How to Paint a Sunny Landscape with Pastels

'Roadside Delight'                 8x10             pastel           ©Karen Margulis
available $165

Painting a sunny day is all about having the right colors. The right color choice is important for both the underpainting and for the pastel layers. I have learned the hard way with muddy and dull results! Here are three tips for painting a landscape that captures the warmth and clarity of a sunny day.

• Kiss your painting with sunshine! By this I mean use warmer and more intense colors when you paint the sunlit side of any element in your landscape instead of just using lighter values of the color. For example if I want a red poppy to look like it was in a sunny meadow I would use a warm red orange to paint the sunlit portions of the flower (not a pale red which makes the blooms look cool and washed out)

• Use warm colors in the underpainting. You can get a head start on a sunny landscape by using warm colors....reds, oranges, yellows in the block- in or underpainting. The warm colors peeking through the pastel layers will add a bit of sunny warmth and interest to the landscape. 

• Make sure your sky represent a bright clear sunny day. Be sure to use clear blues rather than dull gray blues. Make sure the values of the blues you use are not too dark.  Clear pure blues will give the sky a sunny feeling whereas the gray blues make the sky look 'dirty' or moody. Save them for an overcast or moody day. 

My new Terry Ludwig pastels 'Floral Landscape set' has the pastels you need to paint a sunny day and a moody day. Stay tuned for the next post to see a moody day painting.

starting the painting on MingArt sanded pastel paper

Midway through the painting and you can see the warm underpainting colors

https://terryludwig.com/products/60-floral-landscapes-karen-margulis

The column of blues on the far right are the clear blues and the second column has some grayed blues.