New Sunday Studio Demo: Blending and the Beach

'Sunday Afternoon at the Beach'       9x12      pastel       ©Karen Margulis
available $155

 To blend or not to blend? Since I have been pondering this question this weekend it is only fitting that my Sunday Studio demo address this question. In my informal Facebook Live video I share my thoughts on blending and how you can be a more effective blender.

I demonstrate a beach scene to share some of the ways I use blending in my paintings. I blend sparingly and always with careful thought. Watch the video to learn more and then come on back to read about how I finished the demo painting.

Click this link to watch the video on my YouTube channel

I didn't add the finishing touches to the painting in the video. I like to stop BEFORE I think I am finished so I can make the finishing marks with careful thought.  Below you can see where I stopped on the painting along with my commentary on the finish.

Demo board with my reference photo and color study.

The pastels I used for the demo. Terry Ludwigs (McKinley Landscape set) Diane Townsend Mood for Green and misc. hard pastels for the grasses.

my color study. 4x6

The painting as I left it in the video

• I refined the sky. I blended it more and added more defined cloud shapes.The finishing mark was the pop of pale turquoise near the horizon leading into the ground.

• I refined and separated the distant bushes. I add a light cool green to them to push them back into the distance.

• I refined the grass clumps by adding a rust color. I painted a few pieces of grass in the foreground clumps. I kept the grasses in the distance loose.

• I refined the sandy path and added a few more shells

• I added a touch of blue in the distance to suggest the sea.

I hope you have enjoyed the video demo. I will be out of town for a couple of weeks but would love your thoughts on what you would like to see next!

New You Tube Video Demo Neocolor II Underpainting

'Garden Party'         8x8           pastel         ©Karen Margulis
available $145 click here to purchase

I've been having so much fun! Since I discovered the possibilities with underpaintings using Caran'Ache Neocolor II crayons I can't stop painting!  I decided that it would be a good topic for my Sunday Studio video demo. If you missed the live broadcast on Facebook you can watch the video on my Youtube channel. Be sure to subscribe so you can be notified whenever I add a new video! Here is the link:

https://youtu.be/IezryivPIts

The underpainting for the second painting on the right....Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayons with water

 The Neocolor II crayons are actual a water soluble oil pastel. They explode with color when wet. If you have missed my two previous posts about using these crayons click here to read more.

 I hope you have enjoyed following along with my weekend fun with underpaintings. I can't wait until next week's Friday Fun!

my messy palette!

Sunday Studio Facebook Live Video: Painting Mini Pastels

'Colorado Sunset'         2.5 x 3.5      pastel      ©Karen Margulis
available $20

I love painting minis. There is always time to paint a mini and it is such a great way to develop great fine motor coordination with fat pastels! I also love to paint minis as studies for future larger paintings. Why spend a lot of time and energy and supplies on a larger painting unless you have an idea of how it might work. Painting a quick mini allows you to work out composition and colors.

For this week's live broadcast on Facebook I painted a couple of minis and shared some tips on how I paint and store them. Scroll down to see a few of the minis I painted.

Watch the Facebook Live broadcast at anytime by visiting my Facebook page here.

I used my Terry Ludwigs for these minis. This is the Richard McKinley landscape set.

There are 10 new mini pastel paintings available for a limited time at a discounted price of $20 each . Click here to see them all in my Etsy shop.

In tomorrow's blog post I will elaborate on how I use Clear Bags for my pastels. Click on the photo to see the sizes I use and be sure to check back tomorrow for more!

Sunday Studio Video Demo: Trees at Sunset

'Sunset Walk'          9x12      pastel      ©Karen Margulis
available $155

I finally did it. I had time to do another Sunday Studio live demo. It has been a busy couple of months and it has been difficult to find the time to do a live broadcast. I spent the morning packing for our upcoming cruise and finished in time to paint in the afternoon.

I decided to paint a scene from my recent workshop in New Mexico. We had some amazing sunsets which we enjoyed in the evenings on our after dinner walk. I loved this picture I took of the trees against the cotton candy pink sky. It was an awesome experience and I wanted to capture it in a painting.

You can see the entire live broadcast on my Facebook profile page. Search for Karen Margulis on Facebook. If you don't do FB you can see the video on my YouTube channel Link Here

My reference photo

My 2.5 x 3.5 color study

Sunday Studio Pastel Demo Video: Painting Aspens with Terry Ludwig's Stunning Yellows

'Stunning Yellow'           8x10       pastel        ©Karen Margulis
available $145

 The box arrived yesterday and I was chomping at the bit. Terry Ludwig's new pastels are always a treat and I was especially excited to see these new 'Stunning Yellows'.  Of course they are just that...Stunning!  They are perfect for so many things that I love in the landscape....chamisa, sunflowers, bumblebees, daisies and of course aspens in the Fall!

