Following the My Leah in Progress post, I would like to share other paintings I started the same way. There are several reasons to consider why one would want to tint the whole paper before painting a picture. One might think “What’s the big deal, doesn’t it all get covered, anyway?”
Well, no if you choose to do it this way. The purpose would be that you would WANT some of the color to glow through to enhance the overall effect of your paintings. The color underneath was chosen after the subject. This is also why I like white paper. I get to ‘tint’ the paper however I want and not have a bunch of gray paper and wishing I had a brown or blue.
I usually use orderless turpenoid as a wash over the pastel color I lay down to tone the paper. I have also used plain water. Both work well, but I do prefer the ‘oily’ or buttery feel after using turpenoid. I let the wash dry before drawing with charcoal the outline of my subject(s). Then I begin to create a painting.
Drying Chili Peppers (Pastel on Wallis paper)
This painting is of a very old village scene in a little town of Cellara Italy. I chose a burnt umber pastel with a turpenoid wash to be the underpainting to keep an old well worn flavor to the painting.
Elements of 101 (Pastel on Wallis paper)
A burnt umber pastel in a turpenoid wash was used as a tone under this painting in keeping with the rich manly look to the atmosphere of the subject.
Grandpa's Gentle Hands (Pastel on Wallis paper)
I took several photos on a very bright summer day of this Granddaughter/Grandpa pair. I used a warm pumpkin color in a turpenoid wash in the middle of the paper and allowed the color to come thru to emphasize the hot color of the skin tones in the sun.
No One's Here (Pastel on Wallis paper)
I used a brick red pastel in a turpenoid wash under this painting. As I worked the very light colored stucco on top, I realized my mistake. The door worked great, but given the fact that I inadvertently created pink stucco, I had to re-evaluate my application. Wallis paper allows for several layer applied and by putting a workable fixative on top, I was able to minimize the brick color beneath to mingle with the lighter stucco color.
Lilac and Apple Blossom (Pastel on Ampersand pastel board)
The pastel board was toned with a purple pink pastel in a turpenoid wash. I allowed the glow of the underpainting to show through in the background and table cloth creating harmony.
Lonely Street in Cellara (Pastel on Wallis paper)
A burnt umber pastel with turpenoid was used to tint the Wallis paper before any other part of the painting was added. I did this to enhance the old world look to this very old Italian City street.
Shelley Aquino Brandon Gallery 