As I mentioned in my last post, pastel artists have many options when it comes to paper. Paper can come in colors or white (tan in UART).
We all know how hard it is to work on a white surface and so, like oil painters do, we color our "canvas" before starting a new piece. We just call it "underpainting".
Many of you are familiar with different products and options for underpainting. This underpainting can go from a simple wash with one color to tone the surface all the way to a more sophisticated and detailed application of liquid prior to starting with dry pastel.
Different materials that I have seen used for underpainting are:
This paper does not like any type of liquid, water included. There were some rumors that you could use alcohol on it, so I tested that out. The experiment yield the same results as with water.
When you wet LaCarte, it might seem like nothing has happened, but as the alcohol/water penetrates the sanded surface, the "sand" will start to loosen up and separate from the paper. Check this out:
PastelMat
Pastel Premier also does well with watercolor and dry pastel applied with water. However, applying alcohol produces the same or similar issue as with PastelMat. You start noticing that the layer of tooth in the paper separates from the paper itself. Leaving no tooth to work with. I have also tried Pastel Premier with fluid acrylics and that doesn't work either. I am not sure what the actual issue is here (in chemistry terms) but something in the acrylic itself interacted with the tooth of the paper leaving no tooth in the end.
Conclusion
Here is a table with paper brand and underpainting technique to summarize. I have not tried all of the combinations. I will test those out and give you and update when I have them ready. In the meantime, if you try something else or another brand let me know!
We all know how hard it is to work on a white surface and so, like oil painters do, we color our "canvas" before starting a new piece. We just call it "underpainting".
Many of you are familiar with different products and options for underpainting. This underpainting can go from a simple wash with one color to tone the surface all the way to a more sophisticated and detailed application of liquid prior to starting with dry pastel.
Different materials that I have seen used for underpainting are:
- watercolor
- oil (very thin)
- acrylic (very thin)
- fluid acrylic (they have more water than regular acrylics)
- dry pastel with a rubbing alcohol wash
- dry pastel with mineral spirits
- dry pastel with water
So let me start by saying that you can try all of the above on UART and it will accept it just fine, retaining all of the qualities of the paper. This is the reason so many pastelists love this brand. Also, the paper is tough enough to be cleaned off and re-used for another painting.
But let's talk about other brands. I made some small samples of what I wanted to show you so that you can see it in photos.
La Carte
This paper does not like any type of liquid, water included. There were some rumors that you could use alcohol on it, so I tested that out. The experiment yield the same results as with water.
When you wet LaCarte, it might seem like nothing has happened, but as the alcohol/water penetrates the sanded surface, the "sand" will start to loosen up and separate from the paper. Check this out:
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| Black LaCarte with water - at first. |
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| LaCarte with water, after about 5 minutes. |
PastelMat
PastelMat works well with watercolors and fluid acrylics - always make sure that the acrylic wash is thinly applied. This is my favorite paper at the moment, and I like to use fluid acrylics on it. - Takes a while to dry, be aware of that.
However, the paper's microscopic rubber hooks that retain pastel particles will literally disintegrate if alcohol is used. You will start seeing a layer of glue that can be moved around on the paper. That was the tooth of the paper.
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| PastelMat after alcohol wash. |
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| Water on pastelMat (no issues here) |
Pastel Premier
Pastel Premier also does well with watercolor and dry pastel applied with water. However, applying alcohol produces the same or similar issue as with PastelMat. You start noticing that the layer of tooth in the paper separates from the paper itself. Leaving no tooth to work with. I have also tried Pastel Premier with fluid acrylics and that doesn't work either. I am not sure what the actual issue is here (in chemistry terms) but something in the acrylic itself interacted with the tooth of the paper leaving no tooth in the end.
Pastel Premier has a plastic or rubbery feel to the touch which is probably some sort of glue that holds the grit on the paper. So, it's possible that this particular material doesn't interact well with acrylic paint.
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| PastelPremier after alcohol wash |
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| PastelPremier with water - no issues here. |
Conclusion
Here is a table with paper brand and underpainting technique to summarize. I have not tried all of the combinations. I will test those out and give you and update when I have them ready. In the meantime, if you try something else or another brand let me know!
good stuff! thanks for sharing.. especially helpful to know which papers cannot handle the alcohol! i usually use Uart paper and had no issues, but i recently picked up some PastelMat to try out and this is good info to have! Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI love pastelmat :)
ReplyDeleteStrange. Oil wash worked on Pastel Premier. Water on unmounted Pastel Premier made it buckle.
ReplyDeleteYes I remember Richard doing the oil wash but it must have been super thin. When I tried it it killed the tooth of the paper. I forgot to mention water or anything can buckle paper. I was thinking boards. I will correct that thanks Christine!
DeleteThanks...I love your chart. I've recently become quite pleased with rubbing alcohol as an underpainting medium...I like the consistency it creates...it dries quickly and is easy to add dry pastel. You are so right about the LaCarte...I enjoy working with it also....but it will not tolerate the slightest bit of moisture as you pointed out.
ReplyDeleteI like the colors lacarte comes in but I am not a fan of that super sanded layer it has. It’s like pastel just falls off of it specially at the early stages.
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