Lesson 5 – Underpainting
Lesson 5 – Underpainting – Video

Blocking in the shadows

Tutor | Will Kemp
Level | Beginner
Time | 15.55min

Step 1. Basic materials

Burnt Umber, dipper, tear off palette, brushes

Step 2. Blocking in the shadow tones (2.36min)
Using just the burnt umber and a little water, I’m working on a tear off palette. You want the mix to be quite opaque but not thick.

Step 3. Changing brushes (7.36min)
If you have more detailed areas of your subject it is often easiest to swap to a more detailed brush to draw in these parts.

Step 4. Using oil painting techniques (10.12min)
Because Acrylic paints dry so quickly you can work in thin layers to easily tone down and balance areas of your painting.

Step 5. Assessing the tone in black and white (11.00min)
Tone is sooo important in your painting. When trying to judge the correct tone of your subject make the image black and white. You can do this on your computer or usually on a mobile phone or camera. This gives you the ability to assess your subject tonally, rather than being distracted by the colour.

Step 6. Re-establishing the dark tones (12.25min)
Once the basic layout in blocked in you can have another look at the image to see which areas can definitely go darker. I then use pure burnt umber (no water) to paint over these areas.

Step 7. Painting the canvas edges (15.00min)
If you want to hang the painting direct onto the wall without a frame it can be nice to paint around the edge of the canvas and continue the painting around the sides. This is most effective with a deep edge canvas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leave A Reply (8 comments So Far)


  1. Sandi Hester
    14 years ago

    Will, what brushes are you using here?


  2. Will Kemp
    14 years ago

    Hi Sandi,
    I use two brushes in this video.

    This one first on the more detailed work:

    1. Filbert – size 6 (11mm) – Black hog ‘Jacksons Art supplies’ own brand series 335
    These are a UK based company but they ship worldwide, their website is: http://www.jacksonsart.com/

    However, some artists find hog brushes are too stiff when working with acrylics, so an alternative would be a filbert size 6 Isabey Isacryl or Winsor & Newton GALERIA BRUSH FILBERT NO 8

    I then swap to my second brush which is a wider, softer brush for the larger areas:

    Filbert – size 10 (23mm) – Isabey Isacryl 6572

    Isabey Isacryl acrylic brushes – They have good flexibility, yet are firm enough to move the paint around.

    I then swap between these two for the rest of the under-painting. 1 for details, 1 for larger areas.
    Hope this helps,
    Will


  3. Tatjana
    14 years ago

    Will, this was another very interesting lesson, thank you. When I blocked in burn umber+water, I was surprised how good it looked already and how shadows stood out.


  4. Liyakath Ali
    14 years ago

    hi will,
    why should we underpaint ?
    is it just to differentiate shadows,midtones and highlight ?
    or are we going to match the values while coloring ?
    Please help

    thanks and regards
    liyakath ali


    • Will Kemp
      14 years ago

      Yes, it helps to differentiate the shadows, midtones and lights.
      Beginners often don’t paint the shadows dark enough. This techniques enables you to create a painting that has a wide tonal range and feels ‘realistic’. It also helps you to get to know the subject and correct any drawing mistakes before mixing lots of colours.
      Thanks,
      Will


  5. Stephen Gibbings
    14 years ago

    Will,

    Just to round out my understanding here a little. I followed the single jug still life tutorial that used an underpainting of Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine. What is the reason behind the choice for that vs Burnt Umber for this still life? Both to my eye are on the warm side.

    Thanks,

    Steve.


  6. Jasson Millan Aguirre
    14 years ago

    Greetings Mr. Kemp!

    My name is Jasson and I would first like to congratulate you on this marvelous Course you have here. It is by far better than many I’ve seen. I think You and Mr. Bob Ross are the Bee’s Knees.

    I’m a total beginner at painting in general and I was wondering. Why use Burnt Umber or Umber for that matter?. If you are laying the tones down like in grayscale, then wouldn’t it also work with balcks and whites?

    Is there a special reason why this color in particular is used for this part?

    Thanks for your time!


  7. Janis Chevalier
    13 years ago

    I’m so glad I signed up for these lessons. I watched all the videos before I started and the up-close views are a great help. Drawing is done now – can’t wait to start painting.