The Challenge of Overworking a Painting

'Deep in the Daisies'          11x14        pastel         ©Karen Margulis
available $175

 It is the most challenging thing about painting. Knowing when to stop and actually STOPPING. It is especially challenging when working with an interesting underpainting. How much is too much? How do we keep from going too far and covering up the wonderful underpainting?

You've probably heard the familiar advice. Take a break. Put a frame or mat on the painting. Turn it upside down. Look at it in a mirror. Make sure the value in the underpainting is correct. (otherwise we cover it up trying to get it right.) Gradually build up your marks rather than making drastic changes. All of this is great advice. But it still is a challenge.

How about a little reminder from our friend Bob Ross.

“It gets to feel good and you want to just keep doing it, but the key is restraint.”  — Bob Ross

close-up of a daisy

I love this quote. It is so true. We get painting and we start to enjoy the actual act of painting. We might even like what we are doing. But too much of a good thing isn't good! Stop sooner than later. Have restraint and don't overdo and overwork.  I could have painted grasses around my daisies all day long. It felt good! But I had to make myself stop and call it done. Thanks Bob for the reminder!

Ikea Studio Hack #1

'Meadow Sweet'           8x10        pastel        ©Karen Margulis
sold

 It doesn't take much to make me happy. It is even better when I can find things for the studio that make me happy and don't cost much. That is why I love browsing the aisles of the Dollar Tree for things to make my art life easier. Ikea is another one of my favorite places for studio hacks.

Last December I spent a couple of weeks cleaning and organizing my studio. I found some things at Ikea that have been very helpful and I have been meaning to share them on the blog. So I am starting a series called 'Studio Hacks'. I will try to share some of the things that have made my life as an artist easier.

Here is Hack #1.  The problem? Messy and disorganized dish towels. I use dish towels to wipe my pastels as I paint. I throw a towel over my shoulder and wipe the pastel in between strokes. It has become such an involuntary habit that I dare not forget to use a towel. That could be ugly!  So I had piles of dishtowels that filled a laundry hamper. The dirty ones went into a basket until I could throw them in the wash.

My old messy dishtowel storage

My Ikea Solution:  I lightened the load and eliminated the clutter with this Ikea hack. 

• I bought 10 of the lightweight cotton dish towels for 99 cents each. These were much lighter weight and looked nicer than my mishmash of old dishtowels.

•  I also bought two small  plastic garbage cans for $1.99 each. I got a white on and a black one. The white can is for the clean towels and the black can is for the dirty ones. After I paint I just throw the towel into the dirty can and wash them when it is full.

Clean and dirty cans

It is such an easy and inexpensive thing that makes me feel oh so organized! Simple things like this make me happy!

Behind the Scenes: Another Painting Transformed into a Marsh

'Ever Changing'          13x18         pastel         ©Karen Margulis
available $175

I think it is about the challenge for me. It isn't the cost of paper that keeps me from throwing out these quick demos I did for school children. They are on Canson Mi-Teintes which I purchased in bulk. It must be the challenge of taking something awful and transforming it into something completely different. I think I like it better than starting on a fresh surface. 

I have three more of these demos. You can see last week's transformation here. This week I decided to turn the demo painting into a golden autumn marsh. I describe how I did it below.

The demo. The kids wanted a tree, water, a bird and purple flowers!

The paper is brown Canson Mi-Teintes smooth side. The first thing I do is brush off as much pastel as possible. I don't mind if there was a ghost image remaining. I just want to restore some tooth. I then spray the paper with workable fixative to fix the ghost layer.

Next I draw a new horizon line and block in all of the dark areas of the marsh. I use a few dark purple pastels. The dark areas were along the edges of the creek at the base of the grasses. I try some rusts, yellows and greens just to test the colors. I also add more blue to the sky. I need to cover the dark shape that was the tree so I use a Diane Townsend pastel. Since the pastel has pumice it is a great match for the Canson paper. A few passes of blue and the tree was gone!

I finish the sky with a touch of pale peach at the horizon and paint the water with the same pastels that I used in the sky.  I start to add some violets in the grasses. I want the violets to play with the yellows that will be added. At this stage I can't see any remnants of the older demo painting.

