I’m continuing to work on the underpainting. Above, I’ve begun to tackle the handle. I wasn’t happy with the accuracy of my drawing of the weave on the handle. I ended up re-drawing it in paint, which is not as easy as with a pencil! It took a lot longer than I thought it would.
Above, I painted the bowl roughly. There’s no point in being too specific at this point, as I’ll just have to re-see it later when I do the over-painting. The under-painting’s main purpose is to serve as a guide for later painting, not to be an exact rendering of the subject in monotones. There is an old style of painting that uses a very detailed and exact under-painting as a base over which to glaze transparent layers. The underpainting, in that case, would be visible underneath the glazes, so would have to be very detailed. The finished painting would be largely a tinted under-painting. I don’t paint this way, except rarely, when I want that effect in a small area. I find that this technique produces a very dry-looking painting without the vigor of alla prima brushwork, and the juicy texture of thick oil paint.
I’ll try to finish the basket at my next session, but it’ll probably take a bit longer!
Linda Mann Artist 