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Sunday, August 04, 2013

Take the Terry Ludwig Mystery Box Challenge


'Where the Sweet-Grass Grows'           5x7           pastel        ©Karen Margulis
purchase with Paypal  $75
 My Mystery box from Terry Ludwig Pastels arrived.  And I was very excited about the colors in my box.  In case you didn't know Terry was offering these sets of seconds last month. You couldn't choose your colors. As Terry said "You get what you get".  I really liked what I got.


My Terry Ludwig Mystery Box
Before I put theses pastels into my big box I wanted to give myself a challenge.  I did it last year with a mystery box. In fact everyone in my class ordered a box and we all took the challenge. So here is the Challenge Rules:

Paint something using only the pastels in the mystery box. Even if you do under paintings you have to use only the pastels in the set.....no watercolor or anything else. Any subject.

I happened to have a photo in my LowCountry collection that features a large expanse of Sweet Grass. A perfect subject for the pinks in my set. I started with a dry underpainting using the reds in the set. I did use a piece of compressed charcoal to do my drawing. Other than that....it is all mystery colors!

You can take the challenge even if you missed out on the Mystery sets. Just have someone choose 14 random pastels out of your pastel collection. Don't peek! Now challenge yourself to make a painting using these colors.  It is a great exercise that will really stretch you!  I'll post some tips in an upcoming post.



7 comments:

Jo P. said...

Karen, this is really beautiful. Am I seeing a bit of change in your style lately? It seems to me that I am. In any case I really love the latest work you have been posting. I love your work now as much as I did when I first saw it a few years ago in Ashville.

Kristin Heslop said...

Hi, Karen! Love this idea--I tried it, and it was so much fun! And thanks for being such a great teacher last month! I learned so much!

Karen said...

Hi Jo, Thank you very much! And yes I seem to have developed a bit of a more abstracted style. I have been trying to simplify so I am exploring this area.

Karen said...

Thank you Kristin! It was great to work with you and I hope that it was helpful. Keep painting and keep in touch!!

Gloria j Zucaro said...

I received my mystery box last week, too. What a great idea. I will do one with those colors received. have to find a suitable reference!

Robert Sloan said...

I love it! I got a Mystery Box one year as a gift from a friend and did one that time. You got a great selection in this year's and the painting is fantastic. Great description of the challenge.

I just closed my eyes and picked blind when I emulated it. Having someone else pick the colors is one step more fair and could lead to some fun challenges!

Gloria j Zucaro said...

Hi Karen, Thursday I did my Mystery Box challenge painting. It was fun to do, but a little difficult because not real dark, dark to make the lights look light. I posted it today on my blog and on Facebook. My blog also has a picture of the box of colors received. I am so enjoying your posts!