Monday, August 9, 2010

Saturated Underpainting a la Cape School Style

In todays lesson i'll show you the first few steps of an underpainting. the idea here is to use the right temperature and value of paint to get started. you'd really have to add the complement of each color to muddy up the piece and kill the color. just be sure that you dont ever, ever, ever add too much and you'll be safe.


this is what the underpainted colors look like. theyre pretty much straight out of the tube and give you the basic color harmonies, temperatures, and values. try to get this part pretty close knowing that youre going to tone down the intensities as you color correct

i'm loving my new method of drawing on the shapes with a magenta oil pastel. the paint goes right on it and gives the painting a nice "rosy" glow. i may try an rusty orange one for when the light is much warmer. thats the fun of painting.,,. trying out all kinds of different stuff to see what it will do! dont be afraid to experiment and find your own favorite ways.

7 comments:

Lynn Lancaster said...

Mike, I appreciate the time you take in instruction. Also your videos on plein air set up are great. I am new to plein air and have found executing the painting is the easy part. Getting there with all you need to paint is the hard part. Thanks

DGehman said...

x2 on thanks for the instructions...

A question or two -

First, the purple seems toned down with white - is it?

Also, thinking that purple = dark values, what if the drapes were light-blocking yellow? Unlikely, I know, but would you use orange instead? Or some other color?

Unknown said...

I love the idea of using the oil pastel for drawing on the sketch. I will have to try this.

mike rooney studios said...

lynn
keep an eye out for an upcoming post of the "ultra light setup" ive come up with. its so minimalist that i put it on my stand up surf board and paint out in the marshes with it. now thats not much gear!

dave- the purple has white in it to get it to the right value. you use whatever it most looks like and mirror the temperature warms get ,,,red, yellow,orange cools get blue, green or purple. then color correct in step two

dawn- i came up with after trying about a dozen things from carpenters chalk to conte crayon. the oil pastel is a natural. dont know why i didnt think of it sooner. my drawings are much more accurate using the pastel stick vs. using a brush.

Klinger Studios said...

Mike-
As I am a novice I'm going to risk a dumb question here: what is the purpose or advantage of doing the underpainting? There's just so much to learn and remember already. I understand that you are matching your desired values, but why not just go to the color you want? Is it just your way of getting in the ballpark of the color you're going to end up with?

Also, I caught your Jerry's Artarama profile/ad in the latest "Artist's Magazine." Cool! It's not the cover of the "Rolling Stone," but it's not bad!

Anonymous said...

THANKS!!!!! We loved it ! Best class ever! OBX. Nov. 2012. Ann, Nelleen, Anne, Brenda

Anonymous said...

Does the underpainting have to be dry? I've been trying this cape cod method wet into wet...underpainting using paint thinned with turps. I am laying the next layer on thicker but it does pick up a lot of the colour of the underpainting...
Grateful for any tips,
Thanks
Penelope