Spice up Your Landscapes with Some New Greens

'Dancing with the Daisies'       16x20       pastel     ©Karen Margulis   purchase here $250

"You don't have the right Greens"  Albert Handell told me several years ago. It was my first workshop and I had only been painting with pastels for a few months so I was quite intimidated.  I was also disheartened. After all I had just bought a big set of greens for the workshop so how could I NOT have the right greens! He showed me the greens I was missing and I was shocked!

A few of my Spicy Greens

They were the brightest most acidic and artificial looking greens you could imagine.  I would have never chosen to use them but as a good student I went out and bought the greens Albert suggested. I really didn't understand at the time why I needed them and how to use them. I wasn't ready for that knowledge. But now several years and many paintings later I finally get it. These greens are my SPICES and they are to be used in small amounts to add interest and excitement to my landscapes. They are not necessarily the greens I would use to paint an entire meadow....but a few marks in the right place with the spicy green will make a big difference in the painting.

Close up of the spicy greens in use

Spice:  interesting element or quality; zest; piquancy
I like to consider these artificial looking (some might even say garish) greens as my spices. They add an interesting element to a painting. And like a spice used in cooking, a little bit goes a long way. I choose to use my spicy greens at the end of a painting when I am trying to pull everything together. A few well placed spicy marks can help lead the viewer around the painting. Just remember not to overdo the spicy marks or they will lose their impact. 
I will be sharing the way I make my spicy marks in a future post. Be sure to sign up for blog updates on the sidebar so you don't miss a post!


Today's painting is the demo I did last night for the Artist Guild of Northwest Georgia. I really enjoyed sharing with this great group of artists. Thank you!