Question from a foreigner.

[Allan Rahbek]

Thank you, Clayton,
"opaque color" must be the answer to both "body -" and "dead color".

By the way, I really enjoy looking at the paintings you posted lately, I wish that I could see you paint.

[Alexandra Tyng]

Allan, I'm not sure what "dead color" actually means, but I have always assumed it meant the overall color of something, the color you would put down first after drawing the outlines of the major forms. It could be tending toward a midtone, maybe slightly greyed, but never the lightest you are going to go with the color.

To me, the term "dead" means that the painting has no light in it yet at that stage. So, in other words, the painting comes "alive" with the application of the colors in the light. And of course the "life" is further enhanced by the addition of deep shadows.

It's pretty similar to what Clayton is saying, I think.

[SB Wang]

He is dead, he is alive...
http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/

[Richard Bingham]

Parkhurst is worth the read. As with everyone who writes on the subject of color, the problem is the same as attempting to communicate the concept of "color" to someone who has been blind since birth.

The term "dead layer" has been generally applied to a grisaille underpainting. In this case, I think Parkhurst is referring to a layered approach in painting (i.e., solving form and value in monotone and overpainting/glazing color in layers) as opposed to the Impressionists' a primier coup method, using "pure" color, and painting wet into wet.

"Dead color" as a critical observation is, of course, a personal value judgment. Anyone who has painted very long at all recognizes that "muddy color" doesn't reside in the paint itself, but results from bad values and unhappy combinations in placement.

I'd hazard that by "body color" he means "local color" or "mass tone".

[SB Wang]

body color or bodycolor - An opaque paint. Transparent colors are often made opaque by mixing them with some gouache or some opaque white. Often considered synonymous with gouache. Body color has sometimes been used in local areas in drawings, and sometimes as a general medium.

Also see whiting.

An example of a work employing bodycolor:

Honor