Underpainting in acrylic painting serves as the structural foundation of an artwork, setting tonal values, depth, and balance before color is applied.
What is underpainting in acrylic painting? It’s the initial layer of paint that guides an artist’s approach to light, shadow, and composition, defining the forms and contrasts that shape the final piece.
This technique, rooted in classic approaches like grisaille and color blocking, provides a roadmap, allowing for greater control over color harmony, dimension, and even the texture of the finished work.
In this article, I’ll guide you through the core aspects of underpainting, from selecting the right materials and mediums to exploring techniques like scumbling, glazing, and building layers for realistic depth.
By the end, you’ll understand how effective underpainting enhances acrylic paintings, improves composition, and refines tonal contrast—skills that elevate artwork in both clarity and complexity.
Key Types of Underpainting Techniques
Underpainting techniques lay down essential tonal values and structures, setting a strong foundation before further layers and details.
Different techniques serve different purposes, depending on the desired final effect, the medium used, and the artist’s approach to building the composition.
Grayscale Underpainting
Grayscale underpainting, also known as grisaille, uses a monochromatic palette to establish value contrasts in the composition.
By focusing solely on light and shadow without color, it provides a clear value study, emphasizing form, depth, and structure.
Commonly, artists use shades of gray, but sometimes earth tones like burnt umber or raw sienna are applied.
This method enhances realism, particularly useful in detailed work where precise tonal shifts are essential.
Pros:
- Offers clear guidance on values and lighting.
- Reduces the complexity of layering by pre-defining areas of contrast.
Cons:
- Can limit spontaneity in color choices since values are predetermined.
- Requires meticulous blending in later layers to avoid a rigid, “stiff” appearance in the final piece.
Color Blocking
Color blocking uses broad areas of color to establish the foundational hues of the painting. It’s particularly effective for acrylic painting due to the paint’s quick drying time, allowing artists to layer without smudging.
By applying colors related to the final layer—such as a warm base for a sunlit scene or cool tones for shadows—artists create a guide for their later color choices.
Golden Artist Colors or other pigmented brands often work well for rich and durable underpainting in this technique.
Pros:
- Helps achieve color harmony in the final work.
- Provides a flexible base for adjustments in color and tone.
Cons:
- Overly bright colors can interfere with the desired mood if not carefully controlled.
- Requires experience in color theory to avoid muddying tones in subsequent layers.
Tonal Underpainting
A tonal underpainting focuses on the depth and intensity of shadows and highlights. Artists use varying values of a single color to add dimensionality.
Typically, earth tones or neutral colors are selected to prevent overly saturated tones from overwhelming the final composition.
This approach is ideal for achieving chiaroscuro effects, enhancing the contrast between light and dark areas.
Pros:
- Builds strong depth and dimension.
- Enhances realism by emphasizing light sources.
Cons:
- Can be limiting if the artist decides to shift the lighting angle later.
- Requires precise layering to maintain the initial tonal effects without overpowering them.
Abstract Underpainting
Abstract underpainting introduces a sense of texture and movement beneath the main layer, often applied through brushstrokes, palette knife, or scumbling.
This technique adds complexity, creating layers of visual interest that peek through in the final artwork.
Abstract underpainting is less about precision and more about spontaneous, expressive layering, which gives texture even to smooth areas of the painting.
Pros:
- Adds subtle texture and depth to flat areas.
- Allows flexibility in composition as the abstract elements can support various final compositions.
Cons:
- Requires a careful balance to prevent the underpainting from overwhelming the final image.
- Difficult to control, especially with fast-drying acrylics.
Complimentary Color Underpainting
This technique involves using a color opposite to the main hues planned for the painting, such as using green under a primarily red composition.
The contrast creates subtle vibrancy as tiny bits of the underpainting may peek through, producing a visually rich effect.
Complementary underpainting can heighten the visual intensity of the piece, particularly beneficial in realism in painting.
Pros:
- Enhances vibrancy and creates visual interest.
- Offers a unique color foundation that can make other hues pop.
Cons:
- Risk of the colors clashing if not carefully layered.
