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Zenithal Priming.

Discussion in 'Painting Techniques' started by Tubby-Nuts2, Nov 14, 2018.

  1. Tubby-Nuts2 A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Do people still use this once well used and discussed method of priming? I haven’t seen it mentioned or used when various people have submitted their work. It used to be an almost pre-requisit 8yrs ago. But not so now.

    Mark.
  2. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Personally.....I stopped using it when I moved over to transparent oils :sneaky:
    Tubby-Nuts2 likes this.
  3. John Bowery A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Mark,
    Julio Cabos and Fernando Ruez, Scale 75 USA use it one their painting, and still use this priming method that I know of. Using black for the first coat and white for the Zenithal light.
    Cheers
    John
    Tubby-Nuts2 likes this.
  4. Tubby-Nuts2 A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Ron. That I can understand, as your method uses your famous ‘Scrub’. Which picks out the shadows and highlights, prior to your transparent oil overlay. So the zenithal approach is not needed. I was wondering who on here, still uses this method.

    Mark
  5. Tubby-Nuts2 A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Does anyone on here use this method? Or has it died off, and forgotten about. I mean it wasn’t that long ago when most were using it.

    I wonder if the method is more suitable for busts, rather than figures. As the subtlety of it maybe lost on anything under 120mm.

    Mark
  6. Joe55 A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    I do!

    Not 100% of the time, but more often than not:).

    Joe
  7. grasshopper A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    Am with Ron..it’s not critical at least using oils, transparent oils do the same, the key perhaps being to think thru how the light and shadow with work before doing your scrub coats then working the initial trans layers accordingly ..can’t speak for acrylics..or airbrush..
  8. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    With regard to it's suitability (zenithal).....the smaller the piece.....the further away you dust the white on from....and in quicker movements across/above the piece etc.
    So....in effect...the scale/size of the piece is less of an issue than you might think.
    Joe55 and grasshopper like this.
  9. grasshopper A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    The biggest and easiest goof is to overdo the white, grey..it’s dust not a coat of paint..quitting too soon is better than too late
    Joe55 likes this.
  10. Tubby-Nuts2 A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    I’m aware of this. I was trying to ascertain if the method has lost popularity. Which then leads to the question, is it worth it.

    Mark.
  11. grasshopper A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    Didn’t realize it’s a survey..sorry
  12. Tubby-Nuts2 A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Not a survey, as such. Just a passsing interest in what was a sometimes heated discussion as to its benefits. Now there is almost no mention of it being used.

    Mark.
  13. grasshopper A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    For my part, with Ron’s method I don’t ..rather I spend more time studying how light will fall and shadows be cast and finding values for each ..
  14. Kimmo A Fixture

    I tried it once, and to be honest, I have no idea if it made a difference or not. I'll have to do a pair of identical figures at some point to see how or if they differ. The technique is intriguing, just don't know if it is worth the bother or not yet.

    Kimmo
    Tubby-Nuts2 likes this.
  15. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Personally....I have to say it is a technique that suits oils better than acrylics and enamels.
    There is no benefit to be gained if you are using very opaque colours over it....simply because it is lost in the coverage of such mediums.
    Even 'opaque' oils....when applied in a very thin layer....will be influenced by the underlying white/grey/black layers....which is the whole point of the technique.

    Ron
    Nap and grasshopper like this.
  16. Tubby-Nuts2 A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Given the steady increase in popularity of acrylics over the last 5+ years, and dare I say it, the slow demise of the enamel painter. It would make sense that this approach has also waned.

    As stated, I suppose it has more of a home with the ‘Bust’, painter and oiler.

    Mark.
  17. Ronaldo A Fixture

    I only use it when I cant get a real woman :eek:

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