plate no. 3972

Woman on the Verandah

Edvard Munch, 1924

oil, canvasExpressionismportraitfigureportraitwindowinteriorrobetable

what to study here

It shows how hard and soft edges, three clear value families and a deliberately unnatural red can carry mood in a figure against a window.

Start with the value structure. Squint and three families appear: the face and throat as the lightest accent, the gray robe as a stable mid-dark mass, and deep brown-blacks in the shadowed side of the face, window panes and furniture. The figure reads as a silhouette against pale window light, and the head tilts down and turns toward that light. Look at the edges. The profile line and lit cheekbone are hard and sharp, then dissolve where shadow takes the form. The robe is built from broad strokes that follow its volume without tight modeling, and the window landscape stays loose, cool and blue-green, so the marks read as paint. The colour is the other lesson. The cheekbone carries expressive red rather than natural skin colour, and the burgundy furniture behind the figure sits at about the height of her upper body. Study how little detail the window needs to read as light beyond, and how the robe avoids becoming a flat dark shape through directional strokes and small shifts in tone.

key decision

Munch held the figure to three value families, with the lit face as the lightest accent against a mid-dark robe and dark shadows. He then gave the cheekbone an expressive red instead of naturalistic skin colour.

recreation guide

Edvard Munch’s 'Woman on the Verandah' (1924) is a late-career portrait executed in oil on canvas, reflecting his mature Expressionist style. While the specific visual details of the sitter’s pose or the verandah’s architecture are not described in the provided sources, the work belongs to a period where Munch had fully mastered the emotional potential of his medium. The painting likely utilizes the artist’s characteristic approach to color harmony and symbolic representation, where the background and setting serve to encode the sitter’s psychological state rather than merely documenting a physical space. As a portrait, it aims for a recognizable likeness while prioritizing the 'expression of feeling' over strict naturalistic deception (Source 4, Source 7).

estimated time

20-30 hours over 5-7 sessions

materials

6 items

steps

5 in sequence

materials

item	purpose	modern equivalent
Oil paints (including Raw Umber, White, and a limited palette of earth tones and complements)	Primary medium for painting; Raw Umber and White are specifically recommended for initial studies (Source 2).	—
Canvas	Support for the oil painting.	Linen or cotton canvas, primed with gesso or oil ground.
Charcoal	For initial drawing and shading to establish construction before paint is applied (Source 2).	Vine charcoal or compressed charcoal.
Turpentine	Solvent for thinning paint during initial layers and cleaning brushes (Source 2).	Odorless mineral spirits or pure gum turpentine.
Dry brush	For modeling forms in the charcoal stage and potentially for dry-brush techniques in paint (Source 2).	Stiff bristle brush.
Hand-glass (small mirror)	To compare the drawing with the sitter/nature from a distance to check proportions and likeness (Source 2).	Small handheld mirror.

preparation

surface prep

The canvas should be prepared to accept oil paint. While Munch’s specific ground preparation for this late work is not detailed in the sources, standard practice for oil painting involves a stable, absorbent ground. The artist must understand the 'vital qualities' of the medium to avoid misdirected effort toward mere illusionism (Source 4).

underdrawing

Begin with a charcoal drawing. Do not hesitate to hold the brush or charcoal against the model’s face to ascertain length and proportions. Make the study slightly smaller than life. Shade in charcoal and use a dry brush to model forms. Place the drawing alongside the sitter, on a level with the face, and use a hand-glass to compare the drawing with nature from a distance. Make all corrections in the charcoal stage, as charcoal offers little resistance to correction, whereas correcting in paint is 'fatal to lucidity' (Source 2).

underpainting

Set the palette with raw umber and the softer white, using turpentine. Paint with the idea of going over the study at least three or four times. Do not put down paint with obvious errors in construction; ensure the charcoal underdrawing is accurate first (Source 2).

color palette

Raw Umber

Raw Umber pigment

Initial underpainting and setting the palette (Source 2).

White

White pigment (likely Lead White historically, Titanium White modern)

Lightening colors and mixing tints. Note: Adding white can cause hue shifts (e.g., reds shifting blue), which may need correction with adjacent colors (Source 6).

Complementary Colors

Pairs opposite on the color wheel (e.g., purplish-red and yellowish-green)

Neutralizing colors without shifting hue when darkening, or creating visual tension and harmony (Source 3, Source 6).

