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| 'Changing' 9x12 pastel ©Karen Margulis available $225 |
It came to me in a dream last night. I woke up with a vague memory of painting. I don't remember what I was painting but I did remember that I had started with a a very specific underpainting. Of course I had to try it today!
In my dream I did a combination warm and cool underpainting. I used cool colors in the shadows and warm colors in the areas lit by the sun. It is such a simple way to give your painting a head start in capturing the light. I was excited to give it a try.
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| Blocking in the painting with big shapes of warm and cool colors |
I chose a photo from my favorite park. It was late afternoon and the trees were catching the last fiery rays of the setting sun. It was late autumn so there was a chill in the air. But the warmth of the trees made up for the cold.
I took out a piece of dark gray Canson Mi-Teintes paper and my box of Nupastels. I dis a simple block in with oranges for the sunlit trees and blues for the tree and grasses in the shadows. I added a pale blue-green for the sky.
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| adding the trunks and branches |
I developed some of the branches with my Terry Ludwig eggplant pastel and then continued layering with soft pastels. All I had to do was follow the warm and cool block-in colors. With each layer I refined the trees and grasses. I used the sky color to further refine the trees. It was fun to work on a painting that I started in my dreams! I know I will use this underpainting technique again. How about you?
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| my tiny reference photo in the top left corner |
Underpainting for pastels is a complicated subject. There are so many ways to start a pastel painting. There are so many underpainting choices with no right or wrong way to go about it. I have put together a three day workshop on underpainting so I have much more to share than I can in this one post. But a quick point....every underpainting choice you make will influence the painting. I encourage you to experiment and play so that your underpainting choices will become intuitive.
I am not quite at the painting a day stage but I have managed to finish to "mini's" this week - so quite proud of myself - Thank Karen - you continue to inspire! This is gorgeous and am going to try this tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteOh that's an interesting start! Great technique. I love seeing how your impulsive works manifest, this worked out great. Experimenting is the heart of art!
ReplyDeleteI might not have turned the final version into an autumn painting, following the underpainting, but I often use cool colors for all shadowed areas and warms for the lights. This gives a vividness even if they aren't the final hues. Yellows and oranges under greens make them pop, while blues or purples under them give a different feeling.