MASTERCLASS
F
or this masterclass, I decided to paint
a violin workshop. I was intrigued by
its colour, light, activity and clutter.
When my students are working from life,
I am often aware that they are checking
and comparing what is in front of them.
By making a painting of a painting, I avoided
this. In the studio, one is not constrained bytime and accuracy – it is as if I were able
to work en plein air without restrictions.
It also gives a sense of freedom.
With the studio painting, I decided to
change proportion, position, colour, tone and
even perspective to make a better picture.
I decided to block in the composition quickly
with acrylics to give myself a tonal and
colour base. I then laid down a coat of
transparent pastel primer paste. I wouldn’t
usually put pastel on top of a non-absorbent
acrylic base but using the pastel primer
gives it a good key.
Whether you use acrylic, gouache or ink,
creating an underpainting for a pastel work
is useful for several reasons. Firstly, it gives
a more stable foundation by avoiding the
build up of an unnecessary extra layer of
pastel pigment. Also, the drop off in colour
is less and you are able to achieve more
varied colours in the darker areas than you
wouldif usingpastelalone.
http://www.rogerdellar.comRoger’s materials
•Paints
Cadmium Red, Yellow Ochre,
Cerulean Blue, Ultramarine
Blue, Burnt Sienna and
Titanium White, all Winsor &
Newton Professional Acrylics
•Pastels
A selection of Jackson’s,
Unison Colour and Conté
pastels
•Brushes
A household paint brush;
Rosemary & Co. Ivory Long
Flat, size 4
•Support
Mountboard, 51x51cm
•Palette Knife
•Pastel paste
•Fixative
•Shaper3.Beginwithpastels
Generally,myapproachis alwaysthesame
fora pastelpainting:I beginusingsoft
pastels,suchasUnisonColourand
Sennelier,layingdowna basetoproducea
patinaofpaintwithverylittleinthewayof
lineworkearlyon.Someartistsstartwiththe
harderConté-stylepastel,butI findthisleads
tomenotbeingabletooverlaythepastelon
top,owingtotheharderandgreasiernature
oftheirbinder.
AllI amtryingtoachieveatthisstageis a
tonalblock-in,lettingthecoloursbuildupand
mixwitheachother.I theneventuallygointo
usingharderpasteltohatchin,losingedges
andaddinglinework.2.Primethepainting
Havingallowedtheacryliclayertodry,
I thenaddeda coatofpastelgroundprimer.
Youcanapplythiswitha rollerorhousehold
paintbrush,dilutingtheprimertoyour
personaltaste,dependinguponhowmuch
toothyoulikeforyourpastelsurface.
Applytheprimerrandomly,butensure
youstillhavea thoroughcoverage,then
allowit todry.1.Createanunderpainting
I beganbyapplyinga BurntSiennaacrylic
washtomymountboard,thenI blockedin
themaintonalshapesusinga mixofBurnt
SiennaandUltramarineBlueacrylic.Rather
thancopytheoriginalcompositionexactly,
I movedthecornerofthewindowandwall
tobenearertoa thirdofthewayacrossthe
picture.I alsotriedtocreatea sortoftriangle
inthecentretoleadtheviewer’seyearound
thepicture(seeoverlay).
I thenstartedapplyingCeruleanBlue
aroundthewholepaintingtoconnect
differentareastogether.I createdneutral
greysbymixingCeruleanBlue,BurntSienna
andTitaniumWhite,beforeintroducinga
YellowOchreandwhitemixforhighlights.ORIGINAL PHOTO