This is the very first glaze I apply, and at this stage, all I’m doing is unifying the drawing and setting up the colour I want to show through as I add the tones to come…
To do this glazing, I add a layer, with an opacity set to around 30%, and I add this ‘pinkish’ tone, so there is some warmth to the skin tones later. I already know how I want the skin to look later, so I know what tone to use. This will be a ‘High Key’ painting, that is, all the colours will be light, and bright. My last painting of the ‘Isle Of The Dead’ was a ‘Low Key’ painting, and there are also ‘Middle Key’ paintings. This method I use is a traditional one, and Rembrandt for instance, worked mostly in Middle Key, and Low Key, so he mostly used Burnt Umber or Sienna for his underpaintings…
Once I add the glaze, I merge the layers immediately. On future stages, I do the same thing, since I only use one added layer at a time for glazing, and then merge. The only difference is that later, I repeat the process more than once, in a sequence of ‘add layer, glaze, merge, blend, add layer, etc.’, as needed. This way, as you will see, I can add tones that give the skin a ‘life’ as opposed to a dead-flat look.
NEXT: Beginning the skin tones, and setting the shadow levels… 