Monday, October 1, 2012

Underpainting in my Monday class.

Been Down This Road Before, pastel, 9x12
In my Monday morning class today, I introduced liquid underpainting to some new students in the class. For my liquid underpaintings, I use alcohol over an initial light layer of pastel, which is how I got this painting started.

I used a mostly monochromatic underpainting to set the value structure, using a dark blue Nupastel to block in most of it and a very dark reddish-purple soft pastel to intensify only the darkest areas. Straying a bit from the monochromatic structure, I also added just a touch of a yellow-orange with a Nupastel to the lightest areas (the sky and road). Even for my monochromatic starts, lately I've been including a warm color to underlay my light areas when the ultimate color used in that area will be on the cool side...I find that this keeps the color from have a whitish, chalky look.

Sorry I don't have photos of the initial block in on this one.
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3 comments:

  1. Carol FlattOctober 2, 2012 at 11:28 AM

    Barbara, thank you so much for the excellent way you explain your process. It is such a help to me as I don't live close enough to have access to many workshops. Your descriptions are very thought out, and your work is so very beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. carol morgan carmichaelOctober 4, 2012 at 9:53 AM

    Your work just blows me away. So beautiful!! Gives me chill bumps your strokes and colors are so wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Barbara JaenickeOctober 8, 2012 at 2:47 PM

    Thanks so much for the kind feedback. I enjoy sharing my process and am glad it's helpful!

    ReplyDelete

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