From Marion Boddy-Evans,
Your Guide to Painting.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

Is there a correct order in which to create a painting? Should you paint the foreground (what’s in the front of the painting) before the background (what’s towards the back of the painting), or should you paint the background and then the foreground? If you’re painting a landscape, should you put the hills and grass in first and then the trees on them, or would you paint the trees first and then the hills around them? If you were painting a person on a beach, would you paint the sea and sand first and then the figure, or the figure first?

The short answer is, it doesn’t really matter. Try both and see what works best for you. Different artists work differently, as these comments from a discussion on the Painting Forum on this topic show. Personally, I put in the backgrounds first, then the other elements -- as these step-by-step demos show. I also think it’s very hard to paint the foreground elements first and then the background without the painting looking like the background was painting ‘around’ these.

Brian Rice says: “I usually paint the sky first, but I don't worry about getting it perfect at this point. Then I do the farthest background and work forward. But, most of the time, I like to key in the base color of my foreground objects . I want to get a feel early on how the colors are going to all relate.

”For example, in the last painting I did with the harbour scene, I had the white of the boat in very early, as I was doing the water. It helps to have a plan before you start; do a good drawing first. You need to know where the main subjects are going to be placed. It’s best to have the majority of the painting planed but leave room for those happy accidents. But I have done paintings without much planning, planning as I go. Both ways are good.”

Brenda says: “When I use oils, I usually paint the center of interest first. After that, I just paint whatever I want next. With acrylic I do the background first . I find it's harder to paint around things with acrylics, or is it just me? With watercolor I do the wet on wet part first, so that would be the sky and background.”

Starrpoint says: “I usually do an underpainting, with either monotone or complementary colors, depending on the outcome I want. I do start with the furthest, less detailed view. I will rough in the overall painting, then start with my hazy shapes. I will add just enough detail to define it. Then I will work forward. I will also work top to bottom and try left to right, but not religously. I find after I get the underpainting done, and the basics roughed in, I need to work back and forth to balance the painting.”

Ruthie says: “[When I’m using acrylics], most of the time I don't plan my paintings, I just start and it develops as I go along. With oil though, I find that I have to plan them out because of the drying time and the fact that mixing the colours makes them muddy. I'd do the entire background in one colour first or do a sky/ground combo and then take it from there. The figure would go in afterwards.”

BFJ says: “I always start with the sky then the farthest background then work my way forward progressively.”

Hamlet279 says: “I would paint the ground first and then the figure.”

How do you work? Do you do the background first and then the foreground, or the other way round. Or something completely different? Add your comments and suggestions to discussion on the Painting Forum.