I paint the distant land with some cool blues and violets. I start to build the grasses by starting with some intense oranges and red-orange. The grasses will be golden yellows but there needs to be variety in the color so I start darker and richer. I use bigger and bolder marks for this step. I don;t paint individual blades of grass until the final few minutes.

Next I add some yellows and yellow greens to the grasses starting to paint individual grasses with the edge of hard pastels. The final marks I make are the distant buildings. They are just tiny marks. Click the photo to enlarge and see the details.

That was another fun transformation! I think I realize why I like these challenges. I like them because I can't possibly make the painting worse than it was! That takes the pressure off and makes it fun! Try it!

A Tip for Painting on a Textured Surface

'Fall Discovery'              8x10          pastel          ©Karen Margulis
available $145

I almost gave up.  I applied the first few strokes and looked down to see my beautiful pastel was now half of its former glory....in just a few strokes!  I didn't know if I could put myself through the agony and expense!  But I was excited to work on my very heavily textured board so I needed to figure out a solution.

The surface was a piece of Pastelbord from Ampersand. It was an old and very bad painting but the board deserved a new life. For this remake I wanted to try some heavy texture. I knew the pastelbord would be able to take any abuse. I found a container of acrylic ground for pastels by Golden and with a cheap brush I applied the ground right over the painting. The ground liquified the pastel turning it a lovely shade of brown (not). It was a very rough surface!

The first pass with the large Unison pastels

I knew I didn't want to waste my softer pastels on this experiment so I searched through my pastel stash and uncovered a box of pastels that I had labeled 'darks'.  They were dark and quite ugly....black and brown for the most part. Some of them were huge. I recalled getting a set of large unisons on eBay but not liking the colors. Now they were perfect! It really is funny how my perception of 'ugly' has changed over the years.

My box of spare darks

The big fat Unisons were a better match for the surface but I still was not happy. The pastel was sitting on top of all of the grooves. I took a piece of pipe foam and rubbed in the first layer. That was it! The next layers went on top of the grooves but this time there was something underneath.  I just kept building layers in this manner until I was finished.

The texture was definitely an interesting challenge. I highly recommend this kind of surface if you want to get away from painting too much detail. The rough surface does not allow fine detail! I was able to achieve a suggestion of detail though and that was a lot of fun!

building up layers of color

Tip: Start the painting on a rough textured surface with medium to hard pastels and consider rubbing in the first few layers.

Try a New Pastel Technique

'Firefly Summer'         9x18         pastel         ©Karen Margulis
available $175

I went through a pastel dusting stage a few years ago. Everything was fair game for a dusting of pastel. It was a great technique for wildflower meadows and snow. After awhile it became too much and I stopped dusting. Today  I was reworking an old marsh painting (above) and decided that it might benefit from some firefly dust!  It was a lot of fun to dust. Maybe I will revisit the technique in other ways.

Have you tried the dusting technique? Here is an older blog article  that describes the process. Enjoy!

'Blowing in the Breeze' 16x20 pastel ©Karen Margulis

I love trying new techniques with my pastels. Dusting has become my new favorite technique to use and I am having fun discovering new ways to 'dust'. Dusting isn't a new technique to pastels. Bill Creevy talks about it in his book 'The Pastel Book'. Degas used the dusting technique in his work. I was playing around with dusting at the same time that Richard McKinley posted about it on his Pastel Pointer blog. Richard gives a wonderful description of the technique HERE. I am still experimenting but this painting is an example of how I used dusting.

Tools for dusting with pastels

Glassine paper and a rolling pin make dusting easy

For this painting, the pastel dusting comes at the finish. When the painting is almost done and just need some final touches I lay it flat. I choose the pastels (colors and values) that I think will give me the effect I want. I am using Jack Richeson pastels to dust because they are large and not too soft and crumbly and the colors are very vivid and rich (I also got them for a great deal so I don't mind shaving them into dust!)

• I shave my pastel using the side of a palette knife. I vary the pressure to create fine dust to chunks depending on what I would like.
• I mix colors and vary the fineness of the dust to create more interest.
• To set the dust I simply cover the painting with glassine paper and roll it with a pastry rolling pin. I like the size of the pastry rolling pin. I get better control than with any other tool.
• For this painting my dust got too thick and I covered up too much of the painting. It's easy to get carried away! But it was actually a good thing. I took my palette knife and drew back into the dust creating stems and grasses. Cool!

