An Easy Way to Paint More Natural Grasses with Pastel

            'Moody Marsh'                 8x10           pastel                 ©Karen Margulis               sold

I never get tired of painting the many moods of a marsh. I love it because it lets me play with painting grass. I LOVE to paint grasses.

Grass can be a challenge and can make or break a painting. Grass that is painted too stiff, thick or regular can not only look unnatural it can create a visual barrier. The eye of the viewer can't get past this 'fence' of grass. The trick to painterly natural looking grass is to paint with BROKEN LINES. 

There are several techniques for painting broken lines but all involve a light touch. You can use a hard pastel and let it dance on the paper skipping and then laying down color. You can roll the tip of a round pastel and you can use one of my favorite techniques: Press and Release a square pastel. 

To create the grasses n my painting I used all of these techniques. I used the press and release for the darker grasses. You need a square pastel. Of course I prefer Terry Ludwig pastels. They are the perfect blend of from softness and intense color. All you do I place the pastel on the sharp edge and press into the paper and lift the pastel back up. You will be left with a broken line and broken lines look more natural than a stiff solid line!

This painting is this week's step by step demo over on my Patreon group. Join us to follow along!

www.patreon.com/karenmargulis

 

New Grandbaby is Here!

   'Autumn Comes to the River II'                9x12                pastel                ©KarenMargulis   

                                                                       available $175
 

Wow! Where did this week go? I looked at the blog and realized it has been a week since I last posted. I do have an excuse though! A week ago we welcomed our newest granddaughter to the family! Maya Rose joins big sisters Bri and Nora. Everyone is healthy and happy and we are thrilled to be the grandparents of six wonderful children!  Now I need to try to get a photo with everyone in it!!

I am back to the easel this week wrapping up my river series and getting ready for another month of fun on Patreon. Sneak peek....we will be adding structures to the landscape! 

Here are a couple of photos. Nora was so excited to hold the baby! I try to make the blog about art but I do plan do occasionally sprinkle photos of what is happening in my world other than painting!

Using Art Graf for Autumn Landscape Paintings

     'Autumn by the Pond'              8x10             pastel         ©Karen Margulis     available $175

I am on a roll with my fall landscape series. I decided to pull out my primary color Art Graf pigment blocks and they have been perfect for these autumn landscapes. They gave me a vibrant start which I can use for both sunny days and moody misty days. It is easy to subdue the vibrant colors with pastel layers if needed. 

Below is a photo of the underpainting. I applied the Art Graf and wet it with a brush and water. I find that water makes them more intense than alcohol! I did draw into the wet underpainting with a hard pastel to place the tree trunks. 

DID YOU KNOW THIS BLOG IS SEARCHABLE? 

If you are intrigued by these Art Graf squares you can find more information here on my blog. I have written several posts and shared demos using Art Graf. Go directly to the blog www.karenmargulis.com and look for the search box on the right. Search for Art Graf to show all of the related posts!

 

This month on Patreon we are focused on painting atmospheric conditions such as fog, mist and rain. Join us for the fun! www.patreon.com/karenmargulis

A Lunchtime Demo: Mist on the River!

 

   'Autumn Comes to the River'                11x14              pastel         ©Karen Margulis     available $225

Yesterday I had the pleasure of doing a Facebook Live video demo for the Booth Western Art Museum. It was part of their 'Art for Lunch' series. I decided to do an autumn landscape inspired by my recent camping trip along the Tallulah River in North Georgia.  You can watch the demo by clicking on the link below:

                https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=353485316104578

I began the painting with a wet underpainting using Art Graf pigment blocks on Uart sanded paper. I love the interesting drips I got. I did end up covering them all up! I made another underpainting so I. will see how another version turns pout!

Here is the palette of pastels I used. They are mostly Terry Ludwig pastels with a few Diane Townsend soft form. I have been using this same palette for a series of river paintings. It makes it easy to have a preselected palette and use them for several paintings. 

