Mini Pastel Demo....Gentle Clouds

'Gentle Clouds'       11x14          pastel        ©Karen Margulis
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I had to try my latest pastel acquisition. I picked up these sets of Terry Ludwig Blue pastels at Stan Sperlak's workshop. One is a set of Cobalt blues and the others are Ultramarine. I decided to try the cobalt blues in a Marsh and Cloud painting. This is a view in the Edwin Forsythe National Wildlife     Refuge. I call these clouds Gentle clouds....they are soft and wispy. 

Follow along my mini demo to see how this painting developed.

Terry Ludwig pastels...Ultramarine and Cobalt Blues

I begin with a rough sketch. I used charcoal on the marsh but used a pale pink Nupastel to lightly indicate the position of the clouds. I then block in the darkest blue in the top sky.

I continue using the Cobalt blues in the set getting lighter and going back over each section to make sure I put down enough pastel to cover the paper. In the lower sky I used a greenish blue and pale turquoise not in the set.

In the areas where I want the wispy clouds I put down some pale violet and pale pink. This is so the clouds will have more color interest. I never use pure white for clouds.

Next I add some pale yellows and a very pale creamy yellow(almost white) to the clouds. I keep my grip on the pastel loose and dance it across the page....think of the pastel as a feather!

Now for the marsh. I block in some darks around the water and then I use the sky color to put in the water.

I continue adding ochrey colors to the early fall grasses. In the foreground I pull my strokes down. I also spray some fixative to darken the foreground. This will help me give texture to the final grasses.

Close up view of the clouds. See the colors and the wispiness?

The finished painting. I have punched up the distant grasses and added some scribbly marks for the foreground grasses.

I hope you have enjoyed this mini demo!  I am working on a more detailed marsh demo for my next demo download. It should be available next week in my Etsy shop.