using a brilliant underpainting

If you’re working from photos, using a bright, brilliant underpainting can be an easy way to bring life to your painting, particularly if the photo’s subject is dull, underexposed or overexposed. In this case, the subject wasn’t particularly dull but I wanted to emphasize the brilliant colors visible in the water, which I remembered as less muted than in the photograph.

reference photo
The original photograph hints at the colors in the water that I remembered.

BEFORE
block in with bright colors
The painting is done on White Wallis Sanded Paper. When you block in the underpainting using this brilliant color method, exaggerate every color—for example, paint a dull beige or brown in a shocking orange. A hint of pink becomes a bright pink; a soft yellow-green should be underpainted in lime. It’s always easier to mute a strong or intense color than it is to intensify a dull color, so start with brilliance! Once the pastel is blocked in, brush it with Turpenoid™ and let it dry.

Sunlit Stream
11" × 14" (28cm × 36cm)

AFTER
add the more muted finish
As you apply another layer of pastels in more accurate colors, let a little of the brilliant under-painting show through. The finished painting has far more life and excitement than the photograph, thanks to the underpainting.