My rendition of
The Supper at Emmaus
By Caravaggio, 1601.
It is almost 425 years since this painting was made.
The four stages of the painting process
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The Underdrawing
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The Imprimatura
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The Monochrome
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The colour glazing
A warm colour of oil and turpentine is applied over the underdrawing. This is called the imprimatura.
Watch to see the painting develop
You can observe the various stages of the painting. Once the warm wash of colour, called the imprimatura, has been applied over the drawing and allowed to dry, the monochrome stage can begin. Working methodically around the canvas, I start blocking in the painting using only raw umber and white. This stage is kept slightly loose, as it’s only the first layer. The paint—especially the darks made with pure raw umber—is transparent and will not fully cover the canvas, giving it a thin appearance. This is not a problem, as one or two additional layers will be needed to achieve full coverage.
The following layers provide an opportunity to model the forms and introduce the essential light into the underpainting, allowing it to shine through the transparent glazes that will follow.
The second layer is applied
This is where the real modelling of the forms begins to take shape. The tones can now be adjusted to refine the values and achieve balance across the painting. The paint is applied thinly in the darks and shadows—you don’t want light catching uneven paint in these areas. The shadows should remain subdued, a void of light.
By contrast, texture is built up in the lighter areas, mimicking the materials being depicted—a fur rug, a glass, or some silky velvet, for example.
Layer Two is worked up in the Monochrome prior to the glazing stages of colour
