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Author: Michael_Georges, Contributing Editor
| Introduction
Many new painters have questions about underpainting. The thing to know about underpainting is that there are many ways to do it and each way will affect the resulting painting in different ways. Thus, you can study different types of underpainting to achieve differing effects. Underpainting is not absolutely necessary to oil painting and there are many artists who are accomplished enough to create alla prima with no underpainting. Many artists, including myself, have done underpainting in monochrome values similar to a black and white photo. The monochrome painting method has been used throughout the ages as not only an underpaininting method, but also a teaching tool. It is especially useful if you want to paint in a realistic manner. As you have expressed yourself, correct values in painting are a large part of any successful painting and correct values are vital in realism. Thereby, teachers have had students do full paintings in monochrome to teach value and how to effectively create a 3d impression on a 2d surface. The most recognized monochrome painting styles are grisaille (French) and verdaccio (Italian). The grisaille is basically based on neutral or warmish gray tones. The verdaccio is based on cooler gray-green tones. Verdaccio as used in underpainting can really enhance skin tones to create high realism. Others paint more directly - that is, they underpaint in the same colors they will use in the final painting. Generally, these painters tend to work from the very broad to the very specific and the first layers of paint laid down are their version of underpainting. Many tend to tone/neutralize the colors early on so they end up with an almost dead color rendering of the work as their underpainting. Still others will underpaint with complement colors as they feel that it can give a vibrancy to the final work. As you can see, you can spend many years studying differing types of underpainting and the effects they give. This article will address monochrome underpainting as a technique to help the beginning painter learn about value. This technique emphasizes both drawing and painting to create a detailed and realistic underpainting as a baseline for color application. |
| As a Teaching Tool
Here is a monochrome from a master: Odalisque in Grisaille, 1824–34 by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. This piece is thought by many to be a teaching tool to students in his studio. Ingres is thought to have used many different methods of underpainting from a red underpaint to more direct dead color methods. A painting like this would likely have been done as a demonstration to his students of how you can represent three-dimensional reality in a single hue. It is also an example of using this type of monochrome study as an underpainting as you can see the beginnings of a glaze over one of the curtain panels on the right side. :) |
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| Value and Chromatic Value
I learned and use a system of expressing values in paint that was originated by Alfred Munsell. Munsell's work was completely about color, but is extremely useful to the artist and I highly recommend that you read more about the Munsell Color System on the web - do a Google Search. Munsell expressed value as a measure of lightness. Munsell's scale of value ranges from Black at value 0 to White at value 10. It is important to distinguish that Munsell separated out Black and White from the hues listed above. From a monochromatic underpainting perspective then, we will be painting from dark to light in one monochromatic hue. When a color or hue has value, then it is expressed as a "Chromatic" value. Ultramarine Blue, for example has a chromatic value of 2 on the Munsell scale. The black and white value scale has no hue. Here is an example of a value scale: |
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| The Importance of Drawing
History has proven that master painters like Leonardo used very detailed drawings and Charoscuros under their paintings. These drawings or "cartoons" established their baseline form and the baseline "values" for their underpainting. That way, each step of their process served them as a map to the next step. The cartoon provides the map to the underpainting, which provides the map to the color stage, etc. So, I believe that it is important that you first establish your form and baseline values for your painting in charcoal - taking the cartoon to as much detail as you can. This will allow you to find and fix drawing errors and again, gives you a firm baseline on which to begin your verdaccio - not to mention giving you valuable skills rendering in charcoal. NOTE: Do not use graphite - graphite is slick, can leach through the paint, and is not recommended for drawing anything below a painted surface. When complete, you spray the work with a good quality Retouch Varnish to seal the charcoal a little and make the surface ready to receive your underpainting. Here is one of my charcoal renderings from a portrait commission - Chase & Peyton. It is an example of how far a charcoal can be taken. You may or may not choose to go this far - for me, I found that it really helped. |
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| The Controlled Palette
So for our underpainting, we are going to replicate the above value scale in paint and thereby paint with a palette of nine controlled values plus black and white. You can do this in almost any color, but for this article I will focus on the verdaccio (gray-green) method of underpainting made popular in Italy. The Verdaccio undertone I referred to is a gray-green mixture made with Chromium Oxide Green, Mars Black, and Lead White(Flake). I typically mix equal parts of Chromium Oxide Green to Mars Black to get a value 2 (Munsell scale) - this is my base pile from which I mix all others. I then darken some of it with Mars Black to create a pile at value 1, and lighten the rest with Flake White to create piles at values 3-9. You can also experiment with Yellow Ochre, Mars Black, Red Ochre, and Lead White to create a variant of the verdaccio tones. You would mix the Ochre and the Black to create a green, and use the Red Ochre to knock it down in intensity. Here are the approximate verdaccio values in our controlled palette: |
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