Saturday, March 6, 2010

Trying out a new pastel surface

Organ Pipe Cactus
9 x 12 on Pastelmat


I had heard about a new pastel support that I wanted to try. Pastelmat is soft but holds a lot of pastel layers. This peach toned paper worked well with the sage greens of the desert landscape. I bought a set of paper that included white, gray, peach, and dark sienna sheets.

I think that Kitty Wallis sanded paper will always be my preferred pastel surface, but it's always fun to try new things.

4 comments:

Celeste Bergin said...

your painting looks very dry and warm---the colors and atmosphere of the desert! Nice work!

loriann signori said...

Hi Kathryn, Pastelmat is a surface that takes some getting used to. The mark STAYS, no movement. Watercolor underpaintings work well on it. It's always fun to try new stuff, don't you think?
Have you tried Uart? It's very similar to Kitty Wallis's paper. I have used both and recently have fallen in love with Rives BFK printmaking paper (no more raw fingers from the sand...smooth.) Brian McGurgan's site has lots of information on different types of paper.
Love your work!

Katherine van Schoonhoven said...

Thanks, Celeste.

Katherine van Schoonhoven said...

Hi Loriann. I noticed you use BFK with your pastels, but I've never tried it. I will check out Brian's site. And, YES! I love to try new stuff. Thanks for your comments and suggestions!