Working With Red Pastels

'Winter Joy II'            5x7       pastel        ©Karen Margulis
available $75

It's the season for Red! I love red so it is easy to get excited about painting red things. Red can be overpowering though. And since I like to build up my color with layers of pastel I don't want to jump right in with the 'Power Red'.  I have a technique for working with red that allows the most vibrant reds to really glow.

'Winter Joy I'          5x7        pastel      available $75

The color chart below shows my technique. The trick is to start layering with a duller and darker red. I sometimes even begin with a dark purple. Here I began with a dark brick red. I selected two other dull cooler reds for the middle layers. I reserved the most vibrant and warmest (orange) reds for the final layers. You can see these bright reds better when they are layered over the dark cool reds. In contrast if you just go right to the brightest red it isn't as interesting!

color chart of reds

I am using Terry Ludwig red pastels with some Schminkes as well. The top painting is on white pastemat and the bottom painting is on Uart sanded paper.

Painting the Colors of Fall....RED part one

'Forever Fall'                 8x10              pastel               ©Karen Margulis
available $145

I love Autumn. Cinnamon brooms, pumpkin everything, Chilly air and fleece. Autumn gives my senses a much needed spark.  One of the best things about Fall is color.  We finally get a break from green in the Fall. Every year around this time I get the urge to paint the fall colors. I've been through my yellow kick with my aspen series. Now It is all about red.

This week I want to focus on the color red. I love painting red trees. I have a trick to help make red foliage glow with light. I will share it in another post this week. It helps to have some good red pastels though.

A set of 5 red pastels by Mount Vision

To paint red effectively you need to have a good selection of reds from cool to warm and dark to light. Many introductory set just have one or two reds and that isn't always enough. I don't have just one brand of pastel in my collection. I have a little bit of everything with the majority of them being Terry Ludwigs and Great Americans. Both of these brands have wonderful reds.

I'd like to share another option for great pastels that won't break the bank. Mount Vision Pastels. The handmade pastels are a great value. They are nice and big. I can easily cut them into thirds to distribute among my pastel boxes.  The are richly pigmented and a medium soft. They really are great workhorse pastels.  You can get a box of 25 reds and pinks or you can order your reds open stock. A few years ago I got this sampler set of reds which I didn't see available. Visit the Mount Vision website here.

TIP: Are you ready to paint red? It's time to pull out all of the red pastels you have. Clean them and make a color chart. Do you have a good range of reds? Dark to light? Dull to intense pure reds? Warm orangey reds and cooler red violets? Take note of what you are missing. More on painting red to come.