Behind the Scenes: A California Landscape

'Coastal Dreams'          9x12        pastel        ©Karen Margulis
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 It's funny how things change. A few years ago I wouldn't have given this reference photo a second look. It was taken on a trip to California several years ago. I took hundreds of photos but only painted  from a few. But for some reason this photo caught my eye as I scrolled through my file of 40,000 photos. It begged to be painted.

In this post I take you behind the scenes and invite you into my studio as I share my thoughts as this painting developed.

My reference photo along with my pencil notations

I decided to use this photo for a private class demo. We were focusing on creating depth and leading the viewer through the painting. I thought it would make a good example of both. The first thing I did was evaluate the reference photo for possibilities. I saw some things I wanted to change. All changes would hopefully lead to a better composition and painting.

Random Planning Thoughts

• To create more depth I added another layer to the landscape with an additional distant headland.
• I decided to bring this headland in at an angle leading into the painting. (see pencil mark) the existing headland was angled down which I felt pulled my eye out of the painting too quickly.
• There are some distant short trees that are barely visible in the photo. I wanted them to be visible so I drew around them in pencil so I would remember to include them. Having the trees visible would allow me to paint land in between and behind them creating more depth.
• I changed the direction of the water/creek to make it more interesting and  a better pathway for the viewer.
• I decided to keep the flowers in the foreground low. In the photo they are tall and spindly. I could have made them taller but it was just a personal decision to keep them low. I would arrange them so that they would draw the eye into the painting.

my pastel palette is a combination of Terry Ludwig and Unisons with a few misc pastels

 Random Thoughts

• I selected a middle value gray piece of Canson Mi-Teintes paper 9x12.  I like this paper for a landscape. The gray is harmonizing when it peeks through the layer of pastels. I began with a four value underpainting using violet. I chose violet because I knew I would have a lot of yellow in the painting and the complement of purple would make a pleasing combination.

• Since I took the time to plan the painting and choose the pastels I would use, the painting was more enjoyable and pain free!  I follow the same process for most of my paintings: I blocked in the darkest areas first....the trees and creek banks. I then painted the sky and water. Next I added a layer of yellows and golds to the grass areas followed by greens. Finally I added the flowers in the foreground making sure that some of them had more light and clarity.

• I didn't use all of the pastels I had selected. I had more greens in my tray but chose to keep the palette limited to the golden grasses of Autumn. The yellow greens and orange greens were a better choice.

• Working with a Happy Accident: When I was blocking in the tree shapes I used turquoise because I wanted a cool blue. But on paper it appeared too bright. It was wrong. But the more I looked at it the more I liked it. How could I make it work? I covered it up but then reintroduced some small turquoise marks at the base of the trees ...turquoise eye candy. I love turquoise and violet!

• I added a few blue violet marks in the grass echoing the color that is in the distant head lands.

close up of the flowers....just marks

I hope you have enjoyed my behind the scenes random thoughts!