks!
I used three spools of silk in the end, which os more of one single colour than I’ve ever used on an opus project, even ones this size. Noramlly I would use the same colour somewhere inside the frame, but in this case I don’t think I will because I want the arch to stand forward.
I’musing dappling to get the texture of the tarmac next – getting the broing bits over with. the dappling technique is used a lot as a ground treatment in opus, often in two colours, but thwen I did a sample with two greys
(the top has two greys, the bottom is all the same very dark grey which outliens the bricks) I didn’t like the way the two tone caught the light, so I’ve decided to do it all in the dark grey.
There is also a video
opusanglicanum 
Very posh and tidy bricks! The dappled ground will be interesting.
it’s looking good so far, but I feat the ground will be a slow job – dapples are much more time consuming than a flat fill
Thanks for the video. I love seeing your thinking process. I learn a lot (plus I smile!).
it’s intersting for me to log it via video as I think maybe you express things differently verbally than you do in writing?
It’s peculiar, isn’t it, how sometimes you do something which should obviously work (two tones for the cobbles, for instance) and then when you try it, it obviously doesn’t!
I had that problem with the Amarna Family Group, too. I wonder whether it’s because silk responds to light so much more than cotton or wool?
in this case it was all about the light. even though the variation in tone between the two greys was minimal it interfered with the way the light played on the silk too much, whereas the dark grey on it’s own has a sort of oily sheen that doesn’t show up on the photo – you know like when one drop of oil spreads over a puddle and you get a dark rainbow on the water?
Yes. Subtle and something that will help the ground lie down!