- Requires experience in color theory to balance tones effectively without creating unwanted contrasts.
Materials and Mediums for Underpainting
Selecting materials and mediums for underpainting in acrylic painting often involves balancing texture, opacity, and drying time.
The goal is a durable, flexible foundation that enhances the layers above.
Whether it’s traditional gesso, pre-mixed colors, or specific additives, the right choice impacts the effectiveness of each underpainting method.
Acrylic Paints and Pigments
Acrylics are versatile, quick-drying, and easy to layer, making them ideal for underpainting. Golden Artist Colors and Liquitex are popular choices among painters due to their high pigment concentration and smooth consistency.
Artists may select a single color like burnt umber or raw sienna for tonal studies or use a mixture of acrylic washes to establish general values.
Fast-drying and highly durable, acrylics are practical for building layered compositions, allowing the underpainting to support the color depth and complexity of the final layers.
- Advantages: Fast drying, permanent, easily layered.
- Drawbacks: Quick drying time can be challenging for detailed blending.
Gesso
Gesso is a primer that prepares surfaces, creating an absorbent base that helps acrylics adhere and prevents paint from soaking into the canvas.
Priming with gesso results in a slightly textured surface that aids in brush control and pigment application.
White gesso is common, though tinted options or toned layers (like gray or burnt sienna) are sometimes used for a neutral starting point. It’s especially effective when working on canvas preparation or even wood panels.
- Advantages: Prepares and protects the surface, adds subtle texture.
- Drawbacks: Needs time to dry fully; can create excess texture if over-applied.
Acrylic Mediums
Acrylic mediums enhance the versatility of paint, allowing for custom textures, transparency, and drying time adjustments.
Flow release medium increases fluidity without losing pigment strength, ideal for blocking-in colors or creating glazing techniques.
Matte and gloss mediums can also affect the finish, from subtle sheen to high gloss, depending on the intended final appearance.
Using mediums allows for experimentation in building layers without compromising opacity or flexibility, adding dimension to underpainted areas that can peek through the final layers.
- Advantages: Customizes transparency, texture, and finish.
- Drawbacks: Some mediums may alter color saturation; requires familiarity for precise effects.
Oil-Based Underpainting Options
Though less common in acrylic techniques, oil-based underpainting methods such as grisaille or thin glazes can add complexity, especially when combined with acrylics in a mixed-media approach.
Traditional oil paints or water-mixable oils can provide a slower drying, nuanced base layer.
However, mixing oil and acrylics requires knowledge of fat-over-lean principles to avoid issues with flexibility and adherence.
- Advantages: Slower drying, rich tonal range, more blending time.
- Drawbacks: Incompatible with direct acrylic layering; risk of cracking without proper technique.
Alternative Surfaces
Wood panels, paper, and canvas board offer different textures and absorbency levels, impacting how underpainting layers interact with the surface.
For a smoother finish, acrylic gesso or clear primers can seal and even out wood grain or textured surfaces.
Smooth surfaces like paper allow for tighter detail, while wood or canvas offers durability and a more robust structure for textured layers.
- Advantages: Allows for varied textures, better control over detail.
- Drawbacks: Requires surface-specific primers for best results; risk of warping if unprimed.
Steps to Creating an Effective Underpainting
Preparing the Surface
Priming the canvas or surface with gesso ensures the paint adheres smoothly and doesn’t soak in unevenly.
Acrylic gesso is often the best choice because it creates a balanced, slightly textured layer, perfect for building on.
Make sure the surface dries completely before moving forward; any moisture left can interfere with layering in painting and cause irregular textures.
Choosing the Underpainting Color
Selecting the right color sets the foundation for the painting’s tone and mood. For realism or tonal accuracy, burnt umber or a neutral gray works well to create depth and enhance color harmony in the final layers.
A warm undertone like burnt sienna adds vibrancy, while a cool, muted color can establish a subtle atmosphere for cooler-toned compositions. Artists working in the grisaille style usually pick monochromatic tones, setting clear value contrasts.
Blocking in the Values
Start with a loose outline of the main forms and build up values to establish light, shadow, and midtones.
