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Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Warming Up for a Plein Air Adventure

'Gentle Beauty'          5x7          pastel         ©Karen Margulis
available  $65
My suitcase is packed. It is full of supplies and goodies for a week of painting and teaching in Ireland. I am excited to share that I will be part of the 10th Art in the Open, Ireland's international plein air festival. I will be teaching two workshops during the week and the rest of the time I will be painting the beautiful landscapes around Wexford. A whole week to paint! I can't wait!
Read all about Art in the Open here:
Since I am already packed I decided to practice my small and quick field study approach....warming up with some moody green landscapes. So far there appears to be no sun in the forecast but I am prepared for any weather!

The block in for a quick study
 One approach to a quick study is to block in the scene using the extremes....darkest dark, lightest light and most intense color. I like to use red violet as an underpainting color for moody cool greens. Quick studies are also easier if I begin with a middle value gray paper. For the top painting I used Pastel Premier Italian Clay and for the bottom study I used a recycled piece of Wallis Belgian Mist. It is interesting to note that the paper had an old very red painting which gives the new painting a warmer feeling.

another quick study
Tomorrow I will share some of my packing ideas and tips so stay tuned!