Poppies for Memorial Day

'Remembering'                9x12                   pastel               ©Karen Margulis
available $175

It is Memorial Day weekend.  I will be painting poppies as I usually do. I am going to dedicate my paintings to the brave men and women  who gave their lives for our freedom. What better inspiration for my Memorial Day series than my photos from a past trip to Normandy.  Today's post takes you behind the scenes as I share my inspiration and process for the first poppy painting.

I am working on a piece of white  9x 12 Canson Mi-Teintes that I covered with black Diane Townsend Dry Ground. I begin with a rough drawing where I place the poppies.  The inspiration for th painitng is the wheat or barley fields that surrounded our rental home in Normandy. It was the end of the poppy season but there were a few stagier left blooming at the edges of the golden fields. I loved the pop of color in the fields and I have been wanting to paint this scene!

Canson paper with Diane Townsend Dry Ground

I block in the poppies with a dark dull red and add some dark browns for the wheat.  I thought it was wheat but a friend told me it was barley. I think wheat fields sound more romantic.

I also reinforce the darks in the foreground with some dark blues and violets. Next I put in the sky using several light value blues. It is challenging to cover the dry ground though it is not mixing with the pastel which is good.

I add in some marks of middle value ochre to suggest the wheat. I use the sky color to carve into the grasses and wheat. This painting not only about the poppies but also the negative painting to define the grasses and wheat stalks.

Time for the poppies. It is a simple 5 step process. I start with the darkest red. Then add a bit warmer red. I try to be aware of creating a variety of shapes and sizes of the flowers.

Now I turn on the light with the addition of an even warmer red orange and finally bright orange.  I make the petals with wide marks with the side of my pastel.

The last step is the addition of the dark center with a Terry Ludwig eggplant pastel and a touch of blue for interest. 

 To finish the painting I add smaller and smaller marks of grasses and wheat. I go back and forth with grass marks and the negative painting with the sky color.

The final details are added with Nupastels to get finer marks. I also add a few speed pods and call it finished.