This is critical for depth and realism; the more detailed this foundation, the more dimensionality you’ll have in the final piece.
Use a large brush for broad areas, blocking in basic shapes before moving to finer details. The goal is a quick, accurate capture of shadow and light distribution rather than precise details.
Adding Layers and Adjusting Tones
Once the initial layer dries, add layers of acrylic washes to deepen shadows or soften highlights.
Thin layers of paint allow for subtle adjustments in tone without overpowering the original values.
Adjusting the underpainting with transparent glazes builds a natural-looking depth, especially useful when working with chiaroscuro effects or complex compositions.
Be mindful of the color temperature—applying warm tones over cool tones (or vice versa) can create interesting visual effects and add dimensionality.
Avoiding Common Pitfalls
One common issue is overloading the underpainting with too much detail, which can disrupt the focus of the final composition.
Keep the layers relatively thin to prevent them from interfering with subsequent colors or textures.
Overly saturated colors in the underpainting can compete with the main layers, making it challenging to achieve a cohesive look in the end.
Another pitfall is not allowing enough drying time between layers. Acrylics dry quickly but can still hold residual moisture.
Rushing can muddy the values or create undesired textures, affecting the clarity of the final image.
Choosing Colors for Underpainting
Color selection in underpainting affects the tonal structure, depth, and atmosphere of the final piece.
It’s essential to match the underpainting color to the overall mood and subject. Choices range from neutrals like burnt umber or gray for balanced tones, to complementary colors that add subtle vibrancy.
Neutral Tones for Balance
Neutral colors like raw sienna, gray, or even muted earth tones provide a versatile base.
These tones are effective for defining light and shadow without competing with the final colors. Neutral underpaintings are common for realism in painting and allow for flexibility in color application.
Pros: Neutrals support a wide range of color palettes, especially if the focus is on light contrast and tonal underpainting techniques.
Cons: They lack vibrancy, which can sometimes make the initial layers feel flat until additional layers are added.
Warm Undertones for Depth
Warmer tones, such as burnt sienna or red oxide, add depth and create a sense of richness, especially when layering cool tones on top.
These colors help convey warmth in portraits, landscapes, or compositions focused on intense light contrasts.
Underpainting with a warm base can create subtle undertones, enhancing the color harmony in the final layers.
Pros: Adds warmth and enhances color depth, particularly beneficial for landscapes or figures.
Cons: Warm undertones may influence subsequent layers, requiring careful adjustment to prevent the final colors from becoming overly warm.
Cool Undertones for Atmosphere
Cool colors like blue or green underpaintings set a calm, subdued tone and work well in compositions with a lot of natural or artificial lighting contrasts.
Cool undertones support shadows and highlight details, particularly in scenes that require a sense of distance or atmosphere.
Pros: Ideal for night scenes or cooler lighting scenarios, as cool colors create a solid base for shadow work.
Cons: Cool tones can overpower or conflict with warm-colored details added later, so maintaining balance is key.
Complementary Colors for Vibrancy
Using complementary colors adds contrast and energy to the artwork. For example, a green underpainting beneath red elements creates a vibrancy that makes colors pop.
This approach requires a firm understanding of color theory to keep the effect controlled and intentional, as it can quickly overwhelm if applied without precision.
Pros: Adds visual interest and makes certain areas stand out by creating color tension.
Cons: High risk of clashing colors; requires careful layering to prevent unintended blending or tonal conflicts.
Techniques to Enhance the Underpainting’s Impact
Underpainting sets the tone and structure for the entire composition. Enhancing its impact involves specific techniques that deepen contrast, adjust transparency, and add subtle textural effects.
These techniques help maximize the foundational layer’s potential to shape the finished piece, especially in acrylic painting where fast drying times can be leveraged to create depth.
Layering Transparent Glazes
Using transparent glazes over the underpainting preserves the base structure while adding color depth.
Thin, transparent layers of acrylics create nuanced shifts in tone, enriching the final image without masking the underpainting’s value studies.
This technique is especially effective for building subtle gradations in color or creating a chiaroscuro effect. Acrylic mediums like gloss or matte gel can help achieve the right balance of transparency and texture in each glaze.
