Methods - Step-by-Step

One of the best definitions I have found to describe the painting stage called "Imprimatura," was on Wikipedia. Since I couldn't describe it better, here's a portion of the text:

"Imprimatura is a term used in painting, meaning an initial stain of color painted on a ground. It provides a painter with a transparent toned ground, which will allow light falling onto the painting to reflect through the paint layers.

The term itself stems from the Italian and literally means ¨first paint layer."

The imprimatura provides not only an overall tonal optical unity in a painting but is also useful in the initial stages of the work, since it helps the painter establish value relations from dark to light.

It is most useful in the classical approach of indirect painting, where the drawing and underpainting are established ahead of time and allowed to dry. The successive layers of color are then applied in transparent glaze or semi-transparent layers.

Care is taken not to cover the imprimatura completely allowing it to show through the final paint layers, this is effective in particular in the middle to dark shadow areas of the work. An imprimatura is usually made with an earth color, such as raw sienna."

When I paint, it's ususally a combination of working with the imprimatura and underpainting, and working against it. In other words, there are times when I try to keep those layers coming through by painting transparently on top of them, or there will be times when I completely obliterate them by painting over them with an opaque color. But regardless, the tones and colors of the imprimatura and underpainting have a profound effect on the final painting.

In this painting, I used burnt sienna and yellow ochre acrylic paint for the imprimatura. This provided the base for the subsequent layers in oil.

Wikipedia contributors, "Imprimatura,"Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Imprimatura&oldid=161290907
(accessed December 17, 2008).

methods - step by step