Top 5 Adventures of 2013 ...Doug Dawson Workshop

'The Clearing'              8x10               pastel            ©Karen Margulis
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 I am so excited about the adventures I have planned for 2014.  Before I share them with you I'd like to take some time to look back on 2013.  I had some excellent adventures and most of them involved travel and art....two of my favorite things!  For the next few posts I will be looking back at 2013 and sharing some of the highlights.  I am also doing a new painting to illustrate each adventure.  I hope you enjoy the posts!

I begin with the Spring of 2013.  It was all about pastel workshops. I love taking workshops both for the things I learn and for the camaraderie of my fellow artists. There is something wonderful about having a few days devoted solely to art. (It is also a great way to see the country when a workshop involves travel!)  In the Spring of 2013 I took two workshops....one with Doug Dawson in Florida and another with Elizabeth Mowry here in Atlanta.  They were both excellent workshops and very inspiring. You can read more about them here:

Doug Dawson Workshop

Elizabeth Mowry Workshop

Doug Dawson shared some things that have had a big impact on how I approach a painting. He shared his method for doing thumbnails and blocking in a painting.  I love his approach!  One of the exercises we did in the workshop was to do a few thumbnails from our photos. For today's painting I used one of the thumbnails I did in the workshop but didn't have a chance to paint.

Block in colors and thumbnail

 In the photo above you can see the photo along with the black and white thumbnail. I chose 4 values of red for the block-in colors. I worked on a piece of Burgundy Canson paper with mostly Terry Ludwig pastels.  Be sure to go back and read my March 2013 posts for more details on what I learned in the workshop. (see the archives on the sidebar)

Block in by Value

 Here is the finished block-in. I like the abstract quality of the block-in.  I built up the layers of grasses using workable fixative in between each layer. I used very soft pastels to make the marks for the flowers. I used the sharp edge of the pastel to create the thinner branches.

Tomorrow I share another adventure and painting so be sure to come back!  What adventures did you have in 2013?