| THE TECHNIQUE |
The underpainting
I then lay the drawing flat and 'fix' it to the canvas with numerous
layers of an aerosol fixative, until I am completely satisfied that
none of the drawing will move when paint brushes over it. I then cover
the entire canvas with a flat layer of paint, using a thick, soft
brush, which must be applied very carefully, avoiding any rubbing,
which may smudge the drawing or leave unsightly streaks. This layer
is known as the 'imprematura' and is usually rendered in a mix of
varnish, turpentine and a warmish pigment - however you can use any
colour you wish. A warm colour compliments flesh tones and adds subtle
warmth to the image as a whole.
Once this has dried, I begin to work up the whites. Synthetic tempera
is used as a carrier medium and, as one would expect, this must be
carefully prepared to an exacting recipe. It is crucial to ensure
that the proportions of the various chemicals are exact to achieve
a perfectly balanced emulsion. If they are even slightly incorrect
the solution will not bind - rendering it useless. I then mix lead
white with the emulsion until a desirable consistency is achieved.
Lead white is highly toxic, so I always wear gloves when mixing the
powder. I use this mixture to accentuate the lightest parts of the
painting and this process is know as 'working up the whites' because
it is necessary to add layer upon layer of pigment in order to give
the painting an in-built light. This light will shine through the
colour glazes that follow, and create a staggering illusion of natural
dimension and form - an inner light that is virtually impossible to
achieve through 'alla prima' painting.
I begin with the highlights of the painting, adding the first layers
and gradually work up through the tones. The emulsion dries fairly
quickly, due to the drying agents present, so the highlights can soon
have their second layer, whilst a darker area nearby is given its
first. This is repeated all over the painting until the highlights
will have maybe 30 layers of white to the extreme dark's one. Many
different effects can be achieved with the lead white mixture, all
sorts of texture can be moulded and shaped - whether you are painting
glass, stone, flesh, fur, water etc.
Finally a veil of white is applied to the entire surface of the canvas.
This softens the whole image and puts sufficient pigment onto the
canvas, preventing the image from becoming what Durer described as
'a tinted drawing'.
After a day or so, when this is completely dry, I move onto the darks.
Here I use another specially prepared medium, which acts like an ice
rink on the surface of the image, allowing me the freedom to blend
and bleed out the paint using a selection of brushes, even dry ones
on occasion. Starting always in the background, I use a neutral colour
such as raw umber, as I always like to render the negative spaces
first and let the image pull itself out from the canvas. When painting,
I always try to remember that the image is three-dimensional, never
breaking the form with the brush, but going around and behind it.
This stage can be seen as replacing the pencil with raw umber paint.
The darks appear to exist below the whites as a series of optical
greys. In this technique one constantly uses the opportunity to redraw
with the brushes and paint - never losing sight of the original underdrawing.
When I feel happy that the darks have been completed, I begin working
with tube white (oil-based lead white in a tube) in exactly the same
way as I did with the raw umber, but in reverse. The forms are constantly
modelled as the whites are worked up and the shadows pushed back with
a neutral dark coloured paint; working from background to foreground
repeatedly until the painting appears fully three-dimensional. This
is the last opportunity to model the underpainting before I introduce
the added complication of colour. Often I use a range from white to
raw umber and even to black to really sculpt the form, but always
strive not to make the image appear too dark, so that the colour to
be applied on top will still be seen.
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