Underpainting

A fellow illustrator, John Manders, has a great blog in which he demonstates his painting technique. John and I both work in gouache, an opaque watercolor that lends itself to a range of effects, from totally opaque to translucent.

John also utilizes underpainting, which is a first step in a layered painting style where a monotone color is used to establish the overall pattern of lights and darks. I particularly like this technique as it adds an important base to my usually haphazard way of working - underpainting creates cohesion and depth. This technique was widely used by Renaissance painters. For a more detailed look, check out John's blog.

Above is my underpainting and finished painting fom the book, "Abby's Asthma and the Big Race."