I used the paper unprimed in my earlier pastel/mixed-media works. The problem was that after a number of corrections (erasure) the surface of the paper would change as the fibers broke down and this would change the appearance. I'm now running out of the paper I've been using and I am looking at a paper by Lennox that I used back in art school. An online artist friend draws very large and recommended Lennox because you can get it in rolls that are 48" or even 60" by 10 yards. I also like the way in which a reddish under-painting helps to unify the painting as a whole as it sparkles through.
“It appears your brighter areas are applied over layers of very dark green, blue, or even black. Why?”
I thought the pastels were so opaque that it wouldn’t make any difference what was underneath. That is why I asked you before about how you erase mistakes, as I was just getting a mess and loosing what little tooth there was on the ungessoed paper.
Well... pastels are opaque just as oil paints or acrylics are opaque. If you have a base color that is very dark (and especially black) it can take a good number of layers to really cover. And You also have the problem of the top layer sinking into the black. Whenever I make the decision to change colors from a very dark or black to something brighter I will paint over the area with a reddish-brown layer of acrylic or two.
View attachment 8406
I do build up layers from dark to light... but I never start a passage too dark.
I'm not familiar with Mungyo but the price suggests it's something like the first pastels I used. Then again... the brand seems to have a spectrum of quality and hardness. Rembrandt are fine medium-hard pastels. I would say they are my "go-to" brand for 80% of the surface. For fine details, I use Prismacolor NuPastel. Sennelier is a soft pastel with incredibly saturated colors. I use it just as aa used real cadmiums when I was painting in oils... for the final layer. When I first tried Sennelier I bought two sticks as they were price at over $6 each. Using them I was immediately sold. I built up my collection of colors over time. I have them organized in cases by the hues: reds, blues, greens, etc...