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| 'Fall Fantasy 1' 2.5 x 3.5 pastel ©Karen Margulis sold |
Why would you want to paint so small? This is one of the questions I get when someone sees me painting these mini pastels. I can think many reasons to limit the size of my paintings every once in awhile. I've boiled them down to 10. Enjoy my latest mini pastels as I share 5 of the top ten reasons to paint small (2.5 x 3.5 inch artist trading card size)
1: Simplify. Limiting the size of the paper limits how much I can put in. It forces me to simplify and pick out the big simple shapes. It is easier to suggest details in a smaller space. This is great practice for seeing simply that can be transferred to larger paper.
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| 'Fall Fantasy 2' 2.5 x 3.5 |
2. Color Studies: Trying out color schemes on small paper saves time and frustration. It is quick and easy to try several color scheme possibility in a mini painting. I get a good idea of the color choices before investing time and supplies on a larger painting.
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| 'Fall Fantasy 3' 2.5 x 3.5 |
3. Affordable: I love having small affordable originals for my collectors. These minis are affordable for anyone to add fine art to their home. It's a win-win. I learn from painting them and collectors enjoy collecting them!
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| 'Fall Fantasy 4' 2.5 x 3.5 |
4. Gifts: Not only are mini pastels affordable for collectors they are great gifts for anyone. I love to gift my minis throughout the year but especially for the holidays. They are great to give to children as an introduction to collecting original art. I have also used them as table place cards for the holiday table. Put them in small frames for a great party favor!
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| 'Fall Fantasy 5' 2.5 x 3.5 |
5. Portable: This is probably my favorite reason for painting small.... I can take them with me anywhere! I have a small pastel kit that I keep in a zippered book cover. It holds a small box of pastels, 2.5 x 3.5 inch papers, wipes and a small piece of foam core.....I can throw this in my car or backpack and I am ready to paint anywhere!
I will share 5 more reasons and 5 more Fall minis in tomorrow's post. All of the minis are available for purchase in my Etsy shop. $15 each. click here to purchase
4 comments:
Great inspiration on painting small. I have a couple of sets of aceo cards like the ones in your how to take care of pastel paintings video on You Tube. I just recently did one mini of a seascape in oil pastel and then did a larger one from that. I will be working through the rest of your videos when I can. Thanks for the tips.
You got me! Great article and I just went right to the link - made it through the first half of the month, looked at my budget and was able to get my pick of the ones that hadn't sold yet. I have a feeling your inventory's going to move fast, especially as we come close to the holidays.
I lucked by clicking when I did. You'd already sold the one I picked out from this article but I love the one I got just as much and hadn't seen that one before. The one I bought also shows a technique I wanted to study in your work that my first fave didn't. I tend to collect artists I'm studying with more than others even if they're good, it's another lesson in itself to look at your work in person and get the full effect of your textures and techniques. Not to mention colors!
What struck me looking at the page is how well you capture the mood of a particular moment, changes in light and color by season and time of day and weather. I love weather when I'm doing landscapes even if I've mostly done Partly Cloudy or blue skies till now. Rain and storms are in short supply where I live now but I will get back to those memories some time.
Thank you for doing this!
Hi - loving your blog. I'd love to see a photo of your portable set-up in the zippered book cover.
PS sorry having to posted this as anonymous as tried 2times :-( regards Julie
Thanks!!!
Julie, I will post another photo of my set up when I get home. If you'd like you can do a search on my blog for travel with pastels for posts of my travel kits .
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