"Hello
Paul,
I am a beginner and am trying to experiment and teach myself
oil painting. My basic problem is that I can't work out
which colour should be used for the underpainting and initial
layers. Can I assume it depends on the main colours in
the painting/picture and if so, is there some way that
I can look for the right ones?"
Painting Companion
Query - Gina from United Arab Emirates
USE
THE FOLLOWING IN CONJUNCTION WITH PART 2
WHICH FEATURES
A DETAILED STEP-BY-STEP TUTORIAL
This is such a common dilemma,
as it is one faced by all those starting out in oil
painting; not to mention many who already paint and
wish to develop their skills into the traditional
method of painting in layers.
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A portrait, composed
mainly of warm colours, will benefit from underlying
cool colours such as blue or green.
On the other hand, the cool blue of a sky can
be excited, by being painted over a warm orange
or brown. |
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The principal function of an underpainting layer is
to remove all traces of white so that you are painting
colour on colour. In oil painting there is also a secondary
element, that of developing texture, which can be exploited
in layers to come.
Colours of an underpainting can simply be an overall
wash that is laid to contrast against the nature of the
subject on which it is to be painted.
However, since there are no rules, almost any colours
will suffice. As you will see in Common Problems, I like
to start on a canvas or board that has been the recipient
of unused paint scraped from my painting palette at the
end of a painting session.
Since oil painting depends on layers of colour and their
effects on one another, it is generally the aim to never
completely overpaint any layer. Allowing tiny accents
of the underpainting to show through can mean that its
colour could be used as an important element of the painting's
structure
.Here I show three ways in
which the same painting can be made to differ through
underpainting in different colours. |
