An Important Tip for Painting Reflections

'Easy on a Sunday'           18x24        pastel      ©Karen Margulis
available $450 

The sky is not always blue. I love working from bad photos that have overexposed skies. This gives me permission to invent the sky color. I enjoy creating my own mood for the landscape and the sky is a key player in creating this mood. The sky provides the light and thus the mood of the day.

It is fun to play with the color of the sky but there is an important thing to remember. Whenever you make a change to the lighting of the landscape it is important that you stay consistent in every aspect of that landscape. The sunlight and shadows must be consistent everywhere in the landscape. Reflections should also be considered.

Important tip:  If you change the color of the sky be sure the new color is reflected in the water. In other words if the sky is YELLOW the reflection will be yellow and not blue. It is easy to over-generalize about water and think that it is always blue. It is not always blue! Water reflects the colors of the surroundings so when water reflects the sky be sure it is the right color!

Color in the water is YELLOW

The water reflects the YELLOW sky

A Change of Scenery....New Inspiration

'A Quiet Refuge'           8x10        pastel        ©Karen Margulis
available $150 

 I'm on a roll. I am thoroughly enjoying redoing the paintings I found in my discard pile. I'm glad I had the room to store all these duds. Not only am I able to recycle papers and boards, I am getting the chance to put what I have learned into practice.

When I look at an old painting it is proof that I have really grown as an artist. Sometimes in the day to day struggle of painting it is hard to see any progress. It can be slow and frustrating to get past the learning curve. And even then we still struggle to get to that next level. When I look at these older paintings that were my best work at the time...it is satisfying to see that I really have learned some things along the way!

Today I will share my thoughts behind the recycle of an older painting from the discard pile.

The original recovered from the discard pile

While I liked the subject matter of the original there were some issues that I would need to address. 

• The pathway lead nowhere and appeared to go uphill. It didn't lay flat into the ground.
• The rust colored grasses in the foreground formed a fence. They were a barrier for entry into the painting.
• There was not much depth in the grasses. This view was quite long in real life and the painting didn't capture this expansiveness.
• The water lines were bumpy. Especially the top edge of the sea.
• The sky was boring.

Since the painting was on Ampersand Pastelbord it would be easy to do an alcohol wash to simplify all of the shapes. See below.

After washing with rubbing alcohol

I actually liked the result after the wash! I may have to explore this idea further. But for today I decided to work on the painting and create a change of scenery. It was good to review the older painting to see what I would have changed but in the end the underpainting revealed a new landscape. I used a similar color palette for this Florida wetlands landscape. Another fun recycle!

Try this: Take out an older painting or photo of your painting (from when you were new to pastel) . Study it and make notes on what you would do differently. Use this painting as inspiration and paint an updated version.

A Must Have Treasure for Watercolor Underpaintings on the Go

'My Florida'          8x10         pastel         ©Karen Margulis
available $150

 I had to do it. I only have a day to unpack from Charlotte and repack for my workshop in New Mexico but I had to make  a trip to Hobby Lobby in search of a treasure. I am so excited that I found it (two actually and I bought them both)  If you follow my blog then you may know that I love using Cretacolor Aqua Briques for watercolor underpaintings. They are so rich and vibrant! Read more about them here.

I brought along my set of aqua bricks to my Underpainting workshop for the Piedmont Pastel Society. It is a bit of a big tin but worth it for the results so I don't usually mind making room for them. But imagine my surprise and delight when one of the artists in the class showed me her little treasure.....baby Aqua Briques!  That's right. She found a small travel size set of Cretacolor Aqua Briques. The tin measures just 4x5 inches. I knew I just had to find a set. She had purchased hers at Hobby Lobby so I made the trek there today and found them! I did a happy dance!
Of course I had to try them out on a painting and now I am very behind in my packing!

I also found some other cool art stuff at Hobby Lobby but it will all have to wait until I get back from New Mexico!

