I was recently hired to paint a large scale mural in pastel. When I say large scale, I mean about 3 feet high and 27 feet long. This will later be photographed and turned into a 6 x 60 foot mural for a cosmetics company. The problem in doing the large scale pastels is the paper limitations. I have looked all over for good quality pastel paper in oversized sheets. It doesn't seem to exist. The largest I have found is about 32 inches on it's longest side. I could use smaller paper but the detail would be lost when the mural is enlarged.
In the last post I talked about painting on board over pastel primer. This is great but can be a little heavy especially after framing. It can also be a little pricey as pastel primer isn't cheap. So, the alternative... Roofing Paper. I worked on roofing paper a few years ago in Holland when the weather wasn't cooperating. A friend and I painted the image on Dutch roofing paper which was very much like a medium grade sand paper. It worked beautifully.
So, I purchased a roll of felt roofing paper for about $20. They had regular roofing paper which was very gritty. Too gritty for detail work. So the felt was an experiment, and it worked. It is 36 inches high and, I think, about 60 feet long. It has a slightly sticky quality to it so the pastel sticks like a dream. In fact the only problem I have found is that it wants to stay rolled up. I've duck taped the edges down onto a board and used a pounce pattern to transfer on my drawing. Might try the staple gun next time.
Here are some pics of the pounce pattern on the roofing paper. I'll post more pics as I begin to paint.
