A 'newbie'

[Lori Stitt]

Hi,

I recently took an acrylic painting class from an Austin artist, a full day.  I did learn a lot! However, something I should have asked is 'why under painting'? All of the underpaint was totally covered up with paint, not even matching in contrast or color at all...

Thanks for reply,

Lori

[Stuart J. Gourlay]

Lori, the underpainting covers the white of the canvas so that it does not show through and create little "sparkles".  It can be a neutral gray or any color.  The small areas where the underpainting shows through creates a unity and can warm or cool the painting, depending on the color used.  Often a contrasting color is used to create some excitement and make the outer layers of paint "pop".  Underpaintings are used by the majority of artists to establish their value masses and the composition, and this is called "indirect" painting.  Some use transparent colors as is done with watercolors and others use opaque colors.   To paint without an underpainting or toning of the canvas (also called an "imprimateur") is used by artists who paint "directly", laying their final layer onto the untoned canvas and then moving it around; this is called "alla prima" or all at once.  Since acrylics dry so fast and it is hard to move the paint around on the canvas, most acrylic painters do use an underpainting.  Stu 

[Jennifer Beaudet Zondervan]

Great explanation Stu!

[Stuart J. Gourlay]

Thanks Jennifer.  For Lori: If you want a good book of acrylic painting techniques to supplement your classes, Stephen Quiller's 1994 book "Acrylic Painting Techniques" is as good as it gets.  You can get a paperback copy of it from Amazon for under $15.00 (http://www.amazon.com/Acrylic-Painting-Techniques-Stephen-Quiller/d...).  It has a wealth of answers to the kind of question you asked and a lot of demos.   Stu