Wednesday, June 10, 2009

First semester- basic western painting

The technique taught is called glazing. As opposed to ala prima this involves working from a basic layer in monochrome and slowly building layers of thin paint allowing the lower layer to create a subtle effect on the top layer.

This is the second piece. This time the basic painting was done with burnt sienna. The technique involves covering the entire canvas with burnt sienna and then removing the paint to produce different values for different regions.
I did not put any colour over the regions to be kept white.
I was able to see more colours and as well as the importance of accuracy in drawing. Although oil painting allows correction, this method of painting will expose bad drawing or mistakes made in lower layers. The beauty of this method lies in the richness created by the subtle display of colours generated by the different layers of paint and the texture of each object projected through the smooth, even surface of the entire painting.

Here is the touched up version of the first work.
This work was developed from the first layer of painting done in black and white. Black was obtained by mixing burnt sienna and ultramarine blue.It was a difficult angle to work with but I found it challenging.
It is worth waiting for a week before giving the final touches. Eyes tend to get tired looking at the same painting for a long time. After a break the vision gets clearer, one can see mistakes better and is able to add touches to bring out textures and features in a more fulfilling manner.

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