Having Fun with Textured Boards

'City Lights'         8x10       pastel         ©Karen Margulis
available $125

Today was such a fun day!  It was a rainy day in Georgia but a wonderful group of pastel artists joined me in my studio for a one day workshop. The topic was Painting the Winter Landscape. I meant to take pictures to share but the time just got away from me. Eight hours went so fast!  I started the day with some 'Rapid Fire' demos and tip sharing talk. I shared my top 10 tips and techniques for painting a winter landscape. I followed this with a demo and then the 13 artists painted for the next couple of hours. They were amazing!! I was so impressed with their work and loved their enthusiasm!

After lunch we changed gears and I shared some more winter fun. One of my favorite techniques for painting winter scenes is to use textured surfaces. I love how the random brushstrokes help give the illusion of falling snow and adds interest to a snowy patch.

I wanted to share this fun technique with the group. Since we had limited time I made the surfaces in advance and give everyone the recipe. It is simple and there are many variations. All I do is mix some gesso with a few spoonfuls of powdered pumice and add drops of water until the mixture is the consistency of thin cream of wheat. I tinted my mixture with Golden liquid acrylics. I made some yellow and some red violet.  I applied the mixture to mat board with a cheap brush. I demonstrated a cityscape on a red violet board.

It was such a fun day made even better with a talented and friendly group of artists! I love to teach and it is always gratifying when artists really embrace what I share and have success!