An Experiment with Random Texture

'The Forest Beckons'             24x18            pastel              ©Karen Margulis
available $425

I put on my 'What if' crown and put my idea to a test. I wondered what would happen if I only wanted texture in one area of a painting. I know this has been done by other artists but for some reason I never think to try it. It was time.

Last fall I took a photo of this wonderful textured tree on my trip to Norway. I was fascinated by the light color of the bark and the branches which seemed to beckon me to enter the forest behind her.  What if I applied something to my paper ONLY on the tree to give it texture that contrasted with the rest of the painting?

I took out my jar of Golden Micaceous Iron Oxide. This is acrylic paint with a shiny dark gray grit. It is a nice way to tone a paper and give it tooth at the same time. See a video demo with this product here

I took out a piece of 24x18 Uart sanded paper and did a quick oil stain underpainting. I liked it but then I had the idea of adding texture!  I used a brush and painted the tree with the paint. I wasn't concerned about the consistency which is on the thick side right out of the jar. I wanted the texture! 

Click to enlarge underpainting

 It took a few hours for the paint to dry because I had applied it fairly thick. When it was dry I got to work with my pastels. Here is a shot midway through the painting process. This is the ugly stage! I needed to keep going.

I kept going! I really enjoyed painting over the textured tree trunk. It allowed the mark appear like magic! This textured tree really comes forward and has a bot of a 3 D feel to it.  It was a lot of fun and it opens up so many possibilities for random texture!

Below is a close up photo of the textured tree. What do you think? Would you try random texture?