Imprimatura (underpainting) :

Still keeping in mind that I want it to be a painting with a lot of mood and drama,I thought the most efficient way to achieve those effects is to handle light (and the absence of it) in a way I haven't tried before.That's why an imprimatura seemed indispensabe.An imprimatura is basically a thin wash of paint used to tone the canvas in order to have a more netural tone than the white of a canvas.colours seem darker against the bright white of the canvas,and that can be very misleading.An imprimatura was also indispensable for old masters on the enduring process of creating a masterpiece.It was done in transparent colours,mostly earth ones,to keep the sketch or drawing visible.
An imprimatura is not exactly an underpainting,but I combined the two in one step because I also wanted to define the values of the painting right from the start.In other words,I wanted to define the darkest of my darks and the lightest of my lights.