Finshed underpainting...progress pic

[campsart]

Finished the underpainting. I guess I should call this a grisaille more than a verdaccio. The face and hands in the original are slightly gray-green. I posted this pic in grayscale because it eliminated most but not all of the streaks that result from the poor scan. I really do need to break down and purchase a digital camera. I'll start to lay in the colour ASAP! I will work out further value ranges and detail as I apply the colour.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/01-Jul-2001/mountainmanWC4.jpg

David..."the hobbyist" www.home.earthlink.net/~campsart

[Verdaccio]

God David....that is truely amazing! Great work! BTW: What size is this? I am doing to color on the Fairy girl - it is giving me fits! :(

[Shirl]

Ooooooh!! Can hardly wait for the finished painting. This is wonderful. You're really going to get great depth with that background.

Michael: Don't you DARE mess up that painting!! :)

Shirl

[campsart]

Michael...

This piece is only 12x16. I kept it small because I was so eager to try an underpainting and I knew I wouldn't be able to stand waiting to get to the colour. Forgive me for "feeding" on your despair but I have to tell you, it gives me hope to here a pro like you sometimes struggles. I'm sure it's coming out great! It would be nice to see where you're at on it but I'm sure you won't post until it's "just right". Wouldn't it be cool if we could, in a cost effective way, have the underpainting reproduced onto a decent paper that you could experiment with before slapping the paint to the original? Maybe some kind of high-quality photostat? I wonder if a photostat could be glued to a panel, then seal it with varnish, then workout the color scheme? Although I would doubt these practice pieces would have much of any archival characteristic, they would be great to have as a collection for posterity or instructional examples. I might try something like this. Thanks for the comments.

Shirl...

I lost some detail in the background when scanning this image. It's lighter than this and the additional tree is almost non existent. I lightend the BG a little, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, so the subject's hat would stand out a little more. Thanks for the feedback. BTW...I really liked your horse you posted!

David

[Verdaccio]

David:

The first coat of paint on the flesh tones always gives me trouble - I rarely get it right the first time. THe subject always ends up looking dead or dull - too gray here, not enough blood tone there. Combine that with a deep foresty background - in dull earthy shadow - and you have a real dull effect. :(

I started painting the wings late yestereday - just to get some color into the thing! Today should be better - I will take a couple of progress shots and post them.

I usually do a color study from my underpainting - print out the shot of it and take it to kinko's. Get a color copy upsized to fit in 11x17 and color on that - it is crude but it works.

[Raffaele]

David,

This is really coming along. Superb! Remember, build up your darks. Use very thin glazes. If not happy rub out immediately. Take your time. With this beautiful underpainting, the end result in colour, will be magnificent.

[campsart]

Originally posted by Raffaele
David,

This is really coming along. Superb! Remember, build up your darks. Use very thin glazes. If not happy rub out immediately. Take your time. With this beautiful underpainting, the end result in colour, will be magnificent.

Thanks Raffaele...

I posted some work I've done on it so far. I will take my time but I can see where verdaccio was right in saying that with a complete underpainting the work is 90% complete...amazing! I love this approach!

David...www.home.earthlink.net/~campsart