Intermediate Painting - Color Layer!

Today we take the plunge and start adding color to our completed Grisaille Portraits.  This works best if you begin by using a "half-paste" (meaning a semi-transparent) layer of color allowing some of the nice grey to peek through.  You can see this in the image below of Francis Cotes' portrait of Frances Vernon.  Lots of grey in the darker mid-tones and shadows.


Thinner application of color in shadows and dark mid-tones.  You can and will add more opaque passages in the lightest areas.  And Below another detail from a painting Ingres.



We will add more Opaque passages and transitions in subsequent layers - for now get some thin layers of color developing.  Think about color temperature - warmer colors in mid-tones and highlights (warm pinks, oranges, etc.) and cooler in shadows (blues, greens, etc.).