Welcome artists!

[FONT=Verdana]Here is a quick recap of what The Spotlight is all about!
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The Spotlight is an activity thread for pastel artists of all experience levels working from photos chosen by a monthly host. Most months, the host will choose photos from only one subject, putting that subject into “the spotlight,” so to speak! For example, one month the subject will be painting water, another month will spotlight flowers, etc.

Some months, rather than spotlight a subject, the focus will be on a challenge of some sort. In those cases, we might have a wider variety of photo references, but “the spotlight” will be on the challenge itself.

Since this is a group activity, we can pool our knowledge and resources, and grow as artists in a fun, “no-pressure” atmosphere. And no critiques unless specifically asked for. The intent is to have fun, try new things, experiment, and perhaps most of all, to see what our friends and colleagues are painting from the same reference material!

Please note: The photos this month are from the Reference Image Library. You have permission to use the photos as reference to create your artwork and to sell them and/or exhibit them. The actual photos still retain the copyright of the photographer. So you cannot copy the photo to your blog, for example, without the permission of the photographer, or digitally alter or reproduce the photo for any purpose other than for your personal use, with the exception of crops, digital alterations and posts of these photos within “The Spotlight” thread.

This month’s Spotlight is on…Underpainting!

This month’s Spotlight is somewhat of a continuation of last month – when we focused on the initial block-in. The reasons for that are:
a) Using an initial block-in or an underpainting is a very useful technique.
b) I didn’t want to jump from one theme last month to something totally different this month as it might get confusing.
c) Underpainting was a recent topic on Richard McKinley’s blog.
d) I was too lazy to do another Spotlight topic.
e) All of the above!

But seriously….

Actually, it is all of the above!

During our discussion of block-ins last month, I mentioned that the block-in could be done using a wet underpainting technique. A couple people did indeed do wet underpaintings as their block-in. I’m hoping that this month, more people will give it a try.

Doing a wet underpainting for a pastel painting was a new idea for me when I first read about it right here on WC only a few years ago. In fact, I had never done a wet underpainting until 2 years ago – right here in The Spotlight. Paula Ford hosted that month, and that was the inspiration for me to try doing a wet underpainting for the first time. And I liked it! I thought a wet underpainting was definitely a good idea, so hopefully this month’s Spotlight will inspire some of you to try it for the first time – and hopefully like it as much I did.

The main benefits of using a wet underpainting are that it solidifies the first layer of pastel, and allows the painter to cover the paper or board quickly and completely. If you feel like you aren’t getting as many layers as you want – or if you often end up with some unwanted paper texture or spots showing through – then a wet underpainting might help.

Here’s a link to that earlier Spotlight….

https://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=652091

My first efforts with doing a wet underpainting were rather sloppy and my block-in was very generalized. I’m sure it is possible to be a bit more exact or refined in the placement of the block-in colors if you want. As I mentioned last month, there is no right or wrong way to approach the underpainting or the block-in.

I find that using pastel for my underpainting is the easiest. First, I have all the colors in my pastel collection to choose from – and I can continue to use the exact same colors in my subsequent layers.

If you start with pastel, you can add:

Water
Rubbing Alcohol – the type bought in your local pharmacy. Mine had 70% alcohol.
Solvents – such as Odorless Mineral Spirits (Turpenoid, Gamsol) or other paint thinners.

You can apply the wet medium with a brush, but I believe it is possible to also use a spray bottle.

Make sure you have adequate ventilation if you are using mineral spirits or paint thinners of any kind.

You could also do your underpainting in a different medium. Watercolor and gouache are popular mediums to use as an underpainting.

If a wet underpainting does not give you the results you want, then you can still get the benefit of solidifying that first pastel layer by using some fixative. Spectrafix is a good fixative to use as it is non-toxic. For all other fixatives, use with adequate ventilation (preferably outside) or with a respirator.

Continued next post…