To see another painting of mine that utilizes dusting see this blog post HERE.

What Should You Do With a New Box of Pastels?

'Happiness is a Field of Daisies'          8x10        ©Karen Margulis
available $125

The box arrives and everything else is put on hold. The new pastels are here. The moment you've been waiting for. The box is opened and you catch your breath. It is like that with a new box of pastels. You don't want to touch them. They look so wonderful that you just want to set them out and admire them awhile.  I've done that. But I have some better advice for breaking in a new box of pastels.

USE THEM! Get them dirty. Take off wrappers if they have them. Don't wait to paint. Get to know them so that they become new friends. If you have a bigger pastel box you will ultimately want to put your new set in with your other pastels but before you do that you need to get to know them. Here is what I do with a new box of pastels....

Richard McKinley's 60 piece selection of Terry Ludwig pastels

The first thing I do is take a picture of the pastels in their pristine condition....just for fun. Then I make a little color swatch of each pastel. Terry Ludwig makes it easy with his pastels. He supplies a blank pastel record sheet with every box of pastels.

Taking the time to make the color swatches helps in two ways.

•  First it is a great record of the colors if you ever need to order them open stock. I like to laminate my sheet or place it in a plastic sheet protector. 
• Second, it helps to see the color each pastel makes. Some pastels look different on paper. Making the swatches helps you see your colors and values more acurately.

The next thing I do with a new box of pastels is challenge myself to paint ONLY with the pastels in the new set. No matter what kind of set it is. Even if it a set of lights or darks. I do this so I can get to know each and every stick. All too often I am guilty of using only my favorite colors in a set. By forcing myself to use all of the pastels in a set I may discover colors I like that I might have overlooked.

Today I broke in a new set of Terry Ludwig pastels. I selected the Richard McKinley landscape set with the intention of using it for my plein air box. It appears to have everything I need but I need to test it by painting several paintings with just this set. That will be a fun job!

 My first painting with the new set. I love it so far!! More to come! 

What do you do with a new box of pastels?

Master Color with These Must Have Books

'Where Poppies Grow'           8x10         pastel         ©Karen Margulis
available $225

 I could not have asked for better news. The day that Nita Leland asked me to be a part of her newly updated book  Exploring Color was a dream come true. I have been such a fan of her books. They have truly been the key to helping this self-taught artist understand color. Whenever I had a color question these books have been my go-to resource. Whenever I felt like I was in a color rut I would open up one of the books and be filled with inspiration and ideas. I always recommended her books to my students. They are easy to understand and beautifully illustrated.

So when Nita asked if I would do a demo for the 30th anniversary edition of Exploring Color I was beyond excited. It was such a pleasure working with Nita on my part of the book. And now months later it is available! I immediately ordered a special package deal from Northlight which includes the new book Exploring Color, Confident Color and Nita's own Color Scheme Selector. I just checked and the kit is out of stock (8/25/16) but the books are available.

Visit Nita Leland's website

I just received the package and I can't wait to dive into it and read this new edition. Of course the color wheel/color scheme selector intrigues me and I can't wait to try it out. I will be sharing my discoveries here on the blog.

If you are looking for a comprehensive and practical book about color be sure to order Nita's books. I will be writing a more detailed review of the new book and color scheme selector soon but I wanted to share the news with you!

My demo spread in Exploring Color

This is step one of the demo. See all steps in the book!

Painting on Wet Paper...An Experiment

'It Was Just a Dream'         9x11         pastel         ©Karen Margulis
available $145

The package said waterproof sandpaper. I was intrigued. And it was black. Even more intriguing. I wonder what would happen if I used it for pastels? It was wet sanding sandpaper so it wouldn't be archival but it would be fun to play with.

I decided to make the most of the waterproof quality of the paper and wet the paper before I started to paint. I once had an Russian artist come to my studio for a lesson and she always painted on wet paper. In fact she seemed surprised that I didn't wet my paper before applying pastel!

I taped the paper to my coated foamcore board and sprayed it until it was quite wet. Next I used a Nupastel to draw the big shapes of my scene. The pastel just melted on the wet surface. It felt wonderful!

