| Glaze Painting with Acrylic | Reference Articles from the archives |
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Begin with the darkest values, and using a blend of glazing medium and burnt umber paint in a mix of about 1:3. THATS RIGHT 1 part paint to 3 or 4 parts glazing medium. This mixture will be about the consistency of chocolate syrup. Now, I will tell you that in terms of glazes, this is a thick mixture. (In my own work, the mix is often 1 part paint in 10 parts medium.) For starting out, the 1:3 mix is sufficient to experience the process and is a bit less demanding. If you use a hair dryer you can complete the under painting of a simple composition (highly recommended) in a couple of hours. Save your ambition for the process on this one. So, get started glazing in burnt umber layers, building the depth of the dark areas, layer by layer, until you have a full value scale in your composition. You have about 10 minutes or 20 with a few drops of water added to the glaze, to work each layer before it starts to get tacky. Do not keep working a layer after it has become tacky. You must allow the paint to dry completely between layers. After a few layers, you will understand why I said a simple composition is best. It will take several layers to achieve the darkest values.
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Painting
with glazes was the preferred method of the renaissance period, and is
still a widely used technique across paint mediums and genres. The
reason for this popularity is the incredible color vibrancies and depth
gained through layered transparent layers. Essentially, the light
penetrates layers of paint and bounces around, lighting the composition
from within and bringing life to the work. Because it is a thin layer
process, it requires some patience, but is so worth it! I first learned
of this process as a freshman is college. I teach it the way I first
learned it. Keep it simple, and let the students discover a few of the
many potentials. So, gather some "scrubby" brushes and be prepared to
move that paint around. 
Step
one is to create a value study under painting in burnt umber. This will
serve as a monochromatic base upon which you will build your glazed
painting. If you are painting from an image, reduce it to grayscale. My
students use gessoed, stretched canvas or canvas board, but gessoed and
sanded panel is by far the best support for the process, due to the
smooth surface. If your composition includes water or big sky, you want
a smooth surface to start. 
Use
single, primary color, glazes to build secondary and tertiary colors on
the canvas. A few layers of ultramarine glaze over the darkest burnt
umber areas will yield a warm, rich black. If you alternate the
ultramarine layers with cadmium yellow or ochre, the result will be a
nice foliage green. The transparency of layering makes the paint colors
blend optically. For pastel ranges, use layers of zinc white, which is
more transparent than titanium. I can not overemphasize the need to
limit the use of white. In class I allow it, very sparingly, only in
final layers for skin tones and highlights. Using white in early layers
will create a dead, flat, effect which is the death of transparency,
unless you plan to re layer color glazing. Now, I will say this: If you
have a pale yellow vase in a sunny window composition, you can layer
zinc white in early stages on the brightest surfaces. Your process will
be one of bringing it forward and knocking it back, layer by layer, to
achieve depth and surface molding. 