If you are looking for a quick and easy method to create an underpainting for your pastels check out this post from Karen Margulis. Why create an underpainting? There are many reasons but my main reason is the expense of pastels and the ability to ease into getting started on a painting. The underpainting can be done with less expensive hard pastels and by using the alcohol the colors go much farther. The alcohol lets you create great blends and some interesting brush work.
