Lisa

Lisa came in to pose for us in Open Studio last night.  I decided to keep things simple this time around, and painted her monochromatically, using only Burnt Sienna with touches of Burnt Umber for the darkest parts.  The light areas were lifted with a bit of Gamsol on paper towel or my brush.  No white was used in the creation of this painting-- the tiny reflections in her eyes were done with the tip of my brush after it was dipped in the Gamsol.

I could take the portrait at this point and add color to it on top of the monochromatic underpainting.  Color could be transparently glazed on top, allowing the underpainting to show through.  Or I could use thick paint on top, using the underpainting as a "roadmap".  I would need to be careful to match my color value (lightness vs darkness) to the values I had already established in the underpainting.

We will be exploring monochromatic painting in our next session of "The Nuts and Bolts of Portraiture" at Mainstreet later this month.  I'm looking forward to exploring this different approach with my students!