Underpainting: a struggle to simplify

[Karin Wells]

There are MANY ways to do an underpainting and I am (hopefully) trying to teach the easiest one that I know. Although each technique has different rules I believe that the principles are the same in all of them. First of all, try to grasp the principles and then you will find what easily works for you.

My main concern is that, if I don't (lighten the value}, the underpainting will dominate the later layers, especially the shadows, and prevent me from putting life into them.

Yes, this is exactly the reason an underpainting must be kept light.

I take your point about adding the half-tones in the later layers.

Wrong. If I conveyed this, I am sorry.

The whole point of an underpainting is to establish the areas of general light and general shadow. And resolve the halftone...that area between light and shadow.

When your underpainting is complete, you will have to build areas of light and highlight within the underpainting's defined areas of general light. The underpainting's general light is darker than the light built in the upper layers when the painting is finished.

Also, when your underpainting is complete, you will have to build areas of warm thin shadow and dark hotter cast shadows within the underpainting's defined general shadow. The underpainting's general shadow will be lighter than the shadows when the painting is finished.

Between these areas of light and shadow in the underpainting lies the halftone. This halftone is what will show through into the top layers. i.e., The halftone is painted once - in the underpainting. The light has many layers of opaque paint in the upper layers on top of your underpainting . Your shadows are oftentimes only thin glazes on top of the original underpainting.

I hope that this is getting somewhat clearer. I do plan to write a book or CD showing and explaining this technique step by step - it is so darn easy when you can see it.

[Clive Fullagar]

Well, here is the second attempt. Let me just reiterate what I was trying to achieve here. Primarily, I wanted to lighten and simplify the value range, taking out the pure raw umbers and whites at the ends of the range. The initial attempt would have led to problems with shadows further down the process. I have also tried to smooth out texture as (as I understand it) this is something that should be reserved for later stages. Alas, I have not erased all detail (e.g., the glasses and the eyes). I somehow found this difficult to let go of.

[Karin Wells]

You're close but no cigar.

Bite the bullet, lose the reflected light and the glasses and eyes.

Hat brim: top right and wherever you can on the left - lose the edges. Don't outline at this stage.

Hat band: Lose the highlight.

Where the light meets the shadow on the left side of the face (as I view it) is way off. You need a LOT more work on the transition between light and shadow. i.e., the chin structure and the shadow from the eyeglasses is not correct. Even though the object is to lose the "details" the goal is to achieve a "dead on" likeness at this stage.

Jacket. Think form. Define true shadow from halftone. i.e., take another look at the collar. Make your light flat - even though you do not see it this way. Make your shadow flat. Make the transistion between the two extrememly accurate.

Successfull underpainting is in the accurate depiction of the transition between light and shadow.

Light can transition quickly into shadow.

And light can transition slowly into shadow.

And the quality with which you depict this transition is the foundation of your entire painting. Mastering a halftone can elevate you into the "pro" category and is worth the effort.

[Clive Fullagar]

Karin,

I really appreciate your input on this one, and I hope that I am not your only pupil here. From my perspective, what is happening on this thread is addressing many of the originating reasons for this forum. So I am going to ask you to bear with me for a little longer on this one. I see myself as your typical pupil rather than a gifted one, and as such I am going to make mistakes. So with that said, rather than rehashing this image I am going to start from scratch and see if the third attempt gets me that cigar. Again many thanks for your time and effort.

[Karin Wells]

For starters, you would not believe how many times I repainted the same darn painting -- over and over -- until I finally got it right. Then typically I would goof up and fail to apply what I learned to the next one.

However, as you learn this, you can look forward to not having to repaint the next one as many times. I think that you can only learn from mistakes, so don't be afraid to make lots of them. I can hang in here as long as you can and I really appreciate your willingness to not give up just because it is getting tough.

I hope that "starting over" means beginning on a fresh canvas. I think it will really help you in the long run to document your progress in order to see how you resolved each problem.

As far as talent goes, I think you have a sufficient amount of it to become a really good painter. What you and most of the others lack (to varying degrees) is knowledge.

[Karin Wells]

NOTE: This reply is to a (deleted) question slightly off subject, but still informative so I am leaving it in this thread. - Karin

Shadows are indeed a compositional element. And with the particular approach that I am trying to explain, the cast shadows within those shadows are subcompositional elements to be added into the upper layers.

Also, a narrow range of tones clearly defined in an underpainting will unify a composition. A broad range of value will oftentimes fragment a composition.

Underpainting is the most basic foundation for a painting, and as a foundation, it will not have all of the value range of a finished piece.

Underpainting is not supposed to deal with hue, chroma, or color, but is meant to be a solid foundation that forms the bed for it to lie on.

Oil paint is translucent -- not opaque as most imagine. The underpainting shows through the upper layers and will make a painting sing.

Underpainting does indeed require one to think ahead and it resolves your composition early on. I feel that this is an advantage, but there are those who may find the method limits them. All points of view are certainly OK, as long as the result is a good painting.

[Clive Fullagar]

O.K., jettisoned the last effort and started from scratch. I felt that in the last attempt I was trying to rectify mistakes after the paint had dried and this did not work. Lesson learnt - it is difficult to overpaint an underpainting. My suggestion is that if it doesn't work the first time, start again. This is a little smaller than the last (10" x 8"). My apologies for the quality of the picture - the paint is still wet otherwise I would have scanned it.

[Karin Wells]

OK, it's time to get radical. I took the liberty of altering your painting to show you the following:

Flatten your lights.

Flatten your shadows and lose some edges.

Ignore reflected light at this stage.

Massing areas of dark and light will help to establish a strong composition and help to unify your finished painting. This first stage can look very "poster-like." All the "painterly" stuff should be saved for the upper layers of color.

At this first stage, pay the utmost attention only to where and exactly how the light meets the shadow (halftone).

Each and every object in a painting has a light and shadow -- only these two extremes of value -- and the range in between where the two meet.

This is the stage where you make or break your composition because it is so easy to see mistakes in an "abstract" form. This abstraction is the solid base upon which you will build "reality."

Once the halftone (light meets shadow) is correct, let it dry and then you can begin to model the form and finish the underpainting with more detail.

Your mistake thus far has been to jump into detail too soon (i.e., eyes, highlights, accents and so on). The really hard work is the halftone.

Because I am not particularly good in Photoshop, I have been unable to show you here how exact this halftone needs to be. You must force yourself to eliminate the superficial details within light and shadow and concentrate on establishing this halftone first.

[Clive Fullagar]

Karin,

The light-bulb has just come on. To relate to another thread on this Forum, I think I have been using underpainting as though it was "sauce!" You are teaching me to get rid of the ketchup. I can exactly see where you are going with this now. Actually, I had a hint that I was going down the wrong path when I looked at some of your paintings (which are wonderful). I really want to thank you for all the effort that you have put into this thread. I am working on another portrait at the moment (not using underpainting) but I will try and get to this sometime this week (also to give you a break!). Once again, I will start with a new canvas, but, believe me, I am having fun with this. I am learning more from this Forum than I have in the last ten years. Have a great Thanksgiving.

[Karin Wells]

I am so glad to see that you got it - whew! It has taken me a couple of days to figure out how to explain this and be as clear as possible. You have made it worth my efforts and now I have something else to celebrate this Thanksgiving.

Thanks, and a happy Thanksgiving to you too Clive.