Oil painting lessons - Underpainting

Posted: Jan 17, 2011 |

This is literally the first coat of color for the painting. Basic colors, without fussy details, are applied in large areas in a thin wash. Just like the drawing, this step allows you to experiment with the layout of your painting and still be able to make changes. Again, stand back from the painting and assess your progress.We blocked in the colors for the lighthouse, trees, water, and sky in a general manner to achieve the underpainting.

Underpainting also allows you to establish the basic colors of the forms. They can match the final layer of paint exactly or they can be contrasting, with small points of contrasting paint peeking through the later layers.

At key stages of a painting, take stock of your work. Stop and back up from your painting to assess your progress. Don't be overly critical. Your drawing should look something like a thumbnail sketch done in color. The underpainting looks like a very simplified version of your goal.

When you finish the areas of flat color, back up at least 6 feet from the canvas. Use your imagination to envision how the painting will look when you add the lights and darks. Now is the time to critically assess your work. Check for lines that should be level, relative sizes of items, and the placement of forms. You can use your viewfinder to look at both the painting and the image that you have to help you focus. You can use your paintbrush handle to check the baselines of objects and the axis of an object.

If you aren't happy with the underpainting, changing it is easy. But remember never to try to wash paint off your canvas with any liquid or solvent. If you have a huge thick mistake, scrape if off with your palette knife and then let the scraped surface dry before painting over it.

Make any changes you need to at this stage. You should have only about 20 minutes of painting time invested in this, so don't be afraid of changing your forms.

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