Work In Progress:
Suwanee River, Update 5
As with most pastel landscape
paintings I decided to do an underpainting.
But, just what is underpainting and
why do we do it? This is a question I kept asking myself as I watched many fine
pastel artists demonstrate. They all pretty much used the technique of
underpainting and I couldn’t grasp the purpose. Sometimes I would see a big
difference in the final painting and other times I was at a loss to see a big
change. So, in my usual modus operandi, I did some research. If I was going to
do an underpainting, I wanted to understand why doing so would make my
paintings better. Many of you already know the reasons for underpainting, but
for those who are unfamiliar with the technique or are still trying to grasp
the reasons for doing an underpainting, read on.
So, what is
an underpainting, as it applies to pastel painting? Underpainting is applying a
layer of color or gray-tone medium on a support or surface and then painting
over it with pastel. The under painting can be almost any medium – pastel,
watercolor, charcoal, acrylic, oil paint, gouache, ink, graphite. If it is a
liquid or semi liquid medium, it is usually thinned. If it is solid, such as
pastel, graphite or charcoal, it is usually applied lightly.
What is the
purpose of the underpainting? Sometimes it is used to develop the composition –
to work out the shapes, masses and value relationships – to be sure that the
structure of the painting is sound. We can also do this by producing value and
notan sketches but establishing the structure on the full size painting works
out any uncertainties that may not have been apparent in the value sketches.
Other
reasons for doing an underpainting are to develop the mood and feeling of the
painting and to provide a foundation to try other creative techniques.
The mood for the painting can be established through choice
of color for the underpainting.
One
important point to keep in mind is that, for the underpainting to work, it must
be allowed to poke through the overpainting here and there. It is this combination,
sitting in juxtaposition to one another that makes the painting work.
There are
two basic ways to do an underpainting. One involves just priming the support
with one or more colors, and the other is to produce a very loose painting
similar to the final. Priming generally covers the support with a uniform
color, although combinations of colors can be used, limited only by the
imagination of the artist.
A very
loose preliminary painting can also be undertaken as the underpainting. As I
mentioned earlier, this method helps to work out compositional issues prior to
the finished painting.
Whether
priming or loose painting, choice of colors for the underpainting has a marked
effect on the finished product. Many artists like to use neutral beige or mid
tone colors or earth tones for priming while others use complementary or
analogous colors, or a combination of them. Complementary colors can add
excitement to the painting, as they peer through the overpainting. Analogous
colors build harmony as they add support to the overlying color. Intensity of
the colors used also greatly affect the results. High intensity underpainting
colors left to show through here and there add much excitement to the painting.
Alternatively, low intensity underpainting colors can add balance and unity to
vibrant paintings.
Regardless
of whether the underpainting is complementary or analogous, it is a good idea,
when preparing the underpainting, to keep to the values established in the
preliminary value sketches. Likewise, the overpainting should be the same
values.
The underpainting
can also be a monotone value painting done loosely or in great detail.
Grisaille (pronounced greez-eye), used with transparent watercolors, is a fully
finished value drawing done in shades of gray or other monotone color, over
which transparent colors are glazed. Richard McKinley has used this technique many
times by preparing an initial line drawing in pastel, including values, applying
a clear gesso layer over the top to protect the drawing, then adding
transparent watercolor and finally pastel on top. The pastel layer was done lightly
in places to enhance and intensify the watercolor. Other choices for protecting
the initial drawing are Art Spectrum Clear Pastel Primer and Golden Acrylic
Ground for Pastel.
Underpaintings
can be composed of pastel, done dry or made wet, or can be composed of mixed
media. Dry pastel can be rubbed into the paper by various means but doesn’t
become permanent and can be altered by later applications of pastel over it.
More permanent applications result from wetting the pastel with mineral sprits,
turpenoid or water, either with a synthetic hair brush or spray bottle. The
pastel dries into the support and pastel can be applied over it without
affecting the underlying layer.
Mixed media
can also be used to produce the underpainting. As I mentioned at the top of
this discussion watercolor, gouache and acrylic, gesso, ink, graphite and
charcoal, and even thinned oil paints can be used. Even combinations of all
these media are possible.
If you want more information, Jan
Blencoe has a great discussion on Underpainting on her blog. I found her
discussion and examples very informative and clear. The discussion can be found
here:
thepoeticlandscape.com/2013/03/why-do-under-painting.html.
The first
step was to roughly sketch the drawing onto the pastel paper. I did this with
an ochre pastel pencil. The pastel paper is Pastelmat. The size of the painting
is 14 X 19 inches. I taped off the picture area to keep a clean edge.
I chose to
go a little conservative with the underpainting. I chose just a few colors to
establish the darks and lights and help support the final overpainting. In
order to add a bit of sparkle in the sunlit portions of the trees I used some
orange yellows, both for the foliage and for the reflections. For the shadows I
used dark blue. For the sky and the water reflections I used a light blue for
the higher reaches of the sky and a lighter, creamy color for the horizon –
where the sun, which is off to the left, was rising above the trees. The
cypress trees, which are in shadow, are very dark, so I used a very dark brown
and black.
All these
colors were done lightly with the side of the soft pastel stick. You’ll notice
that the painting was also done very loosely. I just wanted to get the basic
structures in place, in the approximate value I wanted (based on the value
sketch). The good thing about the pastel is that it is opaque and I can refine
and adjust as I progress.
After
applying the pastel, I went over it with a denatured alcohol and a synthetic
bristle brush. Wetting it all down embeds the pastel into the paper and make
the underpainting permanent. I could run my hand over the painting after it
dried and no pastel would come off. Yet, there is still plenty of tooth on the
paper to take the pastel.
After the
underpainting dried I started applying soft pastel to the surface, covering the
previous layer but allowing it to show through in places. The photo shows the
beginning stages of this work.
I’ll now
continue to add pastel over the underpainting to develop the true painting.
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