fresh off my dusty easel, pastels by christine dimauro: My Uncle's House.... Tuscany for Dan, Pastel 10" x 15", Painted on Uart 400 grit sanded paper

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

My Uncle's House.... Tuscany for Dan, Pastel 10" x 15", Painted on Uart 400 grit sanded paper

I thought I would post a work in progress here. I'm currently working on a commission for a dear friend that visited Tuscany Italy recently. This is a painting of his uncle's house. I started out with a watercolor underpainting on Uart 400 grit sanded paper. Here are a couple of stages, this top one is where I'm at currently.

This is the previous stage:

And some more steps:

The watercolor underpainting with the sky blocked in using pastels (I forgot to take a photo before starting the sky - oops!):

4 comments:

Doug Wasilieff said...: This is coming along nicely, Chris. The watercolor really helps with the texture of the walls. Love you colors. Uart is a great paper for wet under paintings, isn't it? I am looking forward to the final painting.; March 20, 2012 at 2:48 PM
Christine DiMauro said...: Thanks Doug! Uart really is a great support with watercolors. No buckle whatsoever, not even a bump. I'm very impressed with it. The watercolor gives me something to respond to as I paint, its much nicer than painting on a blank piece of paper, especially with something that has as much texture as this subject has. I'm wondering how gouache would work as an underpainting, I've heard it's nice also. I may try that sometime just for fun. Thanks for stopping by!; March 20, 2012 at 8:07 PM
Sara Mathewson said...: Hi Chris,

Wow, this painting has so much in it! i love the watercolor underpainting. I haven't done one yet and I think I might do one with my next painting. watercolor was actually my first love and then came pastel! Your work is gorgeous by the way. From what I have heard gouache works great but it has to be quite thin as it can fill up the tooth more than watercolor. i haven't used gouache yet but i keep wanting to try it after seeing Deborah Secors little gouache paintings. I should have gone that route instead of trying out oils. it would have been cheaper for one and no smell!

Love your blog!; March 23, 2012 at 8:45 PM
Christine DiMauro said...: Thanks so much Sara! The watercolor underpainting is nice to do on Uart paper. It doesn't buckle, a real plus. Uart is not white, a bit of a negative. But, the fact that it stays flat when wet wins, so I just try to make the colors a bit more intense so they show up. Watercolor underpaintings on Wallis pro don't work, I hate the buckle. I do thing gouache would work as an underpainting also, but thinly painted, just like watercolor. The colors are more intense, so I think they would work very well. I believe that will be my next experiment. Thanks so much for your nice comments, I truly appreciate it.; March 24, 2012 at 7:53 PM

Recommended reading

I love books, especially art books. Here are a few of my favorites.

The Changing Seasons in Pastel or The Pastelist's Year, by Elizabeth Mowry (Her work is magical, her paintings just sing. I also love the way she writes, I own every book she's written.)

Landscape Meditations, by Elizabeth Mowry (You know why....)

The Poetic Landscape by, Elizabeth Mowry (If she had more books, I'd own them.)

Painting the Landscape in Pastel, by Albert Handel (It's Albert Handell, need I say more?)

Intuitive Light, by Albert Handell (Another Albert Handell, need I say more?)

Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting, by John F. Carlson (The workhorse of landscape books, not an easy read but full of useful information, always a go-to book when a question arises.)

Landscape Painting, Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice, by Mitchell Albala (some excellent information on landscape composition for any media.)

Pastel Pointers, by Richard McKinley (An all around great book for pastel landscapes.)

Powerful Watercolor Landscapes, by Catherine Gill (this one has excellent information on composition, great for all media not just watercolor.)

The Painterly Approach, by Bob Rohm (It's just that, a painterly approach, and can be easily applied to pastels.)

Your Artist's Brain, by Carl Purcell (This book is great for a beginner, it gives you basics not always touched upon even in advanced books. For advanced painters these reminders are great, we all get moments of brain fog. Much of what is in this book I learned the hard way, I wish I had known about it at the very beginning of my art journey.)