Saturday, August 21, 2010

Underpainting With Two Values For Clarity



This was painted over a two value underpainting.   The advantage of starting with a two value underpainting is you automatically set up a very strong light /dark relationship.  It's easy to intrepret subjects into two values simply by squinting at your subject.    I forgot to photograph the underpainting so I recreated it in paintshop.  (see below)  Note how  much information about the subject is communicated with just two values.   The lights in the underpainting were painted with a mix of burnt sienna and alizarin crimson.  The dark was just a dark grey which was then tinted with the light mixture.     I then palette mixed and painted in the various home colors.  To help control saturation,  I used thin washes of paint over the sky and light areas of the gravel, and thicker applications in the grasses and buildings.  It's 11x14 on canvas panel. 

 This is a photoshop recreation of the two value underpainting:



Reference Photo:

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