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Introduction
Watercolour is a beautiful, expressive medium. I did a
watercolour up north in the autumn some years ago to capture
the early morning sun on Lake Couchiching, the moisture still
hanging in the air. I felt good about the finished work and
left it for a long while. Then one day, I came upon it while
cleaning up my studio files and decided to use dry pastel to
express the same mood.
Work in progress
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Work in Progress
The original work was on 190 cold press arches watercolour
paper. The paper had enough tooth to hold pastel as long
as no more than three layers were used.
To see the
difference between the two mediums, I marked off only
part of the area for the application of pastel. To
gain depth of colour, I applied the very darkest colours
first and went over the area with mineral spirits. In other
areas, I allowed the watercolour paint to remain as the
ground so the original colour would show through
the next layers of pastel as I continued to work.
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The Finished Work
The finished work in pastel still had the mood I was after but
radiated more atmosphere and packed a colour punch.
The beautiful reflective quality of pastel was not absorbed
into the paper as in the case of watercolour. The rich
glowing colours sang clear and strong yet retained the
subtle mood of the early morning scene.
190 or 300 lb watercolour
paper is a beautiful support for pastel, providing a wonderful and
interesting texture. Just remember, the tooth does not hold as much
dry pigment as sanded papers. It can take liquid applications
as well, but taping the paper is recommended to avoid rippling.
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Finished work
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