Underpaint the Midtones

When the black portions are dry, mix up some grey acrylic to a buttery consistency and apply this in a similar way, evenly, matching the grey to the mid-tones in your image. To define the tones you may want to get a black and white image of the photograph printed. If you are painting from life, the best method is to squint – this allows the eye to break down the tones of the subject much more easily.

Next, mix some extra white into the grey to create a lighter shade that you can use to separate and define the lightest sections of mid-tone. Now wash your mixing bowl (using water) as the white highlights in the next stage can easily be ‘muddied’.

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