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Hi gang–
I just wanted to ask you all to contribute information, ideas, thoughts, and photos (when/if you have them) on underpainting pastels. There are a lot of different reasons to underpaint. Sometimes I find that it’s simply a matter of making the first marks on the paper to set free the creative juices. Other times I need to have some kind of color zing in one certain portion of the painting that only underpainting can give. Often it’s that I want the influence of a certain color underneath to unify and give a certain mood to the painting (a dark, dark purple gives an entirely different mood than does a brilliant orange, for instance.)
Just to clarify for us all, what I mean by underpainting might be anything from using a medium to color the whole sheet of paper a solid color, to painting the bits and parts of the composition in various colors, and anything in between. However, whatever the process used, it will be covered with soft pastels subsequently. Thus it’s not the drawing beneath the painting, so not charcoal or pencil or PanPastels. It’s the color or tone created on the paper.
I began to compile a list of various ways we might underpaint as I perused the threads here for thoughts and advice, arriving at this (so far):
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[*]Watercolor/Gouache
[*]Acrylic (thin washes—it gets slick and pastel won’t adhere if too thick)
[*]Oil paint, thinned with mineral spirits
[*]Createx Pure Pigments
[*]Inks
[*]Colored marker pens
[*]Alcohol over pastel–sprayed or brushed (alcohol is often not compatible with sandpapers)
[*]Turpenoid over pastel (yellows/blues: Maggie Price)
[*]Water over pastel
[*]Fixative over pastel
[*]Smearing, softening, blending pastels with cloth or paper towel
[*]Washed off pastel painting that you want to paint over…?-
[*]I’m interested in knowing what else you would add to the list.
[*]Which of these do you like, what has been successful for you, and why?
[*]I’d also like to hear where anything has gone terribly wrong!
[*]I’d like to see your process and results (WIP shots, if you have them.)I just think this could be another good resource for the forum, so please feel free to add your thoughts or questions and show us your underpaintings!
Deborah
Deborah
"All glory to Him, who alone is God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Landscape Painting in Pastels (free online book)
Gouache BlogI thought I’d start by showing my technique for coloring Wallis paper. I use the flat side of my pastel stick to put down a layer or two of pastel, then use my handy-dandy foam brush to smear it like crazy, scrubbing it into the paper thoroughly. I can make white Wallis paper any color I want this way!
I also use Createx Pure Pigments to underpaint sometimes. I love the brilliance of the Createx. They have no paint body to fill the grain of the Wallis paper, so I have every bit as much depth to paint in pastels.
And this is an alcohol spray technique I use occasionally. It’s controversial, since alcohol can gum up the sanded surface of various sandpapers, but I find that by using a spray bottle, and letting it dry thoroughly before going in with pastels, I have no problems.
And the finished image on that paper:
So please share yours with us!! :thumbsup:
Deborah
Deborah
"All glory to Him, who alone is God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Landscape Painting in Pastels (free online book)
Gouache BlogThanks Deborah, I think this will be a great addition to the pastel forum, I will be keeping an eye on this one for sure.
Pastels are the dust on butterflies' wings. ~Wolf Kahn
Take care, Be well, Be safe http://www.scottleckrone.com[/SIZE]How about using charcoal as a values underpainting with fixative?
Luana
Luana, that’s an excellent way of determining the values, but my idea here is to stick with color somewhat more. I use a charcoal underDRAWING rather frequently, to establish the correct values, but I usually do it on top of the already-toned paper (as I showed in the very first of my examples.) My question is more to what color would you do your underdrawing on top of, and why?
Deborah
Deborah
"All glory to Him, who alone is God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Landscape Painting in Pastels (free online book)
Gouache BlogGreat thread! Thanks for starting it Deborah. I don’t always do an underpainting. When I do it is often to help me get a certain effect but often it just depends on my mood. I like to experiment and play and see what happens. I did do an underpainting on my most recent painting which I will share: It is 16×20 on white pastelbord. I decided a bright red/orange underpainting would be a nice complement to all of the greens that I would be putting down. I covered the surface with various red shades of Nupastel and washed it in with alcohol. I was very liberal with the alcohol and let it drip. In the finished painting, bits of the underpainting show through and add interest. Here are some photos:
Karen
I like to start on a toned paper but one that still has some transparency so I tone my own surface with thin washes of acrylic paint. Then I block in the large masses and use Turpenoid to establish a basic value map that I can follow with my pastels. I have better luck when I stick to only a few warms and cools for this stage because I get distracted by color. Here’s one where I have started with pastel near the top but the bottom is my underpainting that eventually got covered by green field. I left some areas of underpainting showing through in the painting – the perfect dirt color! Also, at the very top you can see a light circle. This is where I tried using alcohol and found that it dissolved my acrylic wash; Turpenoid didn’t have this effect.
Donna
and the finished version – This is on 300lb watercolor paper (hot press) that was coated with white Colourfix primer before I put the acrylic wash on. Thanks for starting this thread – I love reading about all the different underpainting options!
Hi Deborah,
This is really interesting. Thank you for starting this thread.
I am not sure if you would consider this underpainting? I always work from left to right in a painting and underpaint each patch as I move across and down the paper. I change the colour underneath as I go along to suit the colours I am using for the painting itself.
Adding a couple of examples of mine where I used Mount Vision’s watercolors from a bottle and mixing it on a watercolor palette, then use a soft bristle brush to block in colors. Often complementary colors to the final version. These were done on white Wallis:
(this is the finished image)
(this one is not completed yet)
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