To Start in the Dark or Not?

The workshop bottle of fixative is downloaded into a small spray bottle for easy use.

Often pastellists and oil painters start with the darks moving through the mid tones and out to the lights in a painting. Today I tried another way that I'd like to share with you. As a pastellist I have a selection of ready to go colours and tones with this medium. It is a quick way of painting plein-air.

As I set up I was studying my subject. I am looking for lights and darks, for the patterns and the rhythm. While I was doing this today I had a bottle of fixative rolling around that was getting in the way. Before I decided to throw it i realised I could actually make use of this in a different way of painting, well  for me.  Maybe it will resonate with you too.

       I have a bottle fixative I bought for a workshop demonstration, I     don't use it in my every day practice. It was in my bag as a left over from that time and forever getting in the way. Maybe it was telling me something!

        So I adapted my pastelling method by starting at the feature point with the intent to use the fixative.

         Instead of starting with the darks, I started with the lights. I put in all the light tones, not the brightest most intense colours just the lights. Then I added the darker tones, not the darkest dark.  Already the painting made sense. This was the point that I picked up the fixative and sprayed the painting so far. Why, when I dislike what fixative does to all those gorgeous colours and the lights? (it darkens them).




     I chose to spray so as to fix the pastel so far, then I could get in with the mid tones behind and in front of the subject with out disturbing the initial layer of gorgeousness. Is there such a word? I could run over what I had done and cut back to it with a small brush or eraser.  It was easy to see where the first lot of pastel was, as the second lot that sat on top left a kind of speed bump, a visual tell tale.

  Finishing a pastel has never been easier!!  I added the intense colours the brights and the mid tones, got in with the detail, the fiddly bits that I love in a painting, added more pattern and colour and voila it was done. Well most of it was.

  Standing back yet again, I found some extra dark could go on now, the darkest dark. Sometimes it isn't needed. Painting plein-air lets me see just how dark the darks are. Often their no where near as dark as in a photo. (And that's a whole different story.)

​Starting in the dark is not always necessary. As artist C.W. Mundy said "you are the director of your own show".  You choose how to start and paint your piece.  I found that starting at the focal point and with the lights, liberating and freeing. This method allowed me to create a more painterly painting as I was looking for tones and shapes.  Using that annoying bottle of fixative made for a fun exercise, a new method of plein-air painting has come my way.

Give it a try and see how it works for you.  Let me know what you think about it by leaving a comment.

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