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Sunday, March 05, 2017

What Happens When you Find a Big Piece of RED Paper


'Crazy for Red'           18x24           pastel       ©Karen Margulis
available $450
A reader asked me why I don't usually work on colored paper. It was a good question. I didn't really have a good answer so I told her I'd think about it and answer in the blog. I put these questions into the lineup and mull them around. Today I had the answer and it came by chance. 

I was looking through my paper trying to find inspiration for today's daily painting when I found a stack of RED paper. Big red paper. Full sheets of red Canson Mi-Teintes paper. Whatever possessed me to buy it? I don't know but today was as good a time as any to use it. I just had to find the right subject.


A big piece of RED paper!
As I searched through a stack potential reference photos I kept looking for something with a lot of green. Since red is the complement of green working on the red paper might add some excitement to a typical green landscape. Red actually is a great color to use under green. Whether you tone your own paper or buy red paper it is a great choice for a very green landscape.

And it is an even better choice for a green and red landscape! I had the perfect scene....a field of poppies from my trip to Texas last spring. See the reference photo below and follow along as the painting develops. 

my reference photo

Blocking in the darks

Adding the sky and the flowers

Building the layers of foliage

and more building

...and more

Adding the lights to the foliage and building the flower shapes

Finished
That was fun! It was great to work large (18x24) as well.  The red paper gave my poppies a bit of a head start and made the greens more interesting where the paper peeks through.

So why don't I paint on color paper more often? Simple. I don't always have it handy and I forget how simple it is to tone a piece of sanded paper to any color I want. Thanks Monike for the question you've given me some new ideas!

3 comments:

BJR said...

Wow! What a painting! The poppies almost glow right off the page!! BTW...I LOVE your Sunday painting videos! The closest thing to a class with you that I'l ever have. ;) Thanks!!

Rose Rudd said...

I love following you and have learnt so much already from watching your videos, so thank you very much for sharing your knowledge and expertise. This is possibly a silly question, but how do you tone you paper to any colour you want, is this by using pastel and then using the alcohol wash?

robertsloan2art said...

I love the inspiration of colored paper. Gorgeous painting! Perfect subject for a red paper, the greens are sparkling and the reds so vivid!