‘Taos Meadow’ 8×10 pastel ©Karen Margulis
This painting is a second version of a scene from a trip to Taos. For this painting I raised the horizon line so I could show more of the interesting desert plants. I have been painting on Pastelmat which is an interesting surface. It feels soft and velvety but it holds a lot of pastel. You can read more about my experience with Pastelmat on my daily painting blog ‘Painting my World’.
‘Nantucket Dunes’ 8×10 pastel
‘Nantucket Beach Dreams’ 8×10 pastel
You have a nice photo that you want to paint. But it just nice….nothing special or exciting. How can you make it have more impact? Change the horizon! Take a good look at that reference photo. Where is the horizon? If it is right in the middle than move it up or down….or do a painting with each point of view. It is usually not a good composition with the picture divided in half. You don’t want equal emphasis on the sky and the land. That is boring and often the viewer isn’t sure where to look first.
I decided to to paint two versions of my Nantucket Island Beach scene. In the top painting It is more about the dunes and grasses. The sky is softened and downplayed. In the bottom painting, I moved the horizon down so I could focus on the sky. I added more interest with some clouds and downplayed the grasses. What a fun and easy way to break free from copying a boring photo!
PS Both paintings are done on Pastelmat paper which I will be reviewing here this week so be sure to sign up for updates.
‘Poppy Love’ 5×7 pastel ©Karen Margulis
Painting red flowers can be tricky. How do you make them rich and colorful? How do you make them have depth? How can you paint them so they pop off the paper. I want you to feel like you can pick my flowers. It helps to have the right colors especially with pastels. While you can layer and create new colors with pastels, to make really vibrant flowers, you need to have the right vibrant pastels. Terry Ludwig makes the most luscious rich vibrant reds. I like to use his pastels and some others from Great American. They make up my ‘go to’ reds. Use the darkest coolest reds first and layer your reds getting warmer in the ‘sunlit’ areas. You want to use warmer reds…..not lighter reds (pinks). Also you can surround the red flowers with cooler greens and blues which will help intensify the reds.
To see more tips on getting your Poppies to Pop visit my blog.
‘Peaceful Moment’ 8×10 pastel ©Karen Margulis
I am enjoying the new paper by Canson. It is Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, a new sanded surface. I like how it feels and the soft look I am getting in my paintings. I have written a detailed review in my blog. I always love to try new materials and this has been a great discovery!
‘Nantucket Path’ 11×14 pastel ©Karen Margulis
I have been enjoying Canson paper lately. I was inspired to try it again after seeing some wonderful work painted on Canson. I really like the soft feel of the paper and the resulting effect in my work. I have written a review of my experience with Canson on my blog, Painting my World, if you are interested in reading more.
‘Desert Dreams II’ 11×14 pastel ©Karen Margulis
The paintings I have chosen to be my favorites all represented a personal accomplishment. For this painting I was happy that I was able to interpret the bushes and desert plants without putting in too much detail. I was happy to leave a lot of the oil stain underpainting. I enjoyed using Terry Ludwig’s Arid Landscape set exclusively for this painting. If you have some Christmas money and you are looking to buy a nice set of pastels, check out the Arid Landscape set by Terry Ludwig. I have discovered that it isn’t just for arid landscapes. It is a wonderful and versatile set!
‘Blue Sailors’ 5×7 pastel ©Karen Margulis
Today I am sharing a little 5×7 painting called ‘Blue Sailors’. I like the colors of the blue flowers which I saw on my 2010 road trip to Wyoming. I would love a field of these wildflowers! I like this painting because it came to me effortlessly and with total abandon. I was truly ‘in the zone’ when I painted this one. It reminds me of my 5×7 Early Morning Poppies which won an award in the PSA show in 2010. I had the same feelings when I painted that one. Everything just flowed. Sometimes you think you’ll never get that feeling again and then a painting just comes to you like this one did. I suppose it doesn’t even matter if no one else likes it. It felt good when I painted it and that is what I like about it. It reminds me that it can happen again!
‘Morning Marsh’ 12×24 pastel
I love the softness and colors of early morning and on this particular morning they were especially lovely. Soft and quiet and very peaceful…this is what I remember about this morning on Kiawah Island. I have put together some photos that show the progression of this painting. I invite you to view the demo HERE.
‘Nantucket Wildflowers’ 11×14 pastel
I had my oil paints out for a commission so rather than waste the leftover paint I decided to do an underpainting for a pastel. I love oil underpaintings because of the interesting drips than can happen. You have to get the consistency of the paint just right. Too thick and you fill the tooth of the paper, too wet and it is washed out and you don’t get the cool drips. I am sharing a close-up photo of my underpainting and one of the ‘drips’ I like to call them root systems because they remind me of plant roots. I tried not to cover all of these roots with pastel in my painting so I used a light touch. If you enlarge the photo of the finished painting you can still see the underpainting. If you are going to use an oil paint underpainting, be sure you are using a surface that can get wet. I used Uart for today’s painting.
‘Yesterday’s Treasures’ 8×10 pastel
This week in my pastel class we will be working on holiday themed still life set ups. I have a collection of vintage glass ornaments that make the perfect subject. I set them up by my north light window to paint. I love the colors in these ornaments….purples and pinks and silver and gold make a great combination. I have some other vintage ornaments that I will be using for my set ups so I will be adding to this series. This painting is done on moonstone Canson paper.