Winter 2019 Pastel Class

Alcohol Wash Over Pastel and Ground for Pastel

When I came to class I was going to do a demo using watercolor for the under painting then adding the ground for pastel over the watercolor on watercolor paper, but life happens and I had a new student I was trying to explain how she could get started and realized that it was just easier to show her - and the rest of the class - one technique to start a painting.

I want to make it clear that this is just one of many techniques out there that can be used to start a painting but it by no means the only one, I will try to show you different techniques as I learn them and while you may not want to start every painting with a certain technique, you will have it in your arsenal.

The first thing I did on the raw watercolor paper was to lay down the colors I saw in the photo I was working on, trying to find a color that was just a bit darker than what was there. I didn't waste time being precise, I just wanted to get the color down and in some places I didn't put down everything that was in the photo because it was too detailed and I knew that the final pastel would cover what was underneath. 

When I was done with that under painting, I took some rubbing alcohol and and a soft brush like a sable oil or watercolor brush and painted over everything I put down on the paper, then I let it dry for a few minutes. This can also be done with water but take longer to dry. You do this to set your design onto the paper and it won't rub off as easily.

Next I used a mix or 2 water to 1 of the pastel ground to make a thin slurry and with a wide brush I painted the slurry onto the paper covering all of the under painting and paper then let that dry.

At this point the under painting looks very impressionistic but it is also a point where you can decide if you are going to continue to be impressionistic or more realistic, the choice is yours. She wanted to be more impressionistic so that is the direction I continued after the ground had dried.

 I forgot to take photos of my steps this was as far as I managed to get on Wednesday, there is still some work to do. I did not blend my colors unless I used the chalk and I kept my chalks moving so I didn't get too fussy. You lose all the freshness of impressionistic painting when you get fussy.

These will be flowers and are the only thing I didn't manage to cover in pastel in class. This is the under painting I did before adding the ground.


I will try to finish this up next class as well as do some more demos.

Keep painting and I will see you in class.