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Moi 17

Linda Wilson

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Posted
I recently watched a demo on U-tube of an American girl creating a pastel picture of a tiger on black pastel paper. She mostly used pastel pencils, but for areas of underpainting (the darker colours in the fur) , she spread it around with a brush full of what she called paint thinners. Has anyone here used this and what kind of thinners have they used? Incidentally I don't think that she was using oil pastels.

Sylvia Evans

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Posted
Just had a google and there seems to be several products out there. I didn't download any as there are so many. But yes there is a blending agent... interesting.

Alan Bickley

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Posted
I worked on a small series recently using pastel (not oil) and W&N distilled turps, really enjoyed doing them but you do need some heavy paper, in my case I opted for mount board, you can see them on my gallery page.

Val Kenyon

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Posted
With soft pastels for underpainting you can just use water and a brush over the initial pastel. It dries "fixed" and you can then pastel over the top. Works better with a heavier pastel support though, not paper. Val
Moi 17

Linda Wilson

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Thank you all for adding your experiences, I obviously need to start experimenting. I'm surprised at water fixing the pastels, but at least it's cheap and doesn't smell. I could even add some gum arabic, which has been lying in my watercolour box without being opened. In this weather with all the windows closed, I will give the turps a miss for now, but perhaps Zest it, might do the job. But I'm now trying to remember my school chemistry, what happens when you mix acid with chalk........ we will see! Meanwhile, you may be interested to know, that "pastel" means "wode" in French. Yes that's right - the stuff that our ancestors painted themselves blue with. I even saw a wode shop in Albi in France.
Moi 17

Linda Wilson

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I'd rather wear blue jeans than woad (or toad as my autocorrect would say).
Moi 17

Linda Wilson

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Posted
Thank you Pat for your links. One of them used gum arabic, with glycerine. I've now tried that combination with water, but it would have been better on thicker paper. The pigment really did stick, but it left me wondering why I didn't use watercolour or acrylic for the underpainting. However it did reduce the pastel dust and saved my fingers.
Moi 17

Linda Wilson

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Posted
Just posted my experiment on the gallery. Linda Wilson