Pages

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Try This Great Painting Exercise



'Fall Memories'            5x7         pastel         ©Karen Margulis
available $95
I got back on the ship with both my camera's memory card and my own memory full of beautiful images. I would have loved to paint plein air on our stop on Mount Desert Island Maine but our time was very limited. A friend generously offered to give us a quick driving tour and it was awesome. I did my usual 'drive by' shooting taking as many photos as I could while Alice drove.

Of all the images I took it was interesting that I recalled one particular scene more clearly. It was a stand of yellow trees against a moody, misty, cold and blustery day. The following morning I took out my small pastel kit and decided to paint this scene from my memory. I glanced at the photo of the scene on my camera and then put the camera away.


My smallest travel kit is the Heilman Single Sketch Box filled with Girault pastels

I thoroughly enjoyed the freedom of painting without trying to be true to a photo. I was able to put in the details that I recalled. These are the things that really mattered to me.  I was able to create the scene using my imagination. I could arrange the elements and play with values and colors to create an interesting painting. It was liberating!

Try This: Pick a reference photo that YOU TOOK. Glance at it for a minute and then put it away. Now paint the scene pulling things from your memory and imagination. Have fun!

Girault pastels are wonderful. They look hard but go on soft!



No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.