How to paint in sepia

Posted on | 1/19/11 | No Comments

Vere Foster's painting for beginners: Facsimiles of original studies in sepia
A course of sepia painting: First series
Sepia, an interesting style done in shades of brown, is most commonly seen in photographs and some colored pencil drawings, but it can be particularly effective and attractive in painting. The most difficult part of painting in sepia tones is finding or mixing the colors, otherwise it would be virtually identical to converting colors to shades of gray. The major difference being that instead of black you will have the darkest red-orange-brown shade at one end of the scale and white at the other.


Step 1


Buy your paints or mix them. If you can't find a dark brown that seems right, try making your own by mixing burnt sienna with raw umber and shades of red and orange until you reach the darkest sepia shade you prefer. You also should have white paint.


Step 2

Create a shade scale, the same as you would create a gray scale, using white at one end and dark sepia at the other. A mix that is equal parts white and brown should be in the middle and the scale should lighten toward the white while it darkens toward the brown.


Step 3

Draw the picture you plan to paint or do an under painting (you can use non-sepia tones to create the under painting if desired).


Step 4

Paint the image using only your sepia tones. Where you would normally use a black mixture to make shadows, use your darkest sepia tones; for highlights, sun dappling or reflections, use your lightest sepia tones. The majority of the image will probably be painted using the middle shades of your scale.


Evans Paintings: Sepia Explanation [http://www.evanspaintings.com/sepiaexplanation.html]Moon Gallery: Sepia [http://www.moongallery.com/sepia.htm]

Comments