Underpainting
Encyclopedia
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 colour values for later painting. There are several different types of underpainting, such as verdaccio
Verdaccio
Verdaccio is an Italian name for the mixture of black, white, and yellow pigments resulting in a grayish or yellowish soft greenish brown....

 and grisaille
Grisaille
Grisaille is a term for painting executed entirely in monochrome or near-monochrome, usually in shades of grey. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many grisailles in fact include a slightly wider colour range, like the Andrea del Sarto fresco...

.

Underpainting gets its name because it is painting that is intended to be painted over (see overpainting
Overpainting
Overpainting can mean the final layers of paint, over some type of underpainting, in a system of working in layers. It can also mean later paint added by restorers, or an artist or dealer wishing to "improve" or update an old image—a very common practice in the past. The underpainting gives a...

) in a system of working in layers
Working in layers
Working in layers is a system for creating artistic paintings that involve the use of more than one layer of paint.-Oil Painting:Working in layers is used extensively in oil painting for paintings that require more than one session...

. There is a popular misconception that underpainting should be monochromatic, perhaps in gray-scales. A multi-color underpainting was thought to be more useful by artists such as Giotto (whose technique is described in detail by Cennino Cennini), as well as by Jan van Eyck
Jan van Eyck
Jan van Eyck was a Flemish painter active in Bruges and considered one of the best Northern European painters of the 15th century....

 and Roger van der Weyden
Roger van der Weyden
Rogier van der Weyden or Rogier de le Pasture was an Early Flemish painter. His surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces and commissioned single and diptych portraits. Although his life was generally uneventful, he was highly successful and internationally famous in his...

 (whose technique has been studied with modern scientific analysis). This technique was pioneered by Titian
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...

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 if one has to fight to obscure the underpainting, it is a sign that it was not done properly.

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