Glazing and underpainting - for the frugal oil painter (grisaille, brunaille, verdaille, etc)

I'm beginning to see why painters that use glazing and this kind of realism go to such lengths to work on a smooth surface.   The layers of paint are so thin, especially in the shadows, as part of that way of achieving realism.  Some layers one or two particals of pigment thick.

With a canvas, especially with stand oil added to the glaze, the pigment falls between the weaves of the fabric rather than distributing evenly loke they did in the under painting.   You can see this in the blue of the rock especially.



There are lots of other ways to achieve realism in oil painting, but the frugal nature and challenges of glazing apeal to me.