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| 'Golden Trails' 9x12 pastel ©Karen Margulis sold |
I love working in a series. I don't have to decide what my subject is when I enter the studio. I just have to decide on my approach. I never know what approach I will take until I stand in front of my pile of papers. Today I decided to go soft and dreamy.
My reference photo showed a trail into the aspens and evergreens just off the Aspen View lookout in the Santa Fe ski basin. I wanted to highlight a few of the aspens and make them have more clarity than the other trees. The rest of the trees would be less important....softer. I knew I could achieve this soft dreamy look by doing two things.
1. Paper choice. I decided to use Canson Mi-Teintes paper. It is a soft unsanded paper that I really enjoy. I find the pastel application can have a softer look on Canson which suits my concept for this painting. Sanded paper grabs the pastel and allows for many layers. I find that often my paintings look crisper and more vibrant on sanded paper and while I love that, it is not what I wanted for today's painting.
2. Underpainting technique. I chose to do a dry wash underpainting. I blocked in the extremes: darkest dark, lightest light, most intense color and the remaining middle values. I then rubbed in this first layer. The result was a soft out of focus underpainting. Having everything fuzzy and soft allowed me to add detail and clarity slowly and only where I wanted it.
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| Out of focus underpainting |
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| Almost finished. Just need to add detail to my most important trees |
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| same palette for painting #3 although getting messy! |
2 comments:
Karen, it's just beautiful! Your talent for composition is just amazing, I just love seeing how you take a photograph that is just a reference for your ability to see and create a new beautiful world view. You are such a breath of fresh air. Though I'm still mind boggled, hee, hee.
Layne
This is fascinating how you'll set up a palette and do a series without changing it. i don't often set up a chosen palette before painting, because of logistics and how I organize my pastels. But this is wonderful. You've got very striking, different results each time!
May have to actually dare try that sometime, set up a palette and do several paintings without changing it. i somewhat do if using a small set, but that's not the same as choosing the colors.
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