Just Let Yourself Go!

'Lavender Gone Wild'           11x14        pastel         ©Karen Margulis
sold

I was struggling. I had this vision of what my painting should look like and it just wasn't working. I had already done a small study of the lavender fields at dusk and it worked on a smaller scale. But I wanted to try it a bit larger. I took out a piece of white Pastelbord and started with an alcohol wash. (you can see a quick video on my Instagram @karenmargulis)

It was a struggle once I started applying the pastel. Part of the reason was the surface. I don't use Pastelbord very often and it accepts the pastel in a way I am not used to. But part of the reason was also the subject itself.  My concept was interesting with a sunset glow over the dark blue violet lavender.....but my composition wasn't very interesting. Even my non- artist husband noticed that I had created three even boring sections. See the painting below.

I wasn't happy with the painting even though I signed it. 

I wasn't happy with the painting but I had spent all day off and on fussing with it. That is a lot of time  for me. I really didn't want to give up but I was tired of the painting. I decided to just let myself go wild with some texture. What could I lose?

I brushed off some of the pastel and applied some clear gesso to the trees and lavender. Look at how dark it became! That was ok because now I had some good dirt as a base. I needed to let my ideas percolate....and let the gesso dry. Since I had such a frustrating day in the studio I decided to paint a few minis while watching TV in the evening. I redeemed myself with those (I'll share them soon)

The dry gesso over pastel

In the morning I looked at the painting and realized that I could totally change the composition very easily. I didn't need to keep the sunset theme either. Inspired by one of my minis I started over. I blocked in the shapes of the new composition with a piece of Nupastel. It was more interesting and the brighter purples made me happy! The texture also worked to create the suggestion of the lavender and grasses.

In the end I was much happier with the painting. I could have easily stopped yesterday unhappy and frustrated with the painting relegated to the discard pile. But I allowed myself permission to brush it off and start over. I allowed myself to just let go and see where it led me. It was more fun than being frustrated!

The new composition over the old painting

a close up of the lavender texture