Roger Conlon
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    • Learn to Draw exercise sequence >
      • 1 Touch self portrait
      • 2 Feeling the form
      • 3 Wrapping the form
      • 4 Creating volumes with contours
      • 5 Contour systems - bracelet shading
      • 6 Tracing v copying
      • 7 Follow a leader
      • 8 Oval and Axis - constructing the figure
      • 9 Pattern : mapping and negative shapes
      • 10 Measured drawing
      • 11 Dark and light - tonal patterns
    • Drawing the Head >
      • Rotating basic form
      • Child's head demo
  • Teaching - painting
    • Painting advice & quotes
    • Oil Paint >
      • Materials to start
      • Colour mixing : hue, tone, intensity
      • Limited palette tonal painting
      • Oil glazes
Glazing
Some pigments are transparent and with a suitable medium can be glazed over dry paint to modify the colour beneath.
This transcription of a Daumier painting was completed using acrylic as a tonal under-painting  with oil colours glazed over the top using the stand oil medium listed below..

This is just one approach ( monochromatic tonal work + glaze). Transparent and mixed (opaque paint + glazes) methods of painting produce a great variety of surface and colour variation  and are seen more commonly in painting before Impressionism.

Pigments
Transparent pigments are usually marked with a symbol by manufacturers. There are many available. Some common ones:

Red                      Alizarin Crimson, Permanent Rose
Orange                Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber
Yellow                 Raw Sienna
Green                  Viridian
Blue                     Cobalt, Ultramarine and Pthalo blue.
Violet                   Cobalt Violet

Glaze media
Alkyd media ( such as Liquin) can be used + premixed media are available
It is easy to make your own:

Stand oil                       (1 part)                                  or                                 Sun Thickened Linseed Oil     (2 parts)

Turpentine                    (1 part)                                                                       Turpentine                                   (4 parts)

Damar Varnish            (1 part)                                                                       Damar Varnish                        (4 parts)

                                                                                                                             Venice Turpentine                   (1 parts)

More information
Eastlake, Maroger Doerner and Laurie are writers to read if you want to know more.
‘The Artists Handbook of Materials and Techniques’  ( Mayer, Faber & Faber) is useful here