Tips: Apply glazes with a soft brush for even coverage, or use a sponge for a more varied texture.
Scumbling for Texture
Scumbling involves applying a thin, opaque layer of lighter paint over a darker area, using a dry brush technique.
This method allows hints of the underpainting to peek through, creating texture and softening harsh edges without overpowering the foundational color scheme. Scumbling can add atmosphere to shadowed areas, suggesting detail without explicit definition.
It’s particularly useful when working with abstract underpainting or when adding a sense of distance in landscapes.
Tips: Use a stiff brush and minimal paint to avoid complete coverage and allow the underpainting’s colors to influence the new layer.
Blending with a Soft Wash
Acrylic washes, which are diluted with water or an acrylic flow release medium, offer a way to subtly blend over the underpainting without losing the tonal structure.
This wash technique is excellent for creating smooth transitions and soft gradients, ideal for areas like skies or water where uniformity is key.
It can also enhance color harmony by balancing the saturation of the underpainting with the intended colors in the top layers.
Tips: Adjust water-to-paint ratios carefully; too much water can weaken the acrylic’s adherence, especially on gesso-primed surfaces.
Applying a Grisaille Layer
Adding a monochromatic grisaille layer over the initial underpainting provides a clearer guide for value and contrast without interfering with the chosen color palette.
This secondary tonal layer refines the structural clarity, reinforcing light and shadow.
For detailed pieces, a grisaille layer offers precision and depth, ensuring the underlying values enhance the final image’s realism.
Tips: Stick to a neutral color, such as black, gray, or burnt umber, to avoid color interference when layering additional hues.
Utilizing Palette Knives for Texture
For artists who prefer a more tactile approach, palette knives can introduce a unique texture to the underpainting.
By scraping or applying acrylic with a palette knife, you can create unexpected patterns and textures that add dimension to the final work.
This technique suits wood panels or canvas boards better than paper, as the robust surface can hold more texture.
Tips: Use different knife angles and pressure to experiment with a variety of textures, but avoid heavy applications that might obscure later layers.
Practical Applications and Tips
Establishing Depth and Dimension
Underpainting builds a strong foundation for depth and dimension in the artwork. Laying down tonal values early provides a roadmap for where shadows and highlights will sit in the final piece.
In realism in painting, this helps maintain a natural balance, ensuring depth doesn’t get lost as more layers are added.
Applying darker tones first and then working towards the highlights reinforces the composition’s structure.
Tip: Use neutral colors like burnt umber or raw sienna for initial value work to avoid overpowering the main hues planned for the piece.
Reinforcing Color Harmony
An underpainting can help achieve color harmony by setting the overall tone early on. A warm or cool base impacts the way top layers appear, subtly enhancing cohesion.
For scenes with complex color schemes, the base layer keeps elements unified. Warmer underpaintings, like burnt sienna or red oxide, bring warmth to a composition, while cool tones add a grounded, atmospheric quality.
Tip: Choose a base that complements the main palette. For portraits, a warm tone can add life; landscapes may benefit from cooler, muted tones.
Correcting Mistakes and Adjusting Composition
Underpainting allows for preliminary adjustments before committing to the final colors. With a light grayscale underpainting, you can experiment with the composition, checking balance and proportions without using too much pigment.
This approach prevents color blending issues and lets artists make corrections without disrupting the final layers.
Tip: Keep the underpainting layer thin to allow flexibility for adjustments. Overly thick underpaint can interfere with smooth blending in later stages.
Reducing Drying Time Issues
One of the advantages of acrylics is their quick drying time, but that also means faster work is necessary for some techniques.
Acrylic mediums can be added to slow the drying process if more blending time is required. However, for techniques that depend on layering—like glazing techniques—the fast drying time supports the build-up of transparent layers for depth and luminosity.
Tip: If you need more open time, add a retarder or slow-drying medium to the acrylic paint. This gives you more flexibility when building up layers without rushing.
Balancing Contrast and Highlights
An effective underpainting sets up contrast and highlights so the final layers don’t need extensive adjustments.