I then took out my softer pastels.They too melted and became paint as they glided across the wet surface. I loved the first pass with pastels but I found that I wasn't able to layer the same way as when the paper was dry. The wet pastel layers were actually mixing together and making mud. I kept spraying the paper and letting areas drip and mix even further.

I felt like a kid discovering paint for the first time! I couldn't stop adding pastel even though I was making a muddy mess. The feeling of the thickness of the wet pastel was wonderful. Surprisingly painting on the wet paper didn't really use up much of the pastel stick. After awhile though I had to admit defeat. The experiment was not a success. I had gone too far.

The painting was still wet so before heading upstairs for lunch I took out a piece of pipe foam insulation and smooshed the pastel around. I left a vague impression of my river and trees. I then took out a metal banker's clip and scraped through the pastels. The scrap marks left some interesting linear marks. Still a mess but I had fun.

I came back down to the studio after lunch and the pastel was dry. I decided to finish the experiment and add some pastel on the dried surface. A curious and wonderful thing happened. All of the dried pastel had created raised areas. The texture of the paper itself was also evident. When I scumbled some pastel on top of this newly textured surface the results were unexpected and interesting. I love experiments!

close up detail

Why Bother with Plein Air Painting?

'Back to Abiquiu'        18x24        pastel        ©Karen Margulis
available $450

 It has been a long time coming. I have been wanting to paint this scene for a couple of years now. My plan was to take the little field study I painted and paint a larger version in the studio. I envisioned it big ... 18x24 which is big for me. I framed the little study because it came attached with great memories. It sat in my studio and I would look at it and tell myself that someday I would paint it larger. Today was the day. But did I wait too long? I was a bit concerned as I took out a full sheet of Uart paper.

Would I remember the place and be able to capture how I felt about it after a few years had passed?

I need not have feared. As soon as I took a good look at the little 5x7 study it all came flooding back. I recalled every detail of the afternoon painting on the bluff overlooking the Chama River. I remember it was a warm day but with a gentle cooling breeze. I remember taking out a piece of 5x7 paper and deciding to tone it orange because of all of the warm rocks underlying the scrubby bushes. I remember hearing the water and some ravens. I remember feeling at peace....happy to be in New Mexico and enjoying the first day of a mentoring workshop with Richard McKinley. Looking at the little study brought back the memories that all of my senses took in that afternoon.

The 18x24 painting with the 5x7 study

I don't think I could have recalled the place so well by looking at a photograph. The time I took to paint the scene...to choose the colors...to simplify...to immerse myself, allowed it to become a part of me. It was worth the time and effort required to take supplies outside to paint.

Why bother? I was once asked. Why hassle with equipment and the elements when you can paint in the comfort of a studio? Why? Because it is the best way to really see what photos miss. It is a wonderful way to fully experience your subject. It is the best way to put more of yourself into a painting. Your response to a place live and in person is better than relying only on a photo.

I did an alcohol wash underpainting for the large painting

Here is an excerpt from the blog post I wrote on the day I painted the study:

 We painted from morning until the sun sank behind the cliffs. It is a dream come true. The opportunity to paint in such an inspiring place with a group of artists who are passionate about what they do is priceless. Today was the first day of the workshop with Richard McKinley and since this is a mentoring or next level workshop the morning meeting was short but filled with great advice. Richard issued us a challenge for the week: To be more conceptual....go deeper....be more present.....go beyond the mechanics of painting....go farther! 

Our first painting location was a spot high above the Chama River. Yesterday I painted at the river bank....today I was like a raven soaring over the river as it rounded the bend. It was fantastic. I did 4 studies and had a wonderful time.

Another Painting Transformation. Step by Step

'Reawakening'           13x18          pastel        ©Karen Margulis
sold

This one should have gone into the trash. It was a demo I did last winter for a group of school children for their Art Day. They were choosing the subject as I painted and suggested a tree, water, guy fishing and I have no idea what the red things are supposed to be!  It was fun and the kids loved it but it was a painting destined for the bin.   On top of that it was on Canson Mi-Teintes unsanded paper which doesn't usually take to much abuse.....or does it!?

Today I decided not to throw the paper away and see what I could do with it. Was there any hope? Below I walk you step by step to the save!

