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Author: carly_clements, Contributing Editor
| Underpaintings for pastels can be accomplished with several mediums depending on the support surface and its reaction to the medium. Watercolor and acrylics can be used if the support will take water mediums. Oils are acceptable for underpainting if thinned with turpentine or mineral spirits to produce a wash. Water can also be added directly to the first layer of pastels to create a wash technique. However, as a plein air painter, time is of the essence, and waiting for an underpainting to dry quickly can be frustrating!
Discovering that household rubbing alcohol could be used to saturate the first layer of pastels and create a quick-drying underpainting seemed like a method to explore further! The Dogwoods painting for this article was created using alcohol spritzed over the surface to push the first layers of Nupastel into the tooth of the paper creating a soft background for the delicate white blossoms. |
| Materials List
Pastels - Hard pastels for the underpainting, soft pastels for the finish. I won't comment on color that much in this demo since the technique is the focus. Support - Test your paper with the alcohol to be sure it will not lift any sanded surface or create too much buckling. Spritzing does not wet the surface as much as painting the alcohol onto the surface with the brush. Alcohol - (I've used household rubbing alcohol-Isopropanol) You can also use denatured alcohol which can be purchased at paint stores. Spritz bottle Stencil brushes in varying sizes- Brushes come in all price ranges. The ones in the image to the right cost about $3 for the larger brush and $2 for the medium size brush. The bristles are slightly stiff and the top surface is very flat. You could also cut off an old brush until its surface was flat and could be used for scrubbing. |  |
| Before beginning with the painting, let's take a brief look at how the alcohol reacts to the surface of the paper and how the underpainting will look. You could follow along with this brief demo and test your paper. You might find that you'll love the effect of an underpainting, especially for landscapes!
I'm using the same Art Spectrum medium gray toned for my test that I'll be using for my painting. Choosing a couple of hard pastels and using the side of the stick, I lay down a swatch of color along the corner of the paper. Spritz with the alcohol and immediately use the large stencil brush flat against the surface to scrub the 'wet' pastel into the tooth of the paper. The images below show how much darker the paint looks when wet. When the pastel begins to dry, stop brushing, or spritz slightly in that area, and continue, until you have a nicely blended look. Since its an underpainting, you may not want to over blend - just spritz, and scrub! |
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