Grisaille is a fancy word I learned in 2017.
I took a life-changing painting class from a talented Filipino artist named Alfred Galvez. He taught us the classical method of painting which involves painting a grisaille before adding transparent color layers.
Grisaille is a fancy word for monochrome, usually black and white. So, most of my paintings start out that way. Once that is finished, I then add layer after layer of thin color glazes, until I’ve achieved the depth and color I want.
I work fast. Well, I work fast in every area of life except painting. For some reason, my brain slows down during the painting process. That’s one of the reasons I love this method. I can focus in on values, shapes, and perspective during this black and white phase. Then once that is finished, my brain can shift to color, depth, and glow.
As they say in Bisaya ‘hinay hinay’. Slowly, slowly…