Have You Tried a Baby Wipe Underpainting and Didn't Like it?

'Serenade by the Sea'               9x12               pastel              ©Karen Margulis
available in my Etsy shop $175

 I have used a baby wipe for underpainting in emergency situations. They are great for doing a wet underpainting when you don't have access to a liquid. But I have heard from others who have tried this fancy technique that they didn't like it!  The issue was that the baby wipe was hard to use on sanded paper and caused the wipe to break up and leave fuzz.

I get it. It is strange to have a paper covered with soft fuzz. But I encourage you to embrace the fuzz! I do and I like the results. If you consider the fuzz to be simple added texture you might see the benefits!

Take today's dune painting. I did a baby wipe underpainting and I did end up with a bit of fuzz covering my paper. As I painted with my pastels they fuzz was moved around the paper and actually acted like little piece of pastel spreading color in unexpected ways! I created interesting texture that I enjoyed.

What about the fuzz the finished painting? Most of it fell off as I painted and anything piece that remained were easily removed. In the end the fuzz was fun! So if you tried a baby wipe underpainting and didn't like it why not give it another try!

After using the wipe to wet and spread the pastel