Far From The Crowd

I have enjoyed starting the full-sized painting of the herring gull I sketched last week.

I usually paint in the traditional way, using a layered oil painting technique. This is the first layer (underpainting). Although not a true grisaille, (I use raw umber straight from the tube, and I use no white), it is monochromatic and helps me define color values for the painting as I proceed. One of the most important aspects of a painting is value and contrast. Correct lighting and dark enough darks. These important aspects can be worked out in a monochromatic underpainting without the problem of wondering what color to use and how to make it the correct shade or value.

I started by drawing in a very rough sketch of the gull (just an outline, really, to get the size and placement set) in conte crayon, then setting this sketch with a fixative. Then I slathered raw umber thinned with turpenoid all over the canvas and wiped it down to a consistent light/mid tone. I like to use raw umber because it is one of the leanest oil paints, so it is suitable for a first layer (remembering the rule of painting fat over lean!) and it dries very quickly - usually overnight.

I then proceeded to develop the image by painting in the darkest darks, blending edges into the mid tone already on the canvas as appropriate, and picking out the lightest lights with a rag moistened with turpenoid. It goes pretty fast and feels very satisfying, since there is a clear and complete image produced in one session.

This composition is very simple, so after I got the gull painted in, there was very little to play with. In a more complex painting, this underpainting stage also provides the opportunity to quickly adjust composition issues that become apparent.

So - as usual for this stage of a painting, I feel pretty good. I like what I see and am looking forward to introducing color. Unfortunately, in my experience, as I move through the layers that are to come, my satisfaction does a bit of a roller coaster: I will, no doubt, have at least one session after which I will not like what I see... hopefully ending at another satisfying point. So... I will enjoy it for now and post my progress next week.

By the way, the working title of this image is Far From The Crowd... what do you think? Is it too cutesy? or just right?