The value underpainting has dried and for the next three days I got to swathe my baby in transparent jewel tones! First came the ultramarine blue, present on every square inch of the painting in various amounts. The berries received a deep toning, the leaves less, and the unripened fruit only a touch, but what I was looking at started to feel more real. Once the blue had thoroughly dried, the next transparent pigment on Day saw the emergence of leaves — I use “Stil de Grain,” a rich deep yellow which lightly coated the ultramarine to produce a clean soft green. The final primary - red - enriched the blue berries, ripening the berries into a purpled richness. We are six layers in and….
I have painted with artists who fall in love with the underpainting and stop there. It’s certainly a temptation but now the pace is quickening, as is my pulse. But only when red, the final primary, has set do I get to lay out my whole palette to include all of the pigments which did not merit a layer in the underpainting. The sky’s the limit.
Now I can start to paint!!!!!!!
I have painted with artists who fall in love with the underpainting and stop there. It’s certainly a temptation but now the pace is quickening, as is my pulse. But only when red, the final primary, has set do I get to lay out my whole palette to include all of the pigments which did not merit a layer in the underpainting. The sky’s the limit.
Now I can start to paint!!!!!!!
RSS Feed
