Adding a Path to a Painting

'After the Rain'                11x14              pastel                ©Karen Margulis
available $245

'The eye should not be led to where there is nothing to see'    Robert Henri

This is one of my favorite quotes. It guides all of my landscape paintings. How often do we paint pathways or roads or waterways with no regard to where they take the viewer? There needs to be a reason for going down the path....something interesting to discover....It doesn't have to be a thing. It can be a spot of color, an interesting mark, texture, a bit of contrast. Eye candy. Something to savor and enjoy or maybe just something unexpected.

My initial thought was to add a figure on the path. But then I realized that my story was the wide open space that reckoned me to explore. In fact when I took the photo I was on a tour with a bus load of people. There were people on the path in front of me but I waited until they disappeared around the bend before I took the photo! 

Instead of a figure I decided that a brighter spot of color and some bolder marks would be enough to draw the eye down the path. Sneaking a bit of the color behind the trees keeps the eye moving into the distance. 

Note: These were the marks I added at the end of the painting process after letting the painting rest and coming back to it with fresh eyes.  If you look at the photo below you can see the painting before I added the finishing touches.  

Painting for the video with my Terry Ludwig Floral Landscape set

I used a few Nupastels for some final details

This is our January Paint Along for my Patreon group. Please consider joining us to paint along and for more lessons on adding paths to a painting!  www.patreon.com/karenmargulis