Pushing a Limited Palette with a Bold Underpainting

'Deep Breath'                   9x12               pastel                 ©Karen Margulis
available $175

 My assignment for today's studio play was to work with a limited palette of pastels. I am working on my April Patreon lessons and I will be reviewing a limited palette set of pastels! I wanted to find a way to make the limited palette go further so I thought I could do so with the underpainting. I looked on my shelf and saw my Derwent Inktense blocks. Perfect!

I've used the Derwent Inktense blocks as they are called but I only had a few single sticks. I was like a kid in a candy store when a friend sent me the set of 24 colors. I have a set of 24 Intense pencils but the blocks are better suited for underpaintings.

 If you aren't familiar with this product they are actually inks in solid form. They are called blocks but they are the same shape and size as a Nupastel stick.

• You can work with them in a variety of ways but they are meant to be wet. Once they are wet they turn into liquid inks. You can wet them with water or rubbing alcohol or even turpenoid. Once they are wet they just EXPLODE with rich vibrant color. I find that water actually has the most vibrant results!
• They can be mixed and layered. You can manipulate the wet ink with sprays of water or alcohol. I got some great drips with the rubbing alcohol.
• They are fantastic for underpaintings for pastels. They are more vibrant than watercolor and very portable. 

Before wetting down the inktense with water

Here is the resulting underpainting! I love how bold and vibrant it is! I took photos of the development of this painting and it will be a part of my April program on Patreon. Consider joining us! www.patreon.com/karenmargulis