In art, an underpainting is an initial layer of paint applied to a ground, which serves as a base for subsequent layers of paint. Underpaintings are often monochromatic and help to define

color value Lightness is a visual perception of the luminance (L) of an object. It is often judged relative to a similarly lit object. In colorimetry and color appearance models, lightness is a prediction of how an illuminated color will appear to a sta ...

s for later painting. Underpainting gets its name because it is painting that is intended to be painted over (see

overpainting Overpainting is the final layers of paint, over some type of underpainting, in a system of working in layers. It can also refer to later paint added by restorers, or an artist or dealer wishing to "improve" or update an old image—a very common ...

) in a system of

working in layers Working in layers is a system for creating artistic paintings that involve the use of more than one layer of paint. Oil painting Working in layers is used extensively in oil painting for paintings that require more than one session. For a painti ...

. There are several different types of underpainting, such as veneda,

verdaccio Verdaccio is an Italian name for the mixture of black, white, and yellow pigments resulting in a grayish or yellowish (depending on the proportion) soft greenish brown. Verdaccio became an integral part of fresco painting, in which this color is u ...

, morellone,

imprimatura In painting, imprimatura is an initial stain of color painted on a ground. It provides a painter with a transparent, toned ground, which will allow light falling onto the painting to reflect through the paint layers. The term itself stems from the ...

and

grisaille Grisaille ( or ; french: grisaille, lit=greyed , from ''gris'' 'grey') is a painting executed entirely in shades of grey or of another neutral greyish colour. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many g ...

.''Underpaint.'' In: The different types have different colourings. Grisaille is plain grey. Verdaccio is a grey tending towards yellow or green that brings out more luminous tones. While imprimatura uses earth tones. Underpainting has several advantages over working from a plain canvass. The neutral colours of the underpaint will not distract if they are not completely covered. It also aids the painter in getting a correct tone. Comparing colours to a white background is very different from the colouring of the final painting. A multi-color underpainting can also add to a work and was used by artists such as

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto ( , ) and Latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic/Proto-Renaissance period. Giot ...

(whose technique is described in detail by

Cennino Cennini Cennino d'Andrea Cennini (c. 1360 – before 1427) was an Italian painter influenced by Giotto. He was a student of Agnolo Gaddi in Florence. Gaddi trained under his father, called Taddeo Gaddi, who trained with Giotto. Cennini was born in ...

), as well as by

Jan van Eyck Jan van Eyck ( , ; – July 9, 1441) was a painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Northern Renaissance art. Ac ...

and

Rogier van der Weyden Rogier van der Weyden () or Roger de la Pasture (1399 or 140018 June 1464) was an early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces, and commissioned single and diptych portraits. He was highly ...

(whose technique has been studied with modern scientific analysis). This technique was pioneered by

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...

in the

High Renaissance In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...

. The colors of the underpainting can be optically mingled with the subsequent overpainting, without the danger of the colors physically blending and becoming muddy. If underpainting is done properly, it facilitates overpainting. If it seems that one has to fight to obscure the underpainting, it is a sign that it was not done properly.

References

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Contemporary use of colorful underpainting in the tradition of Jan van Eyck
Painting techniques

See also

References

External links