dinsdag 16 oktober 2012

This is the Umber Layer 2.

On this layer I started using a techinque I called Multicolor Umber Underpainting. Which means that instead of using one single mix of umber I used different hues of umbers according to the elements on the painting. So for the folliage I used a more greenish umber, for the background element a more light and gray umber, for the forground I used more intense and dark umbers, for the sky a more blueish umber. I you can see I went over and increase the contrast of all the elements and rubout some more.

In this layer I completed the textures of some elements like the boa constrictor and the jaguars for example.

So this is the final step on the Underpainting Stage. I will let the painting dry for one week before I start the Color layers. On this Umber layer I just applied darker values of the umber hues. Everyday I will take the painting outside for some time to be in direct contact with the sun, the way the old masters did in the Renaissance, besides drying faster there are some chemical reactions by doing this. The concept of this piece is not a mystery anymore, so I will give you the name too: "My Home is Gone!". Yes this is an Enviromental-Protest painting. I hope my worry , sadness and anger is well reflected in it. I recently read that the golden frog has vanished, I hope our jaguars and toucans find a Shangri-La inside those forests to hide forever. I grew up in a small town called La Cruz in Costa Rica. Back then you needed to walk 10 minutes to be in the jungle. By looking at satellite pictures now, you might need to invest one hour or more to see the deep rainforest. One day in our town's school, our elementary teacher took us to an empty plain near our village. The purpose of that trip was to plant some trees. She taught us a new word: "Reforestacion". To my surprise those trees are still there today, but surrounded by a lifeless desert. Walking back to the school, we passed by "el aserradero" ( Sawmill) where we saw the life of hundred of trees had been cut away. That day my life changed.


Lesson Learnt:

Now that the painting is almost finished I realized the important of the umber underpainting it is really in deed the thing that holds the whole painting. Practically old the work is there all you need to do is match the right colors with the its right values following the value mapping already in place and if you continue with glacing and leaving some areas of this layer to be seen the piece come in rich chromatic illuminations.






Geen opmerkingen:

Een reactie posten