Grisaille Underpainting

Art Lesson 35, Part 4

Grisaille Underpainting process

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Grisaille Underpainting

In this video lesson on Glazing method, we will see another way of preparing an Underpainting. In this case, we do it in White Highlights only. We need nothing more than Titanium White and soft Synthetic Brushes; no is Medium required. The process is very fast and simple – we apply the paint to the canvas and softly rub it into the surface, spreading from the thicker layer to all sides, gradually varying the density of the paint. In the lightened parts, the paint remains dense, in halftones. We thinly spread it, allowing the Imprimatura color be visible through the White passages.

We can say that we are only interested in lights, leaving shadows aside. The effect of this painting manner creates a very pleasant, velvety look. At some point, when the paint is softly distributed, we have to stop. Otherwise, an excess amount of paint will complicate the process.

We placed the painting aside for drying; now that it has become completely dry, proceed with building up an additional volume of the paint. A new layer of White paint can be imposed even more densely over the already dried White Underpainting. The soft flat brushes gently smooth out the paint all over the surface.

As you see, this approach was very simple. We concentrated only on the shape of the face and worked from the lightest areas of the face to the shades.

In the next video lesson, we will complete the painting in Glazing and Velatura layers.