Underpainting and GlazingUnderpainting is painting a "rough draft" painting and then going over it when it is dry with oil paints. Some artist will paint with just gray colors and dark colors for the underpainting to define the light areas and the dark areas better. They will try to "model" the forms and get a more 3-D look or realistic look. Other artist will use color for this instead of grays. Many artist will use acrylic paints to paint the underpainting. The main reason is acrylic paint dries pretty quickly. Then when this underpainting is dry they will go over it with oil paints for the final painting. You can build up your painting by painting several underpaintings before you apply the final coat of oil paint. Another painting technique artist use with underpainting is called "glazing". Glazing is painting transparent colors over a dried underpainting. The colors show through these transparent glazes and have a wonderful effect. Glazing has the strongest impact on showing middle tones and dark colors. An example would be painting a water scene that has transparent glazes to show rocks or fish under the water. Another example would be painting water drops on flower petals or any other object. As a beginner you should try to paint an underpainting and as you get to know the paints better you will learn which colors have the transparent qualities you can utilize in the glazing technique.
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