Analogous Colors

Colors near each other on the wheel

Creating stable harmony and mood, consistent with Munch’s expressive use of color (Source 3).

composition

The composition likely organizes visual elements such as line, shape, and value to guide the viewer’s eye and emphasize form (Source 8). In Munch’s practice, the background is rarely neutral; it often serves to encode the sitter’s character or social milieu, rather than being a 'totally black and without content' void (Source 5). The arrangement of the figure on the verandah likely uses the space to create a symbolic environment, consistent with the artist’s tendency to use setting as an expression of feeling (Source 4).

step by step

underdrawing→underpainting→first pass→refining→finishing

underdrawing

step 01
Draw the figure and setting in charcoal on the canvas. Use a dry brush to model forms lightly. Check proportions by holding the brush against the model’s face and comparing the drawing to the sitter using a hand-glass from a distance.
Tip — Correct all errors in charcoal before applying paint. Do not fear perplexities; correcting in paint is fatal to lucidity (Source 2).
Charcoal underdrawing with mirror check

underpainting

step 02
Mix raw umber and white with turpentine. Apply a thin initial layer to establish values and basic forms. Plan for multiple sessions (3-4 times over the study).
Tip — Ensure the construction is sound before proceeding. Do not attempt to deceive the eye with mere illusion; focus on the vitality of the medium (Source 4).
Imprimatura/Underpainting

first pass

step 03
Begin applying color. Use complementary colors to darken hues without shifting them toward green or blue (e.g., add purplish-red to yellowish-green). If lightening with white causes a hue shift, correct with a small amount of an adjacent color.
Tip — Avoid adding black to darken, as it can cause undesirable hue shifts. Use complements instead (Source 6).
Color mixing and hue correction

refining

step 04
Develop the likeness and emotional expression. Focus on the face and hands if following traditional portrait hierarchy, though Munch often integrated the figure with the background. Use color harmony (analogous or split-complementary) to create mood.
Tip — Remember that art is an expression of feeling, not a substitute for nature. The painted symbols should be true to nature but in tune with the emotional idea (Source 4).
Color Harmony

finishing

step 05
Review the painting for overall harmony and structural integrity. Ensure that the 'painted symbols' remain visible as paint, not just a window into reality. Check that the composition guides the eye effectively.
Tip — Avoid 'smallness' or over-modeling. If you are too tied down to outline, refer to examples like Reynolds or Van Dyck for corrective study (Source 1).
Final assessment

critical techniques

Charcoal Underdrawing with Mirror Check

Essential for establishing accurate proportions and likeness before paint is applied. The mirror allows the artist to see the drawing and sitter simultaneously from a distance, avoiding scale distortions (Source 2).

Complementary Color Mixing

Used to darken colors without shifting their hue, preserving the integrity of the color while adjusting value. This is crucial for maintaining the specific mood and harmony intended by the artist (Source 6).

Expressive Symbolism

The artist uses the medium to express feeling rather than deceive the eye. The background and setting are treated as 'painted symbols' that contribute to the emotional narrative (Source 4).

common pitfalls

→Correcting errors in paint instead of charcoal, which leads to a loss of lucidity and muddy paint (Source 2).
→Adding black to darken colors, which causes undesirable hue shifts (e.g., yellows shifting green) (Source 6).
→Attempting to create a mere illusion of nature, thereby losing the 'vital expression' and emotional idea of the work (Source 4).
→Over-modeling or being too tied down to outlines, resulting in a 'small' or timid appearance (Source 1).

what the sources don't tell us

Where the corpus is silent, we say so rather than guess. These are the gaps a complete recreation guide would normally cover that our source passages don't.

·Specific visual details of 'Woman on the Verandah' (e.g., the sitter's clothing, facial expression, exact pose, and the verandah's architectural features) are not described in the sources.
·Munch's specific palette for this 1924 work is not detailed; general advice on raw umber and white is provided, but his late-career color choices may vary.
·The specific brushwork or texture techniques Munch used in this particular painting are not covered.
·The exact dimensions of the canvas are not provided.

grounded in

The technical procedure in this guide traces to the following classical art-instruction texts.

The Practice of Oil Painting↗
- ON COPYING — applied to Advice on avoiding over-modeling and smallness; selecting correctives for weaknesses.
- PAINTING FROM LIFE — applied to Charcoal underdrawing, mirror check, raw umber underpainting, and avoiding paint corrections.
The Practice and Science of Drawing↗
- XX MATERIALS — applied to Philosophy of medium: art as expression of feeling, not mere illusion; vitality of oil paint.

cross-referenced from

Named facts about this artwork and artist were checked against these reference pages.

Wikipedia: Harmony (color)↗
- Harmony (color) — part 1 — applied to Understanding color harmony types (complementary, analogous) for mood creation.
Wikipedia: Portrait painting↗
- Portrait painting — part 5 — applied to Portrait process: sketches, focus on face/hands, background as milieu/symbol.
Wikipedia: Color theory↗
- Color theory — part 6 — applied to Mixing pigments: using complements to darken without hue shift; correcting white-induced shifts.
Wikipedia: Composition (visual arts)↗
- Composition (visual arts) — part 1 — applied to General principles of composition: line, shape, value, form.

