Making Time for Art in Busy Times

'Magic'                    9x12                pastel                   ©Karen Margulis
available $195

It can be done. Carving out some time to paint in the midst of the busy holiday season isn't easy but it is possible. I am in the middle of my annual studio and home clean up. I have stuff everywhere but I am making progress. On top of the clean up project I am working on plans for workshops and Patreon content for 2020. I have other trips and projects to prepare for and I am trying to get ahead of the eight ball! 

You would think there was no time to paint. But my easel calls to me. I can fit it in if I think about painting time a bit differently. I can certainly find 20-30  minutes to paint. It is the perfect break from cleaning. Painting a quick study gives me a break, satisfies my pastel craving and allows me to access the intuitive painter in me.  Often we do better work than we thought possible if we limit our time spent on the painting. We don't have time to over- think!

A quick alcohol wash gave me something interesting to respond to

Today I took a break after lunch and spent 30 minutes working on this painting of weeds at sunset....one of my favorite intuitive paintings . I had already done the underpainting by doing an alcohol wash over a Patreon demo color swatch chart. I never waste a good piece of paper! And because I was intimately familiar with this subject it was easy to slip in and paint. I also used the palette of pastes that I had out for the Patreon demo. 

The block in done in the first 5 minutes. The rest of the time was for resolving the details. 

Quick studies are made for busy times. Pastels make it easy to paint and leave things alone. Clean-up is too easy.  It is a great habit to start. Make time for a painting break. You'll be glad you did!

Happy New Year!! Wishing everyone a wonderful creative and inspiring new year!! 

Consider joining my Patreon group this year! I have some great content in the works and it is a great way to connect with other pastel artists! www.patreon.com/karenmargulis