The Drawing EZine. The Drawing Ezine. Underpainting for Luminous Flesh Tones in Watercolor. Artacademy.com

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1 The Drawing EZine Artacademy.com The Drawing Ezine Underpainting for Luminous Flesh Tones in Watercolor There are many methods to painting flesh. The medium you choose to work in will, in great part, dictate the methodology. The method that I will present in this lesson works best with watercolor and egg tempera. With modifications, it can also be used with oil and acrylic. Whatever medium you are using, however, the primary impetus is to achieve a transculent effect that convincingly imparts the warm and cool hues and tones of flesh. Needless to say, one should have a strong command of drawing before embarking on the many challenges of painting. That said, your choice of underpainting will determine the emotional timbre of the finished painting. Painting the figure in watercolour is a beautiful demonstration, I m inspired to get my watercolours out and try out the technique, its outstanding the modelling of 3D form, the rich darks and the luminous flesh. Without a doubt one of the best figurative works in watercolour that I have seen. Brian Brown, Ontario, Canada

2 A contemporary approach is to use a blue underpainting. The color theory is the same, but the emotional effect is very different. Consider for a moment the emotional/symbolic effect of the color Yellow : it is the color of the sun; physically it is a warm, soothing color; symbolically it speaks of sureness and stability a rational, moral universe. Blue is generally a cool color; emotionally it generally has a melancholic quality and speaks of immateriality irrationality and unsureness. My preference is for the Cobalt Blue underpainting. You can also use Cerulean Blue (which is more difficult) for a cooler, more greenish effect or Ultramarine for darker, warmer flesh tones. In my selfportrait I also used a Yellow Ochre underpainting for the jersey that I was wearing. The objective with this underpainting is to articulate the form and light/dark patterns while being careful to keep the paint translucent. In other words: a light masterful touch. This underpainting is a two-step endeavor. Once the Cobalt Blue is dry I proceed with its Primary Compound Complement, a mixture of Terre Verte and Raw (or Burnt) Umber.

3 This is the color theory: Complementary colors sit opposite each other on the color wheel (Itten s color wheel to be precise). There are several levels of complementaries, i.e., Blue/Orange are direct complementaries; Violet/Olive Green (or Terre Verte) are second level complementaries; Green/Russet (or Burnt Umber) are tertiary complements (third level). And finally, the admixture of Olive Green and Russet produces a Compound (or Quadratiary) Color which is the Primary Compound Complement for Blue. That s a lot of theory for one paragraph. In a nutshell, placing the Primary Compound Complements next to each other produces an elegant color effect. Glazing the Primary Compound Complement over the Primary color (Blue) produces a glowing, mother-of-pearl effect. It is this glowing, motherof-pearl effect that we want for underpainting flesh tones. The painter s term for this effect is grissaille. Again, it is critical that your washes remain translucent. With experience you will learn just how far you can develop the grissaille. The jersey (initial wash was Yellow Ochre) was further developed with Yellow s Primary Compound Complement which is Charcoal Gray. In theory, Charcoal Gray is a mixture of the tertiary colors Russet and Slate. In practice Payne s Gray or Ivory Black is used.

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5 Once the grissaille is completely dry the overpainting begins. This is where your reds and yellows and exquisitely mixed greens and blues are applied. Observation and knowledge is key here. Were this tutorial to go to 30 or more pages I could fully elaborate on the color sequence. But your first agenda is to acquire a competence in painting grissailles. Until that is accomplished there is little to be gained from pushing further. Your skill development will proceed much more rapidly by building a solid tool-box of skills rather than attempting to finish many paintings. This same approach can also be used, with modifications, when painting premier coup or first-strike. For this 45 minute pose (and believe me, 45 minutes seems like 5 minutes when you re painting) I quickly blocked in the light/dark pattern with a Cobalt Blue/Burnt Sienna mix. In watercolor Cobalt Blue and Burnt Sienna produce a lovely grayish hue that is also an excellent underpainting. Most of my time was spent coaching the paint to dry. I never use a hair-dryer (it literally kills the paint); instead I placed it a discrete distance from a steaming, clanging radiator. The reds that I used were Light Red, Venetian Red (both of them Oxides) and a wee touch of Sennelier Red (similar to Cadmium Red Light, but a little bluer). The paper used was Arches 140lb Hot Press which has a smooth, slick surface. All rights reserved

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