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See art in a fresh way.

When I was an art student in the late 70's the only way I could find out how an artist like Rembrandt worked was through books that described the process. One of the books I read (I don't recall its name) outlined 3 different methods for making an underpainting. I experimented with all three and I arrived at the below method.

It enables me to continuously work. I am not waiting days for the surface to be dry to apply the next layer.

The other thing I like is the colors I use, which give off a sheen that looks a bit like graphite or fine charcoal drawing. Below I will describe how I get that.
 

For paint, I use titanium white, yellow ochre, raw umber, and mars black.

For medium, I use 3 parts turpenoid, 1 part Dammar varnish, and 1 part stand oil.

Mediums and paints are a bit tricky. The idea is that the starting layers dry quicker and the painting's last touches in color dry slowly. If you reverse this process, if you paint lean over fat, your painting will crack!

Different colors also dry at different speeds. Earth colors tend to dry quickly, which makes them convenient for underpainting.

You start with lean and end with fat--more turp in the beginning and more stand oil at the end. Somewhere in the middle of the process I like 3 equal parts of Dammar varnish, stand oil, and turpenoid.

For the grisaille underpainting we are concerned with using lean medium. 3-1-1 (3 parts turpenoid, 1 part Dammar varnish, and 1 part stand oil.)

Step 1:

I use vine charcoal to grid the canvas and to draw in outlines of the objects. You can see some of the square grid underneath the white cloth.

I block out the entire painting into tonal groups. That means I might group together several things under one brown/gray tone.

I use enough medium with the paint to give the consistency of liquid butter.

When I block out areas I try to make the most pleasing neutral color tone using white, raw umber, and black. The idea is to make it neither brown nor black/gray, but a soft middle ground. If it looks like graphite, I am in business.

Note: some charcoal invariably gets mixed in with the paint; simply use artistic license, don't freak out, just keep the effects you like.

After I block out the image I begin to develop the major forms by darkening and molding the forms and shadows.

Be careful with using brown to darken.

Now the tricky part starts. I try to be very careful about not making the painting brown. If you layer continuous browns, the brown simply builds in a dense richness. If you are making a dark tunnel, background, or hole, the brown won't dissipate into depth. But it will just sit on the surface of your canvas like a cow deposit!

To solve this I use black mixed with a bit of white for darkening. This gives an airy coolness to your shadows and it works great for molding the forms.

Now I use a bit more paint mixed with the medium, something like room-temperature butter.
 

I use 3 brushes: a cool black/gray for darkening; a warm tone (raw umber and white) for lightening; and yellow ochre with white for my brightest hightlights.

When I go into lightening a shadow or  molding light areas, I don't use black anymore. Rather, I use white and raw umber (burnt umber is not the same thing, it is way too rich of a color for this process.)

If you only use a white and black combo for both darkening and lightening, your image will look like death! That hideous pasty gray drained look. You might tell yourself that the painting will look better when you get to color, but I always like it to have a robust healthy look to it while I am developing it.

Step 5:

For the brightest highlights, on the white silk cloth for instance, I use hint of yellow ochre mixed with white.

Often, I find that if I mix the light paint with medium it does not adequately cover. I will then use a scumbling technique: using a dry brush, I mixed up the light color that I want using no medium, just pure paint. Then I wipe  the excess paint off on a paper towel, and then gently drag the brush over the area I want to lighten. This creates a gauze-like effect.

Note: if you plan to work a long time on the painting be careful not to built up too much paint, as the built up texture will compete with the details for attention.

Step 6:

Darkening my bright light areas I will use a very light gray, white mixed with black and medium.

With a deep breath and a ton of anticipation you are ready to overlay the grisaille underpainting with color!

Michael Newberry
New York, September 26, 2007