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Underpainting
Using Gamsol (a wonderful, truly odorless turp substitute) and raw umber, I showed the students how to complete the underpainting.
First, I blocked in a linear structure, sight-measuring the major proportions. Second, I massed in value in broad tones, lifting out darks with a lint-free cloth in transitional (midtone) areas - always working from dark to light. The underpainting is compete when the values are correct (or as correct as possible).
It's very similar to the "wipeout" technique in a sense. I've adapted it to my own predilections for drawing with the brush, and I teach it that way, unless someone asks me specifically to teach them the wipeout.
The question always comes up along the lines of, "what's the point of this when we're going to cover it up?" And I tell them that the underpainting acts as a value "map" for the opaque layers. Also, having already observed and recorded values based solely on value and not color, the addition of color on subsequent layers won't confuse the value issue (it invariably does, but this sounds encouraging!).
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