Gesso over Pastel and Colourfix?

[Richard Budig]

If you think about it, we paint over "lines," as well as paint from the previous session, all the time.

Most of us use some for of lines to place and sketch out intended subject before we start with colors. In effect, we're making lines with something (pencil, charcoal, thinned paint) and then, as time and our painting goes along, we cover them all successfully with paint -- whether that paint is dry (pastel) or wet (oil, acrylic).

I have heard, though, that over time, plain old lead pencil marks will blead up through the paint. Don't know if this is true.

I usually use vine charcoal, then wipe it off, which leaves a ghost of the image/drawing. Then, I redraw over this with a thinned raw umber/yellow ocher (or some other grayis mix), which leaves a fairly prominent line, which becomes covered and obliterated as the painting goes along. I've never had one of these beginning lines bleed up through the work.

[Brenda Ellis]

Richard and Sharon,

Thank you. I have sanded, then wiped the pastel off as much as I could and then just covered it with three coats of gesso, sanding lightly in between. I think it will be fine too.

Sharon, what do you usually use as your ground for oils?

This will be my first time painting on hardboard so we'll see how it goes. I want to be able able to put a lot of detail in this painting and I'm hoping the smooth surface will allow me that.

[Sharon Knettell]

Brenda,

I use lead primed linen. Fredricks makes a good one called RIX.

The problem with painting oil over previous attempts is that there is the problem of 'pentimento', that is oils have a tendency to get more transparent with time and reveal what is underneath them.

I just talked about a cheap and archival substrate in the Masonite thread, cheaper and easier than canvas and more archival.