Working in layers is a system for creating

artistic Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wh ...

paintings Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

that involve the use of more than one layer of paint.

Oil painting

Working in layers is used extensively in

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

for paintings that require more than one session. For a painting that develops over several days, allowing for the oil paint to dry for a given layer, it is helpful to work with explicit painting layers. The first layer may be a ground, usually applied all over the surface. Then an

underdrawing Underdrawing is a preparatory drawing done on a painting ground before paint is applied, for example, an imprimatura or an underpainting. Underdrawing was used extensively by 15th century painters like Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden. These ...

in outline may follow. Then comes

underpainting 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 values for later painting. Underpainting gets its name ...

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 ...

, and finally semi-transparent glazes and

varnish Varnish is a clear transparent hard protective coating or film. It is not a stain. It usually has a yellowish shade from the manufacturing process and materials used, but it may also be pigmented as desired, and is sold commercially in various ...

. All of these layers will affect the appearance of the final painting. To understand the role of underpainting, one can use

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

and think of the underpainting as a base-rhythm in music, and the overpainting as a solo played over this. Areas not underpainted, outlining the space for a figure for example, are said to be ''reserved''.

History

Working in layers has been utilized by many schools of art over many centuries. For example, in the early 15th century Cennino D'Andrea Cennini describes how to paint in layers in the

egg tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...

medium.

Today

Modern techniques such as

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

s and

infra-red Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

reflectograms often enable lower layers of paint and underdrawing to be seen, and reveal

pentimenti A pentimento (plural pentimenti), in painting, is "the presence or emergence of earlier images, forms, or strokes that have been changed and painted over". The word is , from the verb , meaning 'to repent'. Significance Pentimenti may show that ...

, or changes of mind by the artist in the course of work.

References

{{Reflist, refs= *{{Cite book , title=Il Libro dell'Arte , trans-title=The Craftsman's Handbook , chapter=LXXII: The Way to Paint on a Wall in Secco; and the Temperas For It , author=Cennino d'Andrea Cennini , authorlink=Cennino d'Andrea Cennini , isbn=0-486-20054-X , publisher=Dover Publications , year= 1954 , page
50–52
, chapter-url-access=registration , chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/craftsmanshandbo00cenn/page/50 *Thompson, D. V., Jr. (ed.) (1933) ''The Craftsman’s Handbook ‘Il Libro dell’ Arte’ by Cennino d’A. Cennini'', New Haven: Yale University Press. **Reprint of the English translation volume only of the above: Dover Publications, New York, 1960. Painting techniques