Casein Painting #4 — Matt

"Matt" by Sara Light-Waller, 2014
Casein and watercolor, 9 x 12, Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook

For this newest painting, I chose a subject near and dear to my heart – my husband, Matt. I wanted to try a few new things in this painting. First, I wanted to do a complete watercolor underpainting. I used Burnt Umber for this as I thought this might provide a rich undertone, as it would in oils.

Second, I wanted to create the look of a color-tinted black and white photograph. To do this, I first created a black and white painting in casein and then used watercolor to tint the painting, knowing that once the casein has had time to set, it won’t move on the paper. (Another nice casein feature.)

Here’s the way it went —

Underpainting in watercolor

Black and white casein painting

Final painting tinted with watercolor

So – end result? Casein is my baby! I love, love, love it! It handles perfectly for me and I totally get it. Casein can be used in a variety of styles from something resembling watercolor to something resembling oils. It's an illustrator's dream. :-)

So, now back to the Book I cover which, the way, I will be doing in casein.