In art, an underpainting is an initial layer of paint applied to a ground, which serves as a base for subsequent layers of paint. Underpaintings are often monochromatic and help to define

color value Lightness is a visual perception of the luminance (L) of an object. It is often judged relative to a similarly lit object. In colorimetry and color appearance models, lightness is a prediction of how an illuminated color will appear to a stan ...

s for later painting. Underpainting gets its name because it is painting that is intended to be painted over (see overpainting) in a system of working in layers. There are several different types of underpainting, such as veneda,

verdaccio Verdaccio is an Italian name for the mixture of black, white, and yellow pigments resulting in a grayish or yellowish (depending on the proportion) soft greenish brown. Verdaccio became an integral part of fresco painting, in which this color is u ...

, morellone, imprimatura and grisaille.''Underpaint.'' In: The different types have different colourings. Grisaille is plain grey. Verdaccio is a grey tending towards yellow or green that brings out more luminous tones. While imprimatura uses earth tones. Underpainting has several advantages over working from a plain canvass. The neutral colours of the underpaint will not distract if they are not completely covered. It also aids the painter in getting a correct tone. Comparing colours to a white background is very different from the colouring of the final painting. A multi-color underpainting can also add to a work and was used by artists such as

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto ( , ) and Latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic/ Proto-Renaissance period. G ...

(whose technique is described in detail by Cennino Cennini), as well as by

Jan van Eyck Jan van Eyck ( , ; – July 9, 1441) was a painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Northern Renaissance art. A ...

and Rogier van der Weyden (whose technique has been studied with modern scientific analysis). This technique was pioneered by

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...

in the High Renaissance. The colors of the underpainting can be optically mingled with the subsequent overpainting, without the danger of the colors physically blending and becoming muddy. If underpainting is done properly, it facilitates overpainting. If it seems that one has to fight to obscure the underpainting, it is a sign that it was not done properly.

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Contemporary use of colorful underpainting in the tradition of Jan van Eyck
Painting techniques

See also

References

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