Master Copy Oil Painting Session: Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People - Classical Techniques Explained

James Otto Allen
Dec 28, 2017
3 min read

Updated: Nov 25

Work-in-progress master copy of Delacroix’s ‘Liberty Leading the People,’ featuring partially completed flesh modelling, glazing layers, and classical oil painting techniques.

In this Delacroix master copy oil painting session, I continued developing the layered structure of Liberty Leading the People, building colour and depth over my dried raw umber underpainting.

If you want to learn traditional methods - glazing, underpainting, colour mixing, and the layering system the Old Masters used - this breakdown will be valuable.

(If you enjoy in-depth walkthroughs like this, you can download my free Oil Painting Foundations Guide and join my newsletter for more master copy studies and classical oil painting lessons.)

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Why Study Delacroix? A Classical Approach to Oil Painting

Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People is a perfect painting to study if you want to develop your understanding of:

Classical oil painting layering techniques
Colour mixing for realistic flesh tones
Opaque vs. transparent pigments
Glazing in oil painting
Modelling form using value and edge control

Master copies like this form the foundation of the traditional atelier method - and these are the same techniques I’ll be teaching step-by-step in my upcoming Oil Painting Course.

Oil Painting Colour Palette for This Session

For this phase of the painting, I worked with a mixture of opaque and transparent colours - a palette ideal for classical realism:

Cremnitz (lead) white
Yellow ochre
Chrome yellow
Alizarin crimson
Transparent red oxide
Ultramarine blue
Vermilion red
Raw umber
Ivory black

This combination gives you the full range needed for glazing, scumbling, and modelling flesh.

Oil painting palette with colours for a Delacroix master copy oil painting, including cremnitz white, yellow ochre, chrome yellow, alizarin crimson, transparent red oxide, ultramarine blue, vermilion, raw umber, and ivory black.

My Underpainting Process: Establishing Values First

Before today’s session I’d already completed:

1. A Monochromatic Underpainting (Raw Umber + Flake White)

This step establishes the value structure. (Next time, I promise I’ll record this stage - because it’s the most important phase for beginners learning traditional oil painting.)

2. First Colour Pass (Glazing the Underpainting)

Once the umber underpainting dried, I glazed colour over the entire painting, adding opacity in key areas to reinforce depth and form.

Here’s how the painting looked before beginning today’s work:

Half-finished Delacroix master copy oil painting before third session, illustrating raw umber underpainting, early glazing, and developing flesh tones and flag colours.

How I Approached My Delacroix Master Copy Oil Painting

Refining Liberty’s Face and Torso

I developed Liberty’s torso and face, adjusting the drawing and adding colour corrections. The face still needs refining, but it’s improved from the previous session. I’ll let it dry before pushing the modelling further.

I also:

Added yellow ochre + cremnitz white into the mist around her
Darkened the shoulder/collarbone with raw umber + transparent red oxide (thinned with linseed oil + Zest-It mix)
Improved the transitions and shadows to increase depth

Half-finished Delacroix master copy oil painting of Liberty Leading the People, featuring detailed modelling on Liberty’s face, flag folds, and two surrounding figures, demonstrating classical oil painting techniques.”

Modelling the Red Flag

For the red cloth, I used:

Cremnitz white
Vermilion
Touch of raw umber

This combination allowed me to model the folds while keeping Delacroix’s warm red glow.

Close-up of Liberty’s face and the red flag in a work-in-progress Delacroix master copy oil painting, illustrating classical oil painting techniques and colour modelling.

Developing the Supporting Figures Using Glazes and Colour Passes

On the two figures to the left, I glazed ivory black + ultramarine blue (thinned with linseed + Zest-It) over the hair, hats, and jackets to deepen the shadows.

For the skin, I used:

Cremnitz white
Transparent red oxide
Yellow ochre

This allowed me to build naturalistic flesh tones while keeping the translucency seen in classical figure painting.

Close-up of two left-hand figures in a work-in-progress Delacroix master copy oil painting, demonstrating classical oil painting techniques including underpainting, glazing, and colour modelling.

Next Steps: Building the Painting Through Multiple Passes

My plan moving forward:

Work down the whole canvas in the next session
Allow it to dry
Repeat full-canvas passes four more times
Gradually bring it closer to Delacroix’s original richness and luminosity

This multi-layered approach is the essence of the Old Masters’ technique - and one of the key methods I’ll be teaching in my upcoming oil painting course.