Another Reason for Small Paintings

'Among the Dunes'        5x7      pastel      ©Karen Margulis
sold

Painting small is very useful.  In yesterday's post I talked about the benefits of painting small quick minis.  You can read about it here.  There is another reason that I like to paint small.  I like to do small quick studies in preparation for larger paintings.  I find it is helpful to work out potential problems on a smaller scale. I can try out colors and possible compositions and underpaintings  without the fear of ruining a large piece of paper.  I work quickly on these little studies and use the same paper that I will be using in the bigger painting.

Today's dune painting is a study for a large pastel commission. It will be 24x30 on Uart.  I am also doing a companion piece which will have the same color palette but a different view of the dunes.  I like doing small studies for commission because it allows the client to give me their thoughts and request for changes before I work on the larger piece. It saves us both time and going back and forth with corrections.

I will be posting my top 3 favorite paintings of 2012 along with what makes them special for me. Be sure to come back and see my choices!