By defining light sources and shadows in the early stages, it’s easier to achieve balanced contrast as you build up colors.
For intense highlights, leave sections of the underpainting light or even bare, allowing the natural brightness of the canvas or primer to show through.
Tip: Try using a monochromatic approach like grisaille if you want to keep the focus on contrast. This provides a clean setup for layering vibrant colors on top without diluting the tonal structure.
FAQ on What Is Underpainting In Acrylic Painting
What is underpainting in acrylic painting?
Underpainting in acrylic painting is the initial layer applied to establish tonal values, structure, and contrast.
It creates a base that enhances depth, light, and shadow in the final work. This layer often uses neutral or complementary colors to define forms and strengthen the composition before adding main colors.
Why is underpainting important in acrylic painting?
Underpainting builds a solid foundation that guides the rest of the painting, making it easier to achieve depth and contrast.
It helps create color harmony, balance, and realistic depth, providing a roadmap for layering colors and maintaining structural clarity as you build up the final piece.
What colors are best for underpainting?
Common choices include burnt umber, raw sienna, and neutral grays. These provide a balanced tonal base without overpowering the main colors.
Complementary colors also work well for vibrancy. Warm tones add life to figures, while cool tones work for shadows, adding subtle dimensionality to the final painting.
Can you use any color for underpainting?
Yes, but it’s important to choose a color that aligns with the mood of the final piece. Neutrals help with contrast, while complementary colors add vibrancy.
Warm colors can add depth, and cool tones are ideal for atmosphere. Choosing the right color helps maintain balance and color harmony.
How do you start an underpainting?
Begin with a gesso-primed surface for smooth application. Outline the main forms, blocking in the areas of light and shadow.
Use thin layers of acrylic washes or transparent glazes to build the base tones. Start with broader areas and add finer details as the composition takes shape.
Is underpainting necessary in acrylic painting?
While not essential, underpainting is highly recommended for artists seeking control over tone, depth, and contrast.
It’s especially beneficial in realism in painting and layered works, as it defines forms and enhances the color depth of the final layers, making the painting look more dimensional and cohesive.
Can underpainting affect the final colors?
Absolutely. An underpainting layer can influence the hue, brightness, and overall harmony of the final work.
Warmer underpainting will bring vibrancy, while cooler tones give subtlety. Transparent glazes can also shift tones as they interact with the underpainting, creating additional depth and complexity.
What are some common underpainting techniques?
Techniques like grisaille (using grayscale), color blocking, and scumbling add depth and texture to underpainting.
Grisaille sets tonal contrast; color blocking builds base hues; and scumbling adds texture by lightly brushing color over the surface. Each method supports a different effect in the final painting.
Can you use underpainting with other mediums?
Yes, underpainting is versatile and works well across mediums. Acrylic gesso is typically used for acrylics, but oil-based layers can also be applied, especially in mixed media.
Just follow the fat-over-lean rule if using oils over acrylics, ensuring flexibility and durability across different material layers.
How long should an underpainting dry before adding layers?
Acrylics dry quickly—usually within 10–15 minutes for thin layers.
However, for thick applications or when using slow-drying mediums, it’s best to wait until the underpainting is touch-dry. This prevents unwanted mixing and ensures clarity in each additional layer.
Conclusion
Understanding what is underpainting in acrylic painting reveals how essential it is to building depth, structure, and tonal balance in a piece.
Underpainting lays a strong foundation, guiding an artist’s choices for light, shadow, and color harmony.
Using techniques like grisaille for tonal studies, color blocking to establish base hues, or scumbling to add texture, underpainting supports each layer, making the final image more cohesive and dimensional.
Choosing the right materials—such as acrylic gesso, complementary colors, and suitable acrylic mediums—ensures the underpainting performs its role effectively.
By understanding these methods and materials, artists gain control over composition and achieve a richer, more realistic finish.
When applied thoughtfully, underpainting isn’t just a base layer; it’s a critical component that transforms the final outcome, enhancing everything from contrast to realism in painting and ultimately elevating the artwork’s visual impact.
