Blog

As promised in my previous blog, Backgrounds Should Never Be an Afterthought, I’d like to illustrate one of several ways that I go about handling backgrounds in my paintings.

Today I will address Planned Backgrounds.

Keep in mind that the background is the space around the subject that should support and enhance the subject, not detract or distract from it. Planning from the start is probably the most straightforward way to accomplish a harmonious background for your painting.

Underpainting.

On 300lb cold-pressed paper, I drew almost everything that I wanted to include in the final painting. Then I applied masking fluid on tiny areas where I wanted to preserve the white of the paper.

Next, I used a 2" flat brush to wet the entire sheet of paper with water. (When using 80lb or 140lb paper, I will wet both sides to ensure the paper lies flat when dry.)

I mixed puddles of two blues on my palette - Ultramarine and Peacock - remembering that the color would lighten as it dried. I applied the paint to the wet paper: wet on wet. I tilted the paper so that the paint would move, then set it flat to dry when I was satisfied. You may notice that a few blooms developed on the edges, but I left them alone.

Begin Painting the Subject.

I like to start my paintings with the eyes of the subject and work my way out. Here, I've already incorporated negative painting for the feathers that would be yellow in the dappled sunlight, and I've dropped some orange and yellow wet into wet for the colored feathers that are in shadow (you don't want hard edges in shadow areas).

Continuing on...

I try to paint the "black" areas on the bird once and done, but the brightly colored feathers will require a few glazes so I'm not worried about blooms or other irregularities.

A variety of harmonious greens can be created by using one green as a base color (in this case, Azo Green). Adding different blues, yellows, and even oranges and reds makes for some interesting greens. I never use green straight out of the tube for foliage; I always mix it with something.

Almost Finished.

I've established all of the drawn areas, but I feel like more foliage would improve the painting. I play around with additional leaves, darker values in the shadow areas and more variety in the leaves until I'm satisfied (see final painting, top of page).

Back to the Background.

Since I knew that I would be painting my subject in the positive, and that most of it would be darker than the sky, I didn't worry about painting around anything when I applied the background.

If you look back at the underpainting image, you can see that I left lighter areas not only to simulate soft clouds in the sky, but also strategically where I knew I'd be painting the lighter feathers on the bird or the highlights on the branches.

The underpainting has become the background.

Paint. Love. Repeat.