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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:

Polly Birchall said...

Really stunning. A case of less is more

Unknown said...

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

robertsloan2art said...

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.