How to Paint Rocks in Pastel

'Breathe in the Magic'                9x12          pastel        ©Karen Margulis
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Do rocks intimidate you? Are you frustrated with the rocks you paint? My rocks used to look like potatoes!  They looked like rounded squishy looking blobs of brown. And when I tried too hard to make them better they didn't look like the rest of the painting. They were overly detailed and they didn't fit in with the looser marks I used for the rest of the painting.  I avoided landscapes with rocks.

Then I learned about the power of suggestion. I realized that I didn't need to render the rocks with great detail. I didn't need to paint every nook and cranny. I also started to look at the planes on rocks. I started to notice the big patterns of light and shadow. If I could suggest these planes of light and dark with simple marks with the side of my pastel....I could suggest the rocks.

"Suggest and let the viewer do the rest"

Look at the photo below. I didn't draw these rocks and color them in. I simply made marks to suggests the darker shadowed areas and marks to suggest the light on the rock planes. Taken out of context they don't look much like rocks. But in the landscape painting the viewer can deduce that these marks are indeed rocks.

Up close these rocks are just marks of pastel

This painting is the subject of a detailed step by step demo on my Patreon page. I'd love for you to check it out! www.Patreon.com/karenmargulis

Building up the color in the trees