Today, I begin working in grisaille. Grisaille is a term for painting executed entirely in the monochromatic, usually in shades of grey or brown from a colour like burnt umber (even black and white can be used), The grisaille is being used as the underpainting where I will glaze layers of oil over it.
I'm really excited to be using this process and will post the results of the "tester" piece! The photo above shows me "greying" out the canvas. I had gessoed the canvas and sanded, etc until quite smooth, however the white was a bit overwhelming, so I used cobalt blue, yellow ochre and small amount of ivory black mixed together, thinned out and washed over the white of the gesso to kill the harshness. I then took a rag to rub the colour in and smooth it out somewhat. Today I will apply the sketch in charcoal and pencil and once I feel comfortable with it, I will begin the grisaille.
Once all goes well with this "tester" piece, then I will move on to the next series of works - based entirely in this fashion of painting.
A special thank you to everyon who came out to the Sunnyside art show in Toronto. The weather held and we had great response for a first year event!