This is the demo painting. It is on terra cotta Canson Mi-Teintes paper. I took a stiff brush tried to remove as much pastel as possible. I was left with some dark shapes. I sprayed the paper with workable fixative and let it dry.

I decided to reinvent the painting and turn it into an autumn marsh scene. I had a reference photo for inspiration. (bottom of post) I set to work with a dark blue and dark burgundy pastel to introduce the dark shapes of the bushes and distant trees.

I repainted the sky and added some clouds. I painted the distant trees and marsh and added the blue water. I dealt with the foreground last.  As you can see in the photo above I had to darken the foreground with fixative. This also allowed me to continue building layers and getting the texture of the autumn weeds. I would say I sprayed and painted the foreground 4 times! Yes Canson can take it!

The final touches were in the foreground. I used the sharp edges of Rembrandt  pastels to paint grass and a very soft Sennelier pastel to paint the light fluffy blooms.  I used Terry Ludwig pastels for all other areas of the painting.

close up of foreground

 So the fishing guy and the red things are now history. There is really nothing more satisfying than the challenge of taking a mess and reinventing it into something interesting.

reference photo

Sunday Studio Live Demo: Choosing a Pastel Palette for a Marsh Painting

'Moody Marsh'         9x12        pastel         ©Karen Margulis
available $145

It was bound to happen. Technical difficulties with my weekly live videos! At least it happened at a convenient cut-off point. And I probably could figure out how to edit them together but for now they are two separate videos. My camera man husband accidentally pressed the finished button when I wasn't finished! The perils of live video!  Here is a recap in cased you missed the videos.

In the first 7 minute video I talked about how I choose pastels for a painting. I put my working palette into a butcher tray so that I am working with a limited palette. Having ALL of my pastels available when I paint is a recipe for color chaos!

Choosing pastels for a painting

Steps to choosing a working palette

• Do a small black and white thumbnail. 
• Decide on main colors (color scheme) I usually choose by intuition but will sometimes consult a color wheel.
• Test main colors on the thumbnail or scrap paper.
• Once main colors are selected I add them to a tray and choose the remainder of the pastels.
• I add the pastels to the tray and keep them grouped by LANDSCAPE ELEMENT.
• I usually consider VALUE first then color. Local color if used at all comes last. I think about layering color.
• I start adding colors to the tray by selecting my darkest values for the darkest parts of the painting . I usually choose 4-5 pastels of the same value for the darks.
• Then I select the LIGHTS. In a landscape this is usually the sky. I keep them in the 'sky pile'
• Then I select pastels for the remaining elements of the scene....distant trees, grass, flowers, etc. I also choose middle value pastels to layer under any grass. This is the dirt.

That's it! Now I have a limited palette that keeps me out of trouble. If I need to add more pastels I will add them to the tray so I can keep track and try to reuse rather than reach for a new pastel.

The pastels selected for today's painting 

You can watch the video of the painting demonstration on my YouTube channel. Here is the link.

Repurpose Pastel Paper with A Twist

'Good Olde Summertime'          11x14        pastel         ©Karen Margulis
sold

I seem to be on a Recycle Roll. I was left with several pieces of Uart sanded paper covered with blue after my sky workshop. Instead of throwing them out (Never!) or adding them to my pile I decided to tackle them and turn them into useful underpaintings.

Again the blue paper chose the subject. I had a perfect Queen Annes Lace reference photo for the larger paper. But this time instead of just wetting the blue pastel and toning the paper, I decided to add some texture. Texture would be perfect for a wild stand of weeds and grasses!

left over demos on Uart paper

Adding texture was easy to do. I took some clear gesso and a brush and applied it in random brushstrokes. The gesso liquified the pastel and I was able to move it around like thick paint! The Clear gesso dries.....Clear! And unlike regular gesso it has a light grittiness to it which adds tooth to the paper. If you haven't tried using clear gesso for making pastel surfaces add it to your list!

Below is the resulting paper after applying the clear gesso. It took about an hour to dry.

texture with pastel and clear gesso

 The results were satisfying! I was able to get a suggestion of grasses when I dragged the pastel over the nooks and crannies left by the gesso. The little bits of blue peeking through my pastel layers added an airy delicate feeling to the scene....perfect for flowers such as the Queen Anne's Lace!

a close up view

That was a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I'll be sharing the results from the other pieces of paper this week.