Read more about the corpus on the sources page and how the guides are built on the methods page.

read from the painting

observed from the image, not the label

6 dominant colors, measured

what the eye sees

A woman stands near a window, silhouetted against pale exterior light, wearing a long gray robe that reads as the central mass. Her face is turned toward the window light from the left, with her head tilted down in a contemplative pose. Behind her, a burgundy-red furniture shape anchors the composition at roughly the same height as her upper body. The window beyond shows a softly rendered landscape in cool blue-greens, creating a luminous backdrop that pulls the viewer's eye inward from the frame's edges.

value structure

The face and exposed throat form the lightest accent, catching the window light most directly. The robe reads as mid-dark value, creating a stable middle ground anchoring the figure. Deep brown-blacks define the shadowed side of the face, the window panes, and the furniture mass behind her. When you squint, three distinct value families emerge: bright (face), medium (robe and part of window), and dark (shadows, furniture, shadowed face).

observed palette and mixes

#948d7b
Yellow ochre + white + touch of raw sienna
Lit side of face and neck, warm flesh tones in the light
#667d87
Ultramarine blue + pale gray + white
Window opening and exterior landscape; cool, luminous middle-distant tones
#555040
Raw sienna + ultramarine + white
Main body of the robe; neutral mid-tone throughout the garment
#4c2218
Alizarin crimson + ultramarine or burnt sienna
Deep burgundy furniture behind the figure; bold red accents on the cheekbone (expressionistic shadow-red)
#33231b
Burnt umber + ultramarine + touch of alizarin
Dark brown shadows on the far side of the face; depth in the robe folds
#14100f
Ultramarine + alizarin + burnt sienna (mixed to near-black)
Darkest window panes; deepest shadow accents around the figure

edges and brushwork

Munch's brushwork here is deliberately visible and assertive—strokes follow the form of the robe and face but remain expressive, not photographic. The face edges are harder and sharper where light strikes (especially the profile line and the lit cheekbone), softening and dissolving where shadow consumes form. The robe is built with broad, directional strokes that suggest fabric movement and volume without tight modeling; the window and background remain loose and gestural, letting paint marks read as themselves.

a working sequence

01
Establish the drawing and composition
Lightly sketch the figure's gesture: head angle, shoulder slope, the drape of the robe. Block in the window rectangle and furniture mass behind. Keep the three-quarter head angle and downward gaze accurate—these are central to the melancholic mood. Ensure face proportions are clear at arm's length viewing distance.
02
Block in value masses with thin paint
Mix a neutral gray-brown (raw sienna + ultramarine) and block in the robe as one unified mid-dark shape. Lay in the dark furnishings and window panes as solid darks. Leave the face and neck largely bare or a very light wash. This establishes light-dark structure before color enters.
03
Establish the background and window
Paint the window opening as a unified pale blue-gray, suggesting distant landscape with minimal marks—a few soft horizontal strokes suffice. Keep this loose and atmospheric; the eye should read it as 'there is light beyond' without detail competing with the figure. Dark lines for window panes can be added lightly over this soft base.
04
Model the face with value and establish form
Block in the face shape with a warm mid-tone (yellow ochre + white). Begin indicating the major shadow areas: the far side of the face and the shadow under the cheekbone with a darker warm brown. The shadowed side must read visibly darker to establish three-dimensional form. Keep brushwork loose and directional.
05
Add expressive color and intensify the cheekbone
This is the emotional keystone: add bold red-pink (alizarin crimson, even pure) as an expressive shadow-accent on the lit cheekbone. This is not naturalistic skin tone—it is psychological and deliberate. Darken the far cheekbone with deep red-brown (alizarin + ultramarine). The contrast between these reds creates the painting's tension and mood.
06
Develop the robe with directional, visible brushwork
Build the robe with strokes that suggest volume and fabric weight. Use your gray-brown base mix, varying it slightly—add more sienna in lit areas, more blue in shadow areas. Make strokes follow the form downward and across the body, not just outline the silhouette. The robe should feel three-dimensional and held up by the figure's gesture, not flat.
07
Sharpen edges and unify the painting
Refine the hard edges where the lit face profile meets darker background. Strengthen the window panes and furniture darks for clarity. Step back and scan for value harmony—no stray bright spots or muddied mid-tones that break unity. Allow expressive brushstrokes to remain visible; tighten only the critical edges where light meets strong shadow. A final scumble of cool gray over parts of the robe can knit the lower half together.

where studies of this painting go wrong

The cheekbone reds are expressionistic, not naturalistic—resist the urge to tone them down or blend them into realistic skin tones. They are the emotional core of the painting and must read as intentional and bold.
Overworking the window background will flatten the composition and kill the sense of glancing outward. Keep it soft, loose, and understated—it should feel like a suggestion of space, not a studied landscape.
The robe can easily become a featureless dark blob if you don't model it with value shifts and directional brushstrokes. Show its form and fabric through visible paint marks and tonal variation, not smooth shading.
The downward gaze and tilted head angle are crucial to the painting's contemplative, melancholic mood. Incorrect head proportions or angle will undermine the psychological impact even if colors and values are technically correct.

measured difficulty