Oil painting techniques

Wipe-off UNDERPAINTING

This is the technique I use for paintings with deep shadows and contrasting highlights. Chiaroscuro is the correct name

I draw lightly onto the bare canvas with a thin acrylic colour - mainly raw umber.

Over this I cover the whole canvas in an umber, with a good amount of medium, making it as dark as I can achieve whilst still being able to discern the drawing underneath.

The tones of the picture are wiped out with a cloth and cotton buds for detail. This is a gradual process, pressing harder with the cloth to increase the lightest areas.

Grisaille UNDERPAINTING

This is the technique I use for a lighter composition and softer feel

Although technically a grisaille means a grey tone, I use various colours for the background depending upon the hue of a picture. Alizarin Crimson for a warmer composition and ultramarine blue mixed with paynes grey for a cooler tone.

I always begin with a pencil drawing directly onto the canvas. This is then sealed in place with a thin transparent wash of acrylic, using the warm or cool colour I’ve chosen. From there the underpainting is built in layers of oil paint using the background colour and white.

Once dry, I work with glazes to create shadows, and opaque colours for the medium tones. The lightest areas of the picture use the thickest paint.

Most paintings require at least 4 layers to create the depth, letting the picture dry between layers.

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