Blending Pastels and the Beach: A Video Demo

'Sunday Afternoon at the Beach'       9x12      pastel       ©Karen Margulis

 To blend or not to blend? Since I have been pondering this question this weekend it is only fitting that my Sunday Studio demo address this question. In my informal Facebook Live video I share my thoughts on blending and how you can be a more effective blender.

I demonstrate a beach scene to share some of the ways I use blending in my paintings. I blend sparingly and always with careful thought. Watch the video to learn more and then come on back to read about how I finished the demo painting.

Click this link to watch the video on my YouTube channel

I didn't add the finishing touches to the painting in the video. I like to stop BEFORE I think I am finished so I can make the finishing marks with careful thought.  Below you can see where I stopped on the painting along with my commentary on the finish.

Demo board with my reference photo and color study.

The pastels I used for the demo. Terry Ludwigs (McKinley Landscape set) Diane Townsend Mood for Green and misc. hard pastels for the grasses.

my color study. 4x6

The painting as I left it in the video

• I refined the sky. I blended it more and added more defined cloud shapes.The finishing mark was the pop of pale turquoise near the horizon leading into the ground.

• I refined and separated the distant bushes. I add a light cool green to them to push them back into the distance.

• I refined the grass clumps by adding a rust color. I painted a few pieces of grass in the foreground clumps. I kept the grasses in the distance loose.

• I refined the sandy path and added a few more shells

• I added a touch of blue in the distance to suggest the sea.