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Monday, March 16, 2020

Art Play Activity: Paint with Black and White Only

'Into the Marsh'                10x10              pastel        Karen Margulis
available $125
Are you playing along with me? As we hibernate many of us now have time to retreat into their studios or art space. But if you are anything like me I am a bit lost without some direction. I like to give myself assignments and projects. I am sharing my Art Play Activity Guide with you and I hope you will join me!

The theme for this week is SIMPLIFY. In any medium we can't simplify much more than to limit our palette to just black and white. Not only is it a breath if fresh air to limit our palette.....we learn so much about value by working in black and white.

The assignment was to choose a favorite photo or successful painting and use it to inspire a black and white version. I selected this painting. It is a favorite for a reason which I will disclose soon. I pulled out a few pure black and white pastels. I selected pastel pencils and hard and soft pastels. I didn't choose any gray pastels. I made mixtures of grays by layering the black and white pastels. 

Share your painting on my Patreon group or on social media and use hashtag #artplay

My original 9x12 painting I used for my inspiration

I ONLY used black and white pastels.....Nupastels, soft pastels and pastel pencils

I am planning to create a weekly guide to the art activities I will work on. Each week I will have a theme. I will expand on each activity on my blog and over on my Patreon group where I will encourage patrons to share their work.



The suggested activity for today is to organize one thing in your studio. I find that if I limit it to one thing I am not overwhelmed! Make a list of things that need attention in your studio. Tackle this list with baby steps. If you haven't cleaned your pastels recently this week would be a great time to tackle this important chore.  Here is a blog post and video I shared last year with cleaning tips:



Please share this post and guide with your artist friends. All activities can be done with the medium of your choice! Share your work online and use the hashtag #artplay

2 comments:

Hyn Patty said...

Wow! Your original painting in color is STUNNING. Absolutely. But, I also love your monochromatic value study in greys. Beautiful. I've been on a kick lately of working on imprimatura value studies myself and emphasizing to my students how valuable it is as an aid to painting. So glad to see you doing one to share with us! Thank you!

Deborah said...

Yes. On day 2 Art Play It worked wonderfully as I recreated a pastel of a single avocado I did previously and turned out another painting in black and white. What drama! I almost love the black and white version better.