Do You Listen to Your Paintings?

'Winter Magic'           8x10         pastel          ©Karen Margulis
available on Etsy. $150

Do your paintings ever speak to you?  Do they tell you want they want to be sometimes?  Do you listen or do you push on with your original idea?  My paintings don't always talk to me but when they do have something to say I usually listen.  It always leads me on an adventure!

Take today's painting.  It began as a demo for my Patreon page this week.  I was showing the the group how to block in a painting from a value study and how to paint fir trees. We have been studying trees and this was part of the final tree demos. The original photo was a bad reference. It was dark and hard to see. The composition wasn't interesting. I needed to figure out how to make it interesting. My plan was simple.....move some trees around but keep the cool moody late summer day.

But then this painting took on a life of its own.

The reference photo and the plan

I was working from a reference photo that had a  green meadow withdrew yellow grasses.  I chose violets  for the underpainting and used an alcohol wash.....I started painting the trees and then the moody sky and I was ready to paint the green and yellow grass.......when all of the sudden I realized that my original plan wasn't going to be interesting.

The painting was talking to me!  It wanted to be a winter scene with gently falling snow!  And so that is what I did!  It is no use to fight with a painting to force it to fit your original plan. It is more fun to listen to it and let it take you on an adventure. You learn more and might just end up with a more interesting painting. It certainly will be a better interpretation of your photo!


If you would like to see the complete step by step demo it is available on my Patreon page. It is just a $4 a month subscription that you can cancel easily at any time! www.patreon.com/karenmargulis