Pastel Demo Monday! Pure Pigment Underpainting

'Down to the Sea We Go'      11x14    pastel    ©Karen Margulis
painting available for $165 here

I am back in the studio and it is Demo Monday!  I am working on a series of beach paintings this week.   I will be posting more about the series and what we will be doing in my pastel classes. Today I just needed to warm up after a week away from painting.  I chose to paint a beach path on Diane Townsend sanded paper with an underpainting using Createx Pure Pigments. Read on to see what I did!

Createx Pure Pigments used for the Underpainting

Underpainting on Diane Townsend sanded pastel paper

Step by step demo

• (from top left)  I wanted to get a warm glow for my beach scene so I decided to do a warm orange and yellow underpainting. I decided to use some Createx Pure Pigments.  This is a liquid pigment that comes in many colors. I love using it for an underpainting because the color is so vibrant and intense. You only need a few drops of color. I paint it on with a brush and water it down.  I found the Createx Pure pigments in our local Pearl store when it was going out of business. I haven't seen it anywhere since though it is shown on the Createx website. I did find it online at this art store but I am not familiar with them. Renaissance Graphic Arts.  

• After the underpainting dried I began the painting by blocking in all of the dark areas with a few dark value pastels in different colors of the same vaNext I work on the sky.  I put down several blues with the darkest coolest blues at the top. I also block in the darker parts of the clouds with some purples.I finish the sky by adding the light yellows and peaches in the clouds. Instead of pure white I use a pale pale yellow. I also put in the darker blues of the distant sea.

• Now I continue the painting by blocking in the greens of the sea grasses. I use lighter cooler greens in the distant grasses. In this stage I use broad strokes in the direction the grasses grow rather than painting the grasses with lines. I want the grasses to appear natural without having every blade of grass painted!

• Now for the sand!  I block in a darker peach and gold for the shadows and underpainting for the lighter sand colors.  I also continue to work on the grasses. I pay attention to the direction of the light so I can paint the warmer  grasses that are in the path of the sunlight.

• Finishing touches: I put in a few blades of grass and refine some of the footprints in the sand. 

I hope you enjoyed this mini demo. If you are interested in learning more about Diane Townsend pastel Paper you might like to read my review post here.