Underpainting Importance

It looks like a few sketchy lines and sometime may resemble something recognizable, but it is the backbone of a painting. An underpainting allows the artist to sketch an overall composition on a blank canvas and rework the image to a desired state.Underpaintings are usually created with a single color. I like to either use a brown or a blue, depending on the colors I will be using later on, in the piece. I mix my paints with turpentine, so that the paint becomes thinner making it easier to work and easy to erase, while also allowing it to dry in an hour or so. In the past I believed in well rendered underpaintings, but now I like to minimize my underpainting and begin glazing, which makes the colors pop more, but also allows for depth in the painting. When a glaze is painted over a dark underpainting, less light is able to reflect off the canvas and the paint particles, but when the canvas is left white more light reflects, creating brighter colors.