Learning to paint takes a lot of work and head scratching on several fronts.
You have to be able to draw convincing shapes.
You then need to form those shapes into an interesting composition.
Next, you need to learn how to use and manipulate brushes and paint. And finally, learning color theory and how colors work with each other is a yet another set of learning hurdles.
An easy way to ease into the whole painting world is learning grisaille painting. This method of painting takes one whole step out of the equation and allows you to focus on form, shape and technique. By leaving the color factor out of your painting equation, you’re able to concentrate on the very basic principles of design and paint application. You can add color to your bag of tricks as you become comfortable with manipulating your materials and have mastered some of the complexities of drawing and setting up compositions.
Get On The Fast-Track & Learn How To Paint
Even if you’ve been drawing, sketching and feel fairly comfortable with the basics of composition, brush strokes and paint manipulation take time to master. Sure, you can begin flinging on paint willy-nilly. But, just like any new hobby or skill, you’ll only become skillful with a lot of practice.
If you don’t have to devote your time, effort and gray cells to color theory, you’ll be able to master using your brush and paints a lot more quickly and efficiently.
Spend time getting to know your brushes, as each size and shape behaves differently. You’ll develop a repertoire of brush strokes that apply to each shape of brush. You’ll also be able to get the feel for your paint and how it goes on your support. Understand how different mediums interact with your paint and how it alters the feel and appearance of the pigment. The way you manipulate your brush may also change as you use different mediums with your paint.
Just like any repetitive task, using your brush will soon become second nature. As your brush moves from being an alien object to an extension of your hand, your brush work takes on an effortless quality.
Grisaille For Stress-Free Learning
Since you’re not concerned with color and you’ve gotten more comfortable with your brushes, you can relax and enjoy your work. You can study your compositions without confusion.
Without the distraction of local color, you can fine tune your piece in a way may not have been possible if color was part of the equation. Sometimes those small tweaks are all that is needed to take a piece of artwork from so-so to wow.
Black, White And Shades Of Gray
Another great thing about removing the local color from the equation of painting is that it frees us to really evaluate the range of lights and darks we use in a painting. This is another area that really separates the pros from the hobbyists.
Beginning and advanced-beginner painters often don’t portray a full range of light and shadows in their paintings. If you were to photograph these pieces in black and white, you would probably see a whole lot of midrange gray tones without bright white highlights or deep ebony shadows.
Grisaille allows you the chance to really examine your values. You can almost think of grisaille as sculpting with paint. There’s a real opportunity here to push the values to the limit for the maximum diversity of light and dark.
Use Grisaille To Move To The Next Level
Sometimes, there’s a fine line between serendipity and skill. And this is often true of borderline artists. You’ve seen their work, and you may be one yourself. A borderline artist is someone who is just on the verge of making the next artistic step. You may be a skilled beginner, but there’s always that subtle something that keeps your work in the amateur category.
Spending time with the Grisaille method of painting can free you to finally master the techniques that have been just a little sub-par.
Open And Closed Grisaille
Open grisaille uses thin, transparent washes of paint to build your form. The color of the support is your lightest shade and you can develop infinite levels of dark value by adding more transparent layers. Open grisaille encourages proficiency in shape, design and value moreso than mastering the ability to wield a brush.
Closed grisaille uses white with a dark neutral color to create the whole range of values from light to dark. The paint is applied in an opaque fashion, so there is more brush work involved. This is where you really get to perfect your brush style.
Grisaille is one of the techniques the great masters of the Renaissance used regularly. Although styles have changed and materials have expanded and improved, there’s much to be said for spending some of your studio time using and practicing this method of painting. You may be very pleased at just how much mileage you’ll get from this form of old-school practice.
