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Thursday, February 13, 2014

Telling a Story with Your Paintings

'Snow in the City'           6x6         pastel        ©Karen Margulis
sold
I am a champion People watcher.  I get it from my grandmother. I remember as a child sitting with her on the porch and listening to her try to figure out the stories of the people who passed by.  Everyone has a story. Where are they going? Who might they be going to see?  What are they carrying?  She would try to guess about the story.  I do the same thing. In fact sometimes I have to remind myself that I am not invisible....I can't just sit and stare and let my mind wander!

Yesterday's post about adding figures to my paintings resulted in an interesting comment. One of my readers noted that the figures in the paintings add some mystery...they are a moment frozen in time and she wonders about their story.  I love that idea.  

Now I will look at these little paintings...these moments frozen in time and wonder about the people in them. Where are they going? What are they thinking about?  What is their story?  And the most wonderful thing about it is that there is no one 'real' story. We can all write our own.


'City Sidewalks II'             6x6            pastel
sold

'City Sidewalks III'         6x6        pastel
click here to purchase $45
 These 6x6 pastels are all done on Strathmore artist tiles....back Artagain paper. I really love this soft surface for pastels. I am going to see about ordering larger pieces.

5 comments:

CAROL HOPPER -- A PAINTER'S JOURNAL said...

Dog's story: Grateful that my beloved owner decided to take me out to enjoy this wonderful weather, the moisture away from the indoor heat, the gentle smells, the soft flakes on my nose. Thank you Mom.

I love these paintings.

Sandi Graham Pastels said...

If your reference does not have a figure in it ,do you just add one and set your own scenario ?
Maybe when you have time you could speak about the shapes used in making a simple figure to add to a painting.
I'm looking through my collection of figurative photos now thinking about adding one to a painting I'm working on.
You inspire me ! Thank you so much.

Karen said...

Sandi my references have figures in them . Great idea for a post so I will work on that! Have fun with your figures!

Judy Baker said...

Thank you for sharing information each day! I look forward to your posts and enjoy each one of them. Good info on adding figures.

robertsloan2art said...

Oh that rocks! I especially like "City Sidewalks" since I've so often seen a dog walking its person that way, that "will you slow down" tug and the eager nose ahead.

Ari's place in such weather is indoors watching in a window of course. Cats do know how to live and tromping around in snow is not their preferred life - unless that's where they live. I could see a series of urban cats someday in their niches, either under a dumpster or warm in a window.

That people watching exercise is one of the first writing exercises I ever learned too. It's incredible for creativity! That's what this lesson reminded me of - and any of your paintings would make a good Writer's Prompt!