🎉 Labor Day Sale: Save 20% on eligible live courses! Click here to learn more
Member's schedule
Log In
,
Discover the Renaissance painting technique that allows you to create remarkably lifelike figures by separating the process of value and color into two simple stages.
Instead of trying to solve light, shadow, color, and form all at once with the alla prima (direct) method, you’ll first build a highly refined black-and-white underpainting - the grisaille - and then transform it with translucent layers of color. The result is a dimensional figure that appears almost instantly when the glaze is applied.
This technique is especially exciting for artists who want a more structured and predictable path toward realistic painting. Rather than struggling to make every color and brushstroke work simultaneously, you’ll build the painting step by step, and then watch the final glaze bring your piece to life.
The first part of the course will introduce you to the fundamentals of glazing, including how to create translucent mixtures, layer glazes, and handle the soft-hair brushes used for this technique. Through specially designed warm-up exercises, you’ll become comfortable with the process before applying it to your final figurative painting. By the end of the course, you’ll have learned a Renaissance-inspired approach that can become an invaluable addition to your painting toolkit, and a remarkably efficient way to achieve a convincing, museum-like figurative result.
Prerequisite: This course requires basic drawing skills, particularly the ability to construct and compose the human figure. Completion of Prima Materia’s Essential Drawing Course is highly recommended before enrolling.
‍
Week 1: We’ll begin with warm-up exercises in grisaille to familiarize ourselves with the technique. Then, using an instructor-provided photo reference, we’ll draw a nude figure directly onto the canvas.
Week 2: After additional grisaille practice on small canvas sheets, we’ll use a Gray Scale to establish the value range of our figure and begin developing the monochromatic underpainting.
Week 3: Continue developing the grisaille, carefully observing the direction of light on the figure and establishing an accurate range of values. You’ll learn to use the relationship between light and shadow to create convincing volume and three-dimensional form.
Week 4: Complete the grisaille underpainting using only two pigments: black and white. We’ll refine the figure until the tonal rendering accurately captures the model’s forms, volumes, and lighting, creating a fully developed monochromatic foundation for the final layer of glazing.
Week 5: In a surprisingly quick process, we’ll apply translucent layers of red-based color mixtures over the completed grisaille and the monochromatic figure will be transformed into the appearance of warm, lifelike human flesh.
Get inspired! You'll do similar projects in class.
Frequently Asked Questions
upcoming live courses...
