Spinning, Oils, 8x10, 2007.
Spinning
Oils, 8x10, 2007



Spinning, Oils, 8x10, 2007.


For this piece, I've decided to start with a grisaille. A grisaille (from the French 'grey') is a monochromatic underpainting to develop the values of a piece before adding color.

This is a rough grisaille, and will need to be refined after it is dry.

I'm using Gessobord as the base, with black and titanium white as my only two colors right now.
Spinning, Oils, 8x10, 2007.


Here I've continued to refine the grisaille, adding details that will show in the final piece. The grisaille needs to be perfect rather than sketchy, as the application of color will only be with transparent glazes, and the values initialized in the grisaille will show through.
Spinning, Oils, 8x10, 2007.


I've added a few more details, and I've started to color in the skeins. After this dries more, I will amp up the contrast in the highlights and darks of the skeins, cleaning up things as I go.

One thing about doing the grisaille, it always seems that white paint takes several days to dry, and the grisaille must be completely dry before glazing color on top. This makes for very impatient artists!
Spinning, Oils, 8x10, 2007.


Here's the initial glaze, without any extra highlighting, darkening, or edge clean up. All I'm doing is painting a mix of colors atop the black and white grisaille, wiping away any excess paint where necessary. I am keeping in mind when I choose which paints to use to only use transparent colors, nothing that is opaque.

Right now it looks very much like a tinted photograph. I will be adding bright highlights later on, as well as cleaning up the edges and deepening some shadows, and adding some details where appropriate. There are a couple areas I haven't glazed yet, as I'm waiting for the white paint to dry.
Spinning, Oils, 8x10, 2007.


Now we're getting to the fun part of the painting - highlights and details! A few well-placed highlights and shadows can bring a mediocre painting to life in a matter of minutes.

There's still several areas to work on here, but the direction the painting will take can now be seen.
Spinning, Oils, 8x10, 2007.


Here I'm continuing to add highlights and shadows, and have started to define the yellow and white skeins.

This is the 'sit and think' stage, where the painting can sit on the easel for days or weeks before adding or changing things.
Spinning, Oils, 8x10, 2007.


Here is the final painting. I've cleaned up the edges and added some extra glazing in certain areas.