They are Just Shapes!

'Along the Coast'           5x7        pastel        ©Karen Margulis
available $75

Sometimes I hesitate when it comes to adding structures to a landscape painting. It is the same thing for figures and animals. I know that when there is a manmade structure or a living thing in a painting the viewer will naturally gravitate to them and they become a focal area. So that means they need to look right!  But 'right' doesn't have to mean perfect. I hesitate when I forget this and try to make perfect little buildings and horses.

I like to give myself permission to HINT at structures, figures and animals. They don't have to be perfect but they have to look like they belong. I ask myself is they are the correct size for their location. And I remember the very sage advice given to me years ago by Terry Ludwig. 

5x7 pastel available by DailyPaintworks auction. click here to bid

I had only been painting for about a year when I attended a workshop with Terry in the Georgia mountains.  Somehow the subject of adding buildings to a painting came up. I mentioned that I was afraid of adding them because I never painted structures and was worried that they wouldn't look right. His response was perfect... "THEY ARE JUST SHAPES!"  Don't worry about the label. Look at everything as a simple shape, color and value. See the difference when we say....a square of white with a slash of red instead of a white house with a red roof. Describing the object as a shape simplifies the process of painting complicated things.It takes away the fear of getting it wrong. After all we can all paint shapes!

The auctions for these Iceland inspired paintings end on Monday at 6PM. Please consider adding one to your collection! Click here to have a closer look: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/564241