Pastel Papers, etc.

[Chris Saper]

I have underpainted on the Wallis paper in watercolor; thinned down acrylic; thinned out oil; and pastel melted with mineral sprits, alchohol, and acetone.

As long as you don't apply the underpainting so heavily that it fills the tooth, it all works.

[Sharon Knettell]

Originally Posted by Chris Saper

I have underpainted on the Wallis paper in watercolor; thinned down acrylic; thinned out oil; and pastel melted with mineral sprits, alchohol, and acetone.

As long as you don't apply the underpainting so heavily that it fills the tooth, it all works.

Chris,

One day you are going to explode your studio!

[Kitty Wallis]

Originally Posted by Valerie Gudorf

Thanks for the info about Createx pigments, Kitty. I was hoping to avoid having to go out and buy yet another kind of paint to use just to tone my pastel grounds because I have so many tubes of professional watercolor pigments. I was hoping I'd be able to use them for this purpose, as well as my traditional watercolor paintings. Will watercolor paint not work? If not, why not?

Watercolor works. Its paint body is light enough not to fill the grit and it dries matte.

The downside of watercolor for me is:

1. It takes a lot of the stuff to make a vivid wash. Createx is much stronger, therefore less expensive.

2. Watercolor is gooey enough to get stuck up in the body of the brush* and resist liquifying into a wash. This is an annoyance for me because I work large, doing my underpainting in large, strongly colored, simple shapes like color fields, and Createx mixes into lots of wash -instantly.

*Remember to use a synthetic brush rather than natural bristles, since synthetic fiber resist abrasion.