Repurpose Pastel Paper with A Twist

'Good Olde Summertime'          11x14        pastel         ©Karen Margulis
sold

I seem to be on a Recycle Roll. I was left with several pieces of Uart sanded paper covered with blue after my sky workshop. Instead of throwing them out (Never!) or adding them to my pile I decided to tackle them and turn them into useful underpaintings.

Again the blue paper chose the subject. I had a perfect Queen Annes Lace reference photo for the larger paper. But this time instead of just wetting the blue pastel and toning the paper, I decided to add some texture. Texture would be perfect for a wild stand of weeds and grasses!

left over demos on Uart paper

Adding texture was easy to do. I took some clear gesso and a brush and applied it in random brushstrokes. The gesso liquified the pastel and I was able to move it around like thick paint! The Clear gesso dries.....Clear! And unlike regular gesso it has a light grittiness to it which adds tooth to the paper. If you haven't tried using clear gesso for making pastel surfaces add it to your list!

Below is the resulting paper after applying the clear gesso. It took about an hour to dry.

texture with pastel and clear gesso

 The results were satisfying! I was able to get a suggestion of grasses when I dragged the pastel over the nooks and crannies left by the gesso. The little bits of blue peeking through my pastel layers added an airy delicate feeling to the scene....perfect for flowers such as the Queen Anne's Lace!

a close up view

That was a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I'll be sharing the results from the other pieces of paper this week.