Cretacolor Aqua Briques.....minis! Click here to see them at Blicks

The watercolor underpainting on white Pastel Premier paper

Art Haul from Hobby Lobby. Fun Stuff!

Studio Tip for Organizing Reference Photos

'A Quiet Spot'               11x14               pastel                ©Karen Margulis
available $155 click here to purchase

 It's time to get organized!  Being organized allows me more time to paint. One of the things in my studio that is in need of organizing is my stacks of reference photos. I print out my photos on copy paper and file them by subject in a photo box. But they get messy so quickly and I never want to take the time to file the photos I have taken out. By the end of the year (yes I let it go for a year!) I have piles and piles of photos ...too many to go through. It  makes it hard to decide what to paint and I waste so mush time mindlessly flipping through photos.

This year I am starting a new system. I prefer using small 3x5 and 2x3 photos that I print myself on cheap inkjet paper.  These little photos were too small for my big box and they were getting lost.  I was thrilled to find small plastic document envelopes by a company called Doc-it.  They are perfect for organizing small photos. The envelopes measure 5x7 and come in clear colors. Mine have a string tie but one of my students found them with snaps. They also come with a label though I just use a piece of artists tape for my labels.

I found my envelopes in my local grocery store. Here is a link to a source online

These envelopes are inexpensive (under $1) so I can have one for all of my favorite subjects. I will be filing these plastic envelopes in a box with cardboard tabs with the subject category. I'll share a photo when I get to this point.  This system will allow me to narrow down my painting ideas without being overwhelmed by too many choices.

Question for you:  Do you use paper photos or do you paint from a tablet, phone or computer? There is a great discussion on this subject on the Pastel Society of America's Facebook Page. Head over to Facebook to read all the opinions and advice. If you are on Facebook I'd love for you  to 'like' my art page. You can like my page right here on the blog...look for the like box on the right!

Painting notes: I used my planning sheet to decide on the format and design of this painting. It is on Uart 500 with an alcohol wash. I used a variety of Terry Ludwig pastels.

Monday Mini Pastel Demo...Old Florida Fishing Shack

'Days Gone By'            16x20          pastel             ©Karen Margulis
sold

I started this painting a few years ago. I wasn't sure how to finish it and then lost interest in it. So on the shelf it went. I have a stack of unfinished paintings on a shelf still attached to foam core. Every once in awhile I pull one out and revisit it.  This is probably my oldest unfinished painting... started during my first year with pastels.  I was in my Florida phase. I only painted beaches, shells and shore birds. 

Since we are working on water in class this week I decided to revisit this Florida scene.  This old fishing shack was quite rustic and rickety but the view was amazing. I had started the painting with an alcohol wash. (see below) The reference photo had faded but I still remembered the vibrant colors of this wonderful place. The painting is 16x20 on white Wallis paper.

Where I left off 8 years ago.

I began by reinforcing all of the dark shapes with a deep blue, dark red and dark green. I put in my most intense color which was a bright coral.  Next I worked on the sky. I started at the top of the paper and put down some cool deep blue and gradually used warmer and lighter blues and yellows. I let the pastels blend themselves...no finger blending.

I continue with a cool green for the distant land and put in the first layer of water. I use a rich middle dark value blue. I will layer more blues in the water but I put in my darkest color first.

 I begin the reflections.  I pull the colors of the dock and pilings down into the water. I used vertical strokes and blend them downward with my fingers.  Next I add lighter bands of blue in the water. When I get to the area of reflection I choose a rich bright blue and make some current marks in horizontal strokes over my reflections. (see the finished painting for this)

 Before I finished the water though I worked on the palm trees. I added some brighter warmer greens and some oranges in the palm fronds. I used the sky color to create the fronds by negative painting.

The last thing I did was to paint the shadow and dock. It was an old uneven concrete dock.  I then finished the shack with some blues and peaches.  I stood back and decided that I needed a warmer color at the horizon so I scumbled some pastel peach over the yellow sky. 

I sure is fun to revist an old unfinished painting. It is the perfect opportunity to play without worrying about the results!