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Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Painting without a Plan


'Dancing with the Stars'        10x8        pastel       ©Karen Margulis
available $150
 I admit it. I didn't start with a plan. I don't always have a plan even though I stress how important planning is to a successful painting. But I was so excited to start on my daily painting that I didn't take time to make a plan. I just began painting.

I was a few minutes into the painting when I realized that I didn't do any kind of underpainting. I didn't even do my usual value block-in. Once I drew the flowers I just dove right in!

Working on dark gray Yi Cai sanded paper. Click to enlarge to see sparkles

I just started painting the flowers with the local colors. And then I started with the dark foliage again using the local colors of green. What was I doing??!!  I always layer my greens with other colors to make the green more lively. But I was enjoying the painting so I just kept going. Then the phone rang.

The start....without a plan

It was my sister just wanting to chat. I was in the middle of the painting but didn't want to be rude and I really love to chat with my sister. So I put her on speaker and continued to paint. I chatted and painted until I was just about finished with the painting. It was the strangest experience. I almost felt like my hand was on auto pilot as I painted away without stopping. I found myself making marks and choosing colors without actively thinking about what I was doing.


I've created a jungle!  Midway through the painting


After we hung up I made a few refinements and called it finished. It was an oddly satisfying experience to paint without a plan and take a backseat and let things unfold.  I still believe in the power of a plan but every once in awhile it is very liberating to just let go and paint!

4 comments:

  1. Plan or no plan it's beautiful ! Your story inspired me to relax and enjoy the journey :)

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  2. carol frieswick3:06 PM

    Can you somehow put that bud back in? I love how that looked in the last step. The colors of the flower are so rich, and all the mark making in the background really adds to it. carol

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  3. This one came out so beautiful. I don't usually plan, but occasionally I make a foray into the other technique and it'll come out well. Either way, the practice you have at painting is what really helps. I know a lot of times if I do plan, what happens on the painting has no resemblance to the plans.

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  4. Every so often I too need to fly by the seat of my pants! Fun! It looks amazing!!

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