What is the Secret for Painting a Misty Landscape?

  'Morning on the River'                  13x8            pastel            ©Karen Margulis     available $175
 

Spending the week camping next to the river was amazing. I came home so inspired and I came home filled with information to help me pant from he photos I took. Spending time in my chair observing the many moods of the river was so helpful. I especially loved observing the morning mist rising from the river and shrouding the trees. How could I capture this fleeting condition?

It is actually quite simple. I am sharing demos and tips all month over on my Patreon group but I'll share a simple tip here......choose neutrals.  On a misty or foggy or hazy day the colors are not as vibrant. When they are shrouded by a mist they are neutralized. The exception are objects up close. In this case the soft light of an overcast sky makes the colors clear and vibrant. Photographers love to take macro shots on overcast days. 

Have a look at the palette of pastels I selected for today's painting. I have  four piles of grayed down neutral colors. There is a variety of values from dark to light. The lightest pastels will be used for the sky and for the mist. 

For more tips join me on Patreon! www.patreon.com/karenmargulis

New YouTube Video: How to Paint a Moody Misty Landscape

           'Misty River'                       9x12               pastel              ©Karen Margulis     available $175

Last week we spent a wonderful 5 days camping on the river. The weather was perfect and the view was inspiring. I took many photos. I decided to paint from one of the morning misty photos of our view for a YouTube video demo. We are focusing on how to paint fog, mist and haze over in my Patreon group so I am in the mood for moody!  Click on the link below to watch the demo:

                                https://youtu.be/Nm401IeFzqg               

I used Art Graf blocks in the primary colors to create a vibrant wet underpainting. I am starting with bold vibrant colors so I can then tone them down to get the moody feeling in the landscape. 

Here is the palette of [astels I used. They are primarily Terry Ludwig pastels with a few Diane Twonsedn soft form thrown it. 

 

How to Paint Mist, Fog and Haze in Pastel

            'Summer Mist'             9x12              pastel              ©Karen Margulis.    available $175  

Painting mist, fog and haze is fun! It is an illusion and you have the tools to make it happen! I love to paint the moody landscape. There is nothing like a beautiful sunny day but I am drawn to the quiet of a misty moody landscape. But how do we create this feeling of mist or fog or haze in a painting? Do we need special pastels? Certain colors? The answer is no. We just need to use the tools we have for any landscape.....we need to master the creation of depth and understand value keys. There is also a certain mark making technique that works well for creating these weather conditions. 

Join me this month over in my Patreon group to explore these ideas in detail. You can see this painting come to life in a video demo. It is just $4 for the month to access these posts and so much more. 

                                                     www.patreon.com/karenmargulis

                                                           The pastels I used for this demo
 

A Simple Way to Make a Photo Collage

I wanted to simple way to see my monthly progress. I had recommitted myself to daily painting this year and I was on a roll. I had paintings all over the studio! I had to store them and put them away but I wanted a way to see my progress. One great way to see daily painting progress is to hang them up in the studio.  Another way is to see them digitally...in the form of a photo collage.

It is always a good thing to take some time to review the work you do over the course of a few weeks. It helps you to see what you did well and what you might need to work on. One way to do this is to physically set out your paintings ....line them up against a wall and study them. Take notes. Is there a common thread that runs through all of them? Is there something that you are doing consistently well...or not so well?

Ideally, this evaluation should be done every few months. There is a simple way to do this instead of taking the paintings out physically.....create a digital collage. I discovered a very easy to use collage maker online and it is FREE called www.befunky.com. 
All you do is upload the photos you want, choose your layout and either auto fill or drag your photos where you want them in the layout. Simple. The collage can be saved as a jpg and can be used in many ways...make cards, Facebook banners, promotions of all kinds. It is also an excellent way to see a collection of your work all in one place! 

I am sharing a collage of some of the still life paintings I did last month on Patreon. Join us! www.patreon.com/karenmargulis