Monday Mini Demo...Trying Schminke Pastels

'Down to Earth'            8x10            pastel           ©Karen Margulis
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I am a pastel addict. I know this. I'm not sure what the proper treatment is but I continue to collect pastels even though I have more than I can possibly use.   I try my best to use them all.  Every once in awhile I visit my pastel shelf...where I store all of the random boxes of collected sets...and I choose a set to work with. I challenge myself to use the set in a painting.

Today I decided to try to incorporate these two sets of Schminke pastels into my latest marsh painting. I got these sets at the IAPS convention last June. (always a fun place for a pastel collector)  I like Schminkes. They are very soft and are perfect for my final marks...my punctuation.  For this painting I used them in all layers. They were wonderful for the sky. I may just have to get some more!  

Enjoy today's mini demo!

Two sets of Schminke pastels... Sky and Earth

 This painting is 8x10 on Uart 500 grit. I begin with a charcoal line drawing and a block in with 2 values of warm colors. I use hard pastels and rub in this layer with a piece of pipe insulation foam.

I start with the sky and work my way down to the foreground.  I use several of the blue Schminkes and a Terry Ludwig warm blue and a few Diane Townsend pale yellows. I don't blend with my fingers. The pastels are so soft that layering them lightly blends them . I pull the pale yellows over the blue sky to create the wispy clouds.
I also put in the distant land using a cool blue gray and turquoise. These are just marks since this land is far away. No details.

Next I put in some darks along the banks of the water. I use a rich dark green and purple. I pull the dark green down into the foreground area. See my posts last week on painting foregrounds.
The next step is to put in the water. I use the same colors that are in the sky....lighter near the horizon.

I go back to the distant land and put in some of the yellows and golds to suggest the distant grass. It is autumn so the grasses are all warm golds and peaches. I decide I needed another bit of water in the distance. I also start putting in some of the mid ground grasses with peach.

Now I lay in some of the rich rusty Schminke pastels in the foreground. They feel nice!  I am making my marks chunky and vertical.

I add some greens to the bushes and add some more chunky grasses to the foreground. I am having fun with these Schminkes!  After this step it was just a matter of refining the foreground with some smaller grass strokes using the sharp edge of the Schminke pastel.  I also added some yellow flowers by making some thick marks.  I also pulled some of the grass color into the water with my finger to make some reflections.  Finished!

If you like this painting and mini demo you may be interested in my pdf demo 'Painting an Autumn Marsh' available in my Etsy shop. I go into much greater detail with more photos. Marsh demo link