Question from Amy, a Drawing Academy student
What surface/canvas can I use pastels on? Do I need to prepare the board somehow?
Dear Amy,
Thank you for your question. You may find this video interesting if you like to learn how I prepared DIY grounds:
Because pastel is a “dusty medium” it needs some grip to stay on the surface. There are special papers and boards that are designed for pastel. They can be white or even toned. You can search Amazon to find many options to choose from. Which one is better is hard to tell because every manufacturer claims that their products have good quality and every artist has personal preferences.
You may also use good quality drawing paper with a fine tooth or hot-pressed watercolor paper. Some artists use boards prepared with white kaolin clay, white chalk or marble dust grounds.
Here’s how to prepare marble/chalk ground if you really want to do it yourself. You will need a wooden board, food gelatine or rabbit skin glue and white powdered chalk or fine marble dust for this purpose.
1. Soak in cold water several grams of gelatine overnight – one glass (250 ml) of water for 6…7 grams of powdered gelatine.
2. Then, place the swollen gelatine in a metal saucepan on the stove and heat it on low heat while constantly stirring until it thoroughly dissolves. It is very important not to boil it; otherwise collagen protein will lose its glue properties.
3. Use a stiff flat bristle brush to apply this hot mixture on the face side of the wooden board. One layer is enough for sealing the surface. Leave it to dry overnight. You will have more than half of gelatine left; keep it till tomorrow.
4. Once again, heat on low heat the remaining gelatine, stirring it without boiling.
5. While this mix is hot, add two or three tablespoons of white chalk or marble dust. Mix it thoroughly to achieve homogeneous consistency.
6. Before it cools and sets, apply this mix with a stiff flat brush over the sealed wooden surface. Leave it to dry overnight. You will have some mix left; keep it till tomorrow.
7. Sandpaper the board surface to remove all brush-marks.
8. Heat the remaining mix on low heat as previously and apply one more layer with a flat brush. Dry it overnight.
9. Sandpaper the board surface before using it for drawing.
Usually, two layers of ground cover nicely the surface, but depending on sandpapering, you may need to apply three or more coats to achieve a very smooth and even surface with fine tooth.
Similar grounds can be used not only for pastel drawing, but also for silver-point, tempera, gouache, acrylic, oil painting and more.
I usually seal and apply grounds myself depending on each task. Sometimes I need more absorbent grounds, for example for tempera and less absorbent for oil painting. Grounds with more chalk and less glue are more absorbent. But sometimes I need more durable grounds, for example for encaustic painting; then marble dust is better than chalk.
I hope this helps.
Kind regards,
Vladimir London
