Painting the colors of Autumn...RED

'The Red Tree'       8x10     pastel     ©Karen Margulis  sold

I love Autumn. Cinnamon brooms, pumpkin everything, Chilly air and fleece. Autumn gives my senses a much needed spark.  One of the best things about Fall is color.  We finally get a break from green in the Fall. Every year around this time I get the urge to paint the fall colors.

This week I want to focus on the color red. I love painting red trees. I have a trick to help make red foliage glow with light. I will share it in another post this week. It helps to have some good red pastels though.

A set of 5 red pastels by Mount Vision

To paint red effectively you need to have a good selection of reds from cool to warm and dark to light. Many introductory set just have one or two reds and that isn't always enough. I don't have just one brand of pastel in my collection. I have a little bit of everything with the majority of them being Terry Ludwigs and Great Americans. Both of these brands have wonderful reds.

I'd like to share another option for great pastels that won't break the bank. Mount Vision Pastels. The handmade pastels are a great value. They are nice and big. I can easily cut them into thirds to distribute among my pastel boxes.  The are richly pigmented and a medium soft. They really are great workhorse pastels.  You can get a box of 25 reds and pinks or if you just want to try them out you can get this small 5 piece red sampler.
Read more about Mount Vision Pastels on their website here