Starting the Day in Black and White

I'll put my rods to work and give my cones a chance to sleep in

Sometimes I start my day with a cup of coffee and a little grisaille on the side. Before I embrace the multi-hued menu of a full palette, I just ease slowly into black and white.

There's no better way to learn about painting than to capture a still life using nothing but black and white.

There’s something deeply poetic about black and white. I love the bleached bones and the deep shadows of this elemental combination.

But there’s a way you can sneak a little color into your grisaille. Below is another black and white sketch of a creamer.

It's painted in gouache over a yellow-ochre square shape that serves as a priming layer. I painted the ochre priming the day before in casein, and I chose casein because it has a closed surface after it dries, meaning it won’t reactivate if it’s rewet. You could also use a matte acrylic (also known as acrylic-gouache) for the priming.

With this little sketch, I allow the underpainting to shine through here and there.

I can even rub off the gouache paint with a damp rag to reveal the priming color.

Below is a behind-the-scenes video clip and a stage-by-stage sequence of a storefront painting.