Step 3: In this step, I am reaffirming some aspects of the drawing, working directly over the charcoal drawing with diluted burnt umber. In the past I've taken different approaches to the underpainting process, including using complementary colors, such as red under green, or yellow under blue, or have covered the entire canvas with a wash or brown or gray before laying on paint. I've chosen this approach in part because I didn't do a highly detailed pencil drawing on the canvas. Using brown washes will lend some warmth to the cooler colors that are to come over much of the painting, and it helps me to see the masses in the composition. Next step: paint!
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