UART Tip #60: “Let Your Paper Do the Work” with Laura Pollak
STEP 0: Choosing a Substrate
After many years of trying every paper out there, I have settled on UART Grade 320. The grit is just perfect for landscapes as well as my abstracts. The 320 has the ability to take at least 20 layers if you have a light touch, and then still go to ‘impasto’ at the very end for those extra special strokes, allowing for your signature calligraphic marks.
STEP 1: How to cut your paper and keep your blades sharp
Using sanded paper can really dull your blades quickly. I use a Logan Mat Cutter and find that if I simply cut the paper from the back side with the grit facing down, I get a really clean cut, and my blades stay sharper longer because the grit isn’t ‘sanding’ it down with each cut.
Place paper face down to get a clean cut and keep blades sharp
STEP 2: Light or Dark. Which paper to choose
I use both the Sand and Dark versions of the UART 320. I take a bit of time to analyze my subject before I choose my paper and try to visualize which underpainting technique [if any] I might utilize and how the paper itself can help me with the painting.
If I want a sunset scene and hope for a warm sky, then I will underpaint that sky area with a hot pink and go over it with blue of the same value. When I let that pink come out between the blue, some magic happens.
Hot pink underpainting for a sunset sky
Cody Reservoir, UART DARK. Blue over hot pink makes for a vibrant color combo
If painting a craggy, rocky scene with lots of crevices, then using the rich UART DARK 320 allows me to paint ‘around’ those thin cracks in the rocks without actually painting them. The depth of the UART paper adds a dimension that I could not otherwise achieve.
Ancient Columns, UART DARK 320
AND when painting my abstracts, I almost always go to the UART DARK 320. Imagine being in a dark closet with no light, but all of a sudden you turn on a flashlight.
Well, that’s what happens when you use this rich dark paper and add some light colors and values. It just GLOWS!
A Drop of Light, UART DARK 320
STEP 3: Utilize the Principles of Design to Invite your Viewer to enter the painting and explore
Before I stand at the easel… I sit with my sketch book and try to make my design solid. I think of my paper as precious and I’d rather do ten small pencil sketches to determine how to invite you, the viewer in, than just step up to the easel and figure it out there.
I use the ‘Rule of Thirds’ and try to coax you into the painting and then circle around and around. I don’t want you to leave but instead explore.
Note where the “lightest” light and “darkest” dark land, and usually that is where you will find my Focal Point.
Azalea Lights, UART 320 Sand
STEP 4: How to turn on the lights
I’ve been asked if I use fluorescent paint to make my paintings glow. The simple answer is no, I just use the principles of value [how light or dark something is] and chroma [how intense or pure a color is].
In this piece I used ‘negative painting’ [painting the space around an object] while leaving the dark paper showing through and then add pops of light.
I allowed the paper to do most of the work!
Cicadas and Fireflies UART DARK 320
When I really want to make colors sing, I use a lot of dark to contrast the lights. Whether it’s a landscape or pure abstract, that concept still works. Then I use UART DARK 320 and again, half the work is done for me before I even put pastel to paper!
In my classes, I have exercises and demos to teach ‘turning on the lights’ and UART Paper makes it all that much easier!
When using a sanded paper, I always try to let the paper do some of the work for me. Whether it is light or dark, if my substrate can help me achieve a successful painting, I’ll use every advantage I can.
For me UART 320 is that paper.
Laura Pollak
PSA, PSWC, PSNC, PPS, SPS MP, IAPS MC, Associate Member of Women Artists of the West
View Laura’s website at www.laurapollak.com to see her work, upcoming classes and workshops, and to read her newsletters and view painting tips in her blog .
