Mineral Spirit Wash - Part Two

This is it...the final installment in our seven-part UART underpainting series is here with Part Two of the mineral spirit wash. As the sun sets over Cisco Beach in this final painting, our series has come to a close. Thanks for all the amazing feedback and encouragement you've given regarding the relevance of these instructional videos. They clearly struck a chord with you all. Please leave a post on the blog to let me know what you think about this last video.

I'd love to know what you really want to learn from me in upcoming instructional videos. As I dream and plan for the next series, your feedback would be so incredibly helpful. Portraits, still life, landscape, specific techniques, materials questions, or anything else on your mind? Just leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts.  Be as specific as you can about where you would like guidance. Thank you so much in advance!

Enjoy the beautiful June weather, and be inspired!

Mineral Spirit Wash - Part One

Our underpainting series continues with Part One of the final underpainting technique in the series, the mineral spirit wash. This collaboration with UART to demonstrate a variety of underpainting methods has been such fun. Please let me know what you think about this "local color" method of underpainting by leaving a comment on the blog!

My wife and I will celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary on Thursday, June 2. This video pays homage to one of our favorite places to vacation, and the site of our first honeymoon visit. I hope you enjoy watching a glorious sunset over Cisco Beach, Nantucket, develop in the medium of pastel. It’s a reminder to me of a treasured memory, and more importantly of how fortunate I have been to share the last 15 years with my lovely wife Mirjam.

COMPLEMENTARY ALCOHOL WASH - PART TWO

Our underpainting series with UART continues as we mass in bold marks using soft pastel over a complementary underpainting in Part Two of this video demonstration. You'll be excited to see the impact that placing red underneath the rice field full of greens and violets will create. 

There is one final stage in this painting to go, so look forward to Part Three in my next blog post, as we refine the painting together. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think, and then try your own painterly landscape using an exciting underpainting technique. 

COMPLEMENTARY ALCOHOL WASH - PART ONE

Our underpainting series with UART Premium Sanded Paper continues with the application of a complementary color wash in alcohol. This painting demonstration will develop over three short videos released throughout the month of May. In them, I'll guide you step-by-step through the process of achieving exciting color results in the landscape using a complementary color underpainting. I absolutely love this color strategy to add life to a green-heavy painting. I think you will too! Please leave a comment to let me know what you think, and come back next week to see Part Two of this demonstration! 

Pastel Underpainting Techniques

I frequently receive questions from students and other aspiring artists regarding what underpainting techniques I use. It’s a great question, and I only wish it were a simple one to answer. An underpainting wash is a very exciting method when using sanded surfaces that can support aqueous materials. Be sure to use prepared surfaces like UART, Wallis, PastelMat, Canson Touch, or other primed surfaces which can withstand the use of washes. There are a variety of ways to under paint and achieve exciting results. Here are just a few:

1. Watercolor Wash Using a small watercolor set and a flat or round watercolor brush, paint with watercolor materials on the blank sanded paper to achieve your desired effect. Then work over the wash with dry pastel.
2. Alcohol Wash Use denatured alcohol or 90-percent isopropyl alcohol and a flat watercolor brush to wash over dry pastel pigment, which will dissolve and stain the color into the paper. This method dries very quickly and creates beautiful effects.
3. Mineral Spirit Wash This works in much the same way as an alcohol wash but takes a little longer to dry. 

To learn more about using underpainting techniques in pastel, and see me put them to work in step-by-step instructional paintings, look for my upcoming book, Mastering Pastel, available for purchase in the STORE this May.