I decided to try them for the first time live on Facebook!  The painting in this post is the result of my live demo with a few final marks of yellow and violet. You can see the video on my Youtube channel or my Facebook page. Be sure to like and share if you found the demo helpful!

https://youtu.be/LJlmwdWH-wI

Terry Ludwig pastels 'Stunning Yellows' all new colors! Click here for website

The demo painting is 8x10 on Uart 400 grit. I did a dry wash underpainting of the tree foliage using a terra-cotta Nupastel. 

I did use a few additional pastels for the painting. I happened to have a tray of colors I used for another autumn painting and some of these pastels were perfect for the aspens.

I hope you enjoyed the demo! Tell Terry you saw the set on my blog when you make your purchase (I know you want them ;)  )

Sunday Studio Live Demo: Choosing a Pastel Palette for a Marsh Painting

'Moody Marsh'         9x12        pastel         ©Karen Margulis
available $145

It was bound to happen. Technical difficulties with my weekly live videos! At least it happened at a convenient cut-off point. And I probably could figure out how to edit them together but for now they are two separate videos. My camera man husband accidentally pressed the finished button when I wasn't finished! The perils of live video!  Here is a recap in cased you missed the videos.

In the first 7 minute video I talked about how I choose pastels for a painting. I put my working palette into a butcher tray so that I am working with a limited palette. Having ALL of my pastels available when I paint is a recipe for color chaos!

Choosing pastels for a painting

Steps to choosing a working palette

• Do a small black and white thumbnail. 
• Decide on main colors (color scheme) I usually choose by intuition but will sometimes consult a color wheel.
• Test main colors on the thumbnail or scrap paper.
• Once main colors are selected I add them to a tray and choose the remainder of the pastels.
• I add the pastels to the tray and keep them grouped by LANDSCAPE ELEMENT.
• I usually consider VALUE first then color. Local color if used at all comes last. I think about layering color.
• I start adding colors to the tray by selecting my darkest values for the darkest parts of the painting . I usually choose 4-5 pastels of the same value for the darks.
• Then I select the LIGHTS. In a landscape this is usually the sky. I keep them in the 'sky pile'
• Then I select pastels for the remaining elements of the scene....distant trees, grass, flowers, etc. I also choose middle value pastels to layer under any grass. This is the dirt.

That's it! Now I have a limited palette that keeps me out of trouble. If I need to add more pastels I will add them to the tray so I can keep track and try to reuse rather than reach for a new pastel.

The pastels selected for today's painting 

You can watch the video of the painting demonstration on my YouTube channel. Here is the link.

Sunday Studio: Live Pastel Painting Demo Marsh Sunset

'The Magic Hour Returns'         8x10       pastel      ©Karen Margulis
sold

It was Sunday Studio time once again. Time for another Facebook Live broadcast of a daily painting. I had a great time sharing and answering questions for the 100+ viewers who tuned in. For those of you who missed the broadcast it is still available on my Facebook profile page here:

https://www.facebook.com/karen.margulis

I am also making the Sunday Studio videos available on my YouTube channel here:
https://youtu.be/rGMifRKG78k

I invite you to watch the video and like and comment. It makes it all worthwhile to know that someone is watching! I have enabled comments for everyone on FB in case you tried and were not successful!

Here are a few behind the scenes photos and thoughts of the painting before I started  the demo.

This painting was started in a different manner than last week's forest demo. Instead of a 4 value color underpainting I decided to work on white paper and do a black and white underpainting. I wanted to enhance the contrast of the dark shapes of the trees against the light sky of the sunset.
I began with a black and white 2 value thumbnail (notan) This simplified the busy reference photo.

To create the black underpainting I used Art Graf pigment blocks. It take very little coverage of the dry pigment to make a dark rich underpainting. I wet the pigment with a brush and water. The sanded Pastel Premiere paper worked well with the water wash with no buckling.

The black and white underpainting

The pastels used for the demo: Terry Ludwig pastels with a couple of Diane Townsend Soft form pastels.

I love this particular scene and plan to make it into a series. I will see how many ways I can interpret this marsh and tree scene. I find one of the best ways to paint with more expression is to find a subject that you love and that you are intimately familiar with and paint it over and over. Your voice can't help but emerge!

Thanks for watching and sharing the video! I appreciate you all so much!!