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Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Aspen Series part 7....A Simple Twist

'Freedom'             9x12            pastel              ©Karen Margulis
sold
 I needed to paint without glasses. As my aspen series progressed I found my trees were getting more detailed. Perhaps it was because I was getting to know them better but despite my efforts I was putting in more details than I intended. That isn't necessarily problem. There is nothing wrong with having a higher level of detail in a painting  but  I wanted to simplify my approach to the aspens.

So yesterday I spent some quality time at being relaxed and playful and I painted several aspen minis. See yesterday's post here. I found that a few of them were much less detailed and fussy. That happens when I paint minis. These new little studies now have inspired larger versions.

One thing that I noticed with the minis is that I painted without my glasses. I only use readers and I rarely paint with them but sometimes I do use them when making my final details on a painting.  But glasses do what they are supposed to do....they make everything crisp and clear. Crisp and clear means I see more detail and I am tempted to put them in the painting.

For today's painting I didn't put my glasses on at all.

It wasn't easy. I wanted to see better. I wanted to see the branches and leaves. I wanted to see what was on the ground and in the distance. But I avoided temptation. Seeing my reference photo and painting ever so slightly out of focus allowed me to keep this painting simple.

mini pastel that was the inspiration
3.5 x 2.5     pastel     $35

3 comments:

  1. Really stunning. A case of less is more

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  2. Karen, You couldn't know how much I appreciate your blog and all the information that you provide to us. I liken you to Monet, who loved to teach others.

    Your aspen series has been fun to watch. Great lesson on taking off your glasses.
    Your colors are so rich. I too love to work in Pastels. It is the cross between painting and drawing.

    keep them coming our way.
    You are a fabulous teacher.

    Vicki Carol

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  3. Wow! Love the powerful simplicity of this one. The large one is very striking. The mini is cool but doing the big one without glasses makes it very painterly and direct. I especially love the foliage, I can see easier how you not only put n the sky holes but carved around the foliage masses with sky to give them interesting shapes.

    All this from a couple of fascinating limitations - same subject and same palette! Way cool.

    I don't have actual glasses though I should get them. I have to wear magnifiers now to be able to read and take them off sometimes when I need to get up for things because they'll blur anything beyond arm's length. They're mildly annoying at times but I can't leave them off and still read, so it's tempting to try this - just work on a painting entirely without using them and see what happens.

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