Painting and Glazing a Grisaille

     The following posts show the technique of painting and glazing a grisaille in the political of Peter Paul Rubens. Scroll down to start.

Final Layer

     In this final layer, I have brought up the intensity of the highlights, retouched shadows and reflected light, and added a reflection of the objects on the table top.  In addition, all areas that are receiving light I have "pushed" forward by adding a subtle dark glow along the edge.  Conversely, all shadows have a slight light halo effect.  This technique creates a greater allusion of space around the objects.

A "Flesh Tone" Palette

     What I call a "flesh tone" palette.  I will use this for the doll head and some of the tomato.

     Continuing to lay in more diverse hues.

A Full Color Palette

     I've mixed a full range palette specifically for the yellow ball and the tomato.  For every object I will mix a minimum of three hues that represent the shadow, the highlight and the local hue of the object.  This layer can be applied slightly heavier that the past layers.

         I start with the darkest ares and work my way to the highlights.

The Dead Palette

     The "Dead Palette" is used to cool down the composition.  It is a mixture of Ivory Black, Ultramarine Blue and Titanium White.

Dead Hues

     Using the "Dead Palette," I'm cooling down certain areas of the composition to create the the first temperature variation.  This layer will be slightly more opaque than the golden layer.

The Golden Layer

     I am now applying a transparent layer of yellow ocher to worm up the painting and unify the composition.  I've added a bit of white to the highlights while the glaze is still open to keep up the value in these areas.  This layer is traditionally called the "Golden Glaze."

First Lay In

     For the first "draft" of this grisaille I began with my darks and worked to my whites.  I'll let this dry completely and refine some of the drawing, soften edges and lighten some of the lights. 
    

Drawing

     I have done a fairly detailed drawing directly on the canvas with graphite.  I wiped away any excess graphite, not worrying about lines bleeding through because of the opacity of the hues that I have chosen for my grisaille.

Creating a Grisaille

     A Grisaille (from the French gris, meaning "gray") is a monochromatic under painting that is used as a foundation for a glazed work.  In this case, I will be using Mars Black, Raw Umber, and Titanium White.

     For a medium I'm using a modern product by Gamblin called Neo Meglip.  It has a soft, silky quality of a gel that will not yellow over time.