Do You Paint Backgrounds First or Last?

Question

Do you paint a background first, before you start on the subject. Do you paint it last, when you've finished everything else? Or do you create the background at the same time as you paint everything else? Which approach do you find easiest, and why?

Answer 1

 

There is no foreground or background

It is all one piece of work, there are only primary and secondary focal points, both deserving of the same amount of effort. I paint everything in order of its importance to the final piece. I paint the main subject (or focal point last) as that is the first paint I want the viewer to see. This method works extremely well and reduces any confusion of the viewer. This goes so far as to plan and execute the main focal point of the main focal point! For example, when I paint portraits I paint the nose last as it is the first thing I want the viewer to see. Painting this way gives an enormous amount of depth to your painting. It's all about layering and painting about 7-8 steps ahead knowing full well that much of what you paint will not even be visible in the final piece as it has been painted over maybe up to 20 or 30 times by then.

Answer 2

 

As it Goes

In some cases,the entire support needs to be covered with one or two washes after the initial sketching. For portraits,the first wash of the background is done after partially completing the main subject and the background is finished before the subject. A confident artist makes the background and uses the wet paint to create shadows on the subject. For flowers in watercolours, the background is made first leaving white spaces for the main flowers. The background flowers and foliage is picked from the background colours. In case the background is the main subject, it has to be made first starting from the sky, the middle ground and then the foreground. For example, I made a painting of a lonely cyclist on a rainy night, the cyclist was added last. In another painting, a family was shown to be waiting for the father against a mud wall. Since the texture of the wall was thick, the figures were added later.

Answer 3

 

Depends on Medium Used

While it is frequently easier to paint the background first, particularly sky, or from top to bottom, with watercolour as opposed to acrylic or oil, one can use masking to protect either white paper, or previously painted focal points. Then paint backgrounds over everything.

Answer 4

 

Background First

I chosen a color that I like for background first, thinking that it would look good with the object that I choose to do; and then sometimes, I regret the choices that I made. I have to change the way I'm doing it.