Saturday, February 26, 2011

Day 43 "Buckeye Meadow Evening"

"Buckeye Meadow Evening" was created on Uart sanded pastel paper with an underpainting washed into the sanded paper using alcohol - rubbing not drinking.
My Tuesday evening class is exploring different underpainting styles. The first lesson was using thin oil wash. Now we're working with the alcohol wash. 
Step 1 involved drawing the initial shapes and then adding a light coat of pastels  according to value. Prussian blue in the shadow area and orange in the sunny spots. This allows you to see the composition in simple shapes and colors with time to adjust if needed.


Step 2 shows the underpainting after I applied the alcohol. There's also a bit of pastel in the sky and distant mountains. 


And here's the finished step. The underpainting is covered and I'd like to develop the technique of leaving some of the underpainting showing. Maybe the next one!
"Buckeye Meadow Evening" 8"x12" on Uart sanded paper with alcohol wash then pastel