From the first spark of imagination to the full color finished art work, Linda Coulter's art style is called   Coulter Grisaille™. 

The unique combination of fine art techniques, concepts, discoveries and inventions have been developed through 41 years of painting and 26 years of teaching fine art classes.  

Here's how it works.

The first step is to build a network of gray tones with brilliant white accents and transparent shadows.  We call this the "grisaille (gray tone) underpainting".   

During the gray tone process, it is important to control  lights and darks, balanced by transparent and opaque passages, and manipulate flat against reflective to create the ideal foundation that is virtually a playground for natural sunlight. 

Step Two:  Brush transparent oil colors over the grisaille underpainting.  

The grisaille is the ideal foundation under the colors that guides natural sunlight back to your eyes as "inner light".  

Natural sunlight passes through the transparent layers of oil colors, bounces off the reflective areas of the grisaille, then returns to you, gathering colors along the way, to greet your eyes with rich colors infused with shimmering light. 

The design appears to be lighted from underneath similar to the experience of looking at a sunny scene through a stained glass window.

Final additions of highly reflective opaque colors applied in key areas, balanced by deep translucent shadows produce the perfect balance for Old Master quality. 

Coulter Grisaille™ is the fast and easiest  way to create such a painting, even for the new beginner.  The secret is to break the process into easy "bite sized" steps, so the painter can focus on only one thing at a time.   

Linda's playful brushwork is fast, fun and easy to learn.  She will teach you how to make your brush dance playfully across the canvas, spilling color here and there, mingling randomly to achieve beautiful color harmony in a very easy way.  

Workshop Locations      

For more information, visit the official grisaille painting website:  www.graytoneunderpainting.com