Underpainting study
 

This is a first attempt to try an underpainting for a portrait. It is 14 x 11 and I used raw umber with titanium white.

It definitely has helped in establishing my tones and I see some things I hope to work out in the next phase. I am curious to see what happens when I start to apply more color.

Since this is in the critique forum, any suggestions welcome. Thanks.

Hopefully, the file will show up this time!

I know that you probably want to "vignette" the lower part of this, but this is not the stage to do it in.

In an underpainting, make your drawing clear, concise and always define your edges - don't fudge it. You can lose and find your edges, but be accurate. Define those sleeves and arms.

I'm not sure what I am seeing on my computer screen (and I could be wrong) but the tones look uneven in this painting. I hope you are working in thick enough paint. You shouldn't be thinning your paint with anything at this stage.

Thanks, Karin. Didn't know what to do at that point because I knew that it wasn't all going to be clearly defined in that area.

For some reason, I missed your last paragraph. I am thinning with linseed oil. The water mixable paints can get sticky so it helps to have a bit of the linseed oil. And, yes, it is a thin layer of paint. Have I gone about it all wrong :o ?

Ouch, water mixable paints sound awful....try Genesis if you want non-toxic, easy-to-use oils.

Anyhow, if your underpainting is splotchy, it will show through into the upperlayers and ruin them. Thick paint underneath is the way to eliminate this.

Thanks, Karin. So I need to use thick paint without any medium. I thought it looked on the "splotchy" side too but thought I could smooth it out when I added color. If it shows through, I'd better fix it!!

The water mixable paints are oils, they just clean up with water. I like them but I haven't used traditional oils in 20 years so I don't have anything to compare them to. I hate the smell of turpentine as it gives me a headache. The Genesis paints are intriguing...

Thanks again and I'll post the "fixed" underpainting.

Virginia,

Turpenoid doesn't have a smell. I accidentally bought a tube water mixable oil paint and I didn't like it. There are other brush cleaners that do not have a smell.

I know that you are planning on adding to your underpaint so I wanted to offer one observation. The face seems a little elongated to me. This may be how the subject looks, though. If that's the case, ignore my post! The detail in the eyes, hair, and shirt look good.

Virginia,

Be very careful to clarify your general areas of light and general areas of shadow at the beginning of your painting.

Is this distinction clear in your reference photograph? Could you post it?

Karin,

One question about thinning paint to use for an underpaint. I am trying the flake white replacement instead of the flake white and have found a major difference in the consistency of the two. The replacement seems chalky and not as easy to mix. To remedy this, I have mixed a very small amount of mineral spirits to the FW replacement until is about the same buttery texture as FW. I haven't noticed a problem with my recent underpaints, so will this affect the painting in the long term or while I'm working?

Thanks,
Renee Price

Renee, I really have no idea why you are having this problem.

I use Gamblin's Flake White Replacement and I can't imagine ever having to thin it. Maybe you are using an old tube? Maybe the oil separated out? Seriously, I urge you to NOT thin it unless it is completely unworkable...in which case, maybe you need a fresh tube of this paint.

I have never noticed this it is "chalky" but I have never really compared it to the leaded white either. Are you using Gamblin paint?

Here is the reference photo. As you can see there is no strong light source but at least you can tell from what direction it is coming. Also, Renee, she does have a long face but is still a cutey.

Virginia,

Very good likeness-- and you're right, she is a cutey! Beautiful blue eyes! If you can, would you post your progress on this painting?

Karin,

Yes, it is Gamblin FW replacement. I will buy another tube today. I can't use Flake White anymore because I have a degenerative nerve disease and my doctor advised me not to use leaded paint.

Renee Price

As I see it, your light source is not too high and from the right. The very first stages of your underpainting need to clearly define light and shadow.

SIMPLIFY!

Detail is is not appropriate here and will be added into the upper layers.

This is a crude example (sorry) - but in thick paint your first layer might look something like this example below.

In this stage, be sure to keep your light FLAT. Your Shadows are FLAT too. The blending (which I do not show) is where the light MEETS the shadow (called the halftone). How you handle the creation of the halftone is how you will determine your form...

This is how the portrait might begin to look as you began to glaze in color and add details.

Please note that I have NOT blended the light and shadow to create a halftone...this is because I wish to emphasize the clear division of light and shadow. Of course, you would must blend these and create the halftone before adding color.

The division between light and shadow does not have to be so obvious (contrasty) as it is in these examples above and below. (Again, if I blended it, you might not be able to "see" it).

The Old Masters, were really clear on their areas of light and shadow, but with their subtle halftones, most people cannot "see" what they have done....hopefully this example shows it.

However, it must be there....and you must honor this division in ALL of your layers.

Am I helping here, or am I just confusing you?

Karin,

What I did in Sunday Afternoon and Two for Tea (I have not posted), was lose the halftones. For a very large painting I'm doing now, I have darkened the halftones to make more of a distinction between shadows, halftones, and light. Trial and error! :sunnysmil

Renee Price

As my nine year old son would say about your photos...Way Cool! It definitely helps. When you are painting, do you print off something like the first photo you posted? It really does help just simplifying lights and darks. What program do you use?

I am not sure where to go from the one I have started. It is a commission and I am worried if I cover up her eyes, for example, I will have a hard time getting them right again. I might try working around them...?

Thanks again Karin. I appreciate the time you have devoted to this post!!! These are valuable lessons that I am going to print off and put in my files. Would love to know what program you used.

Thanks, Renee, for your comments too! :)

Sometimes, when I am working from a poor photograph, and I cannot see where the light is, I look at it this way. I use Photoshop for this. There is a less expensive program that Cynthia uses and I remember a post about this somewhere.

Do whatever you have to do that works for you.

Next time, however, do a tracing on acetate from your drawing at the beginning. You can see through it and can use it to guide you to add the details in the upper layers where they belong. You must start simple and then move on to the complex...

Renee, I am not sure I understand how you would "darken your halftones."

A halftone is created on a surface when the light meets the shadow. It is a mixture of both.

Therefore,

THE VALUE OF THE HALFTONE CANNOT BE AS DARK AS THE SHADOW.

and also,

THE VALUE OF THE HALFTONE CANNOT BE AS LIGHT AS THE LIGHT.

(In order to get this all to happen you will need to clearly define your light and your shadows.)

Here is an illustration from my painting: "Jessie and Bunny."

The closeup is of a halftone. It is that area that is "blueish"...remember, halftones are cool.

That cool area is neither light nor shadow...it is half-tone.