Karen margulis pastel

Creating pastel lessons, videos, demos, paint-alongs, hand outs

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'Into the Tall Grass' 11x14 pastel ©Karen Margulis sold "To interpret what we see before us, to distill its essence, to point out the wonder and omit the mundane, these are the greater truths that make up the artist's long and honored tradition" Ted Goershner Photos are great for bringing the memories back. They are great in a photo album or a slide show....memories of times past. But photos are not always so great for painting references. Especially if we try to copy exactly what we see. Do…

'A View to Remember' 11x14 pastel ©Karen Margulis this painting is available for $150 click here to purch...

'Take me There' 8x10 pastel ©Karen Margulis purchase here $125 You know you want it. Sanded papers. Pastels and sanded pastel papers make a wonderful combination but paper can be expensive. You might think that you aren't good enough yet to spend the money on sanded paper. You might not be able to find it easily in your local art store or of you do it is only sold in the pricey pads. I haven't bought a pad of sanded paper in years. Instead I purchase my paper by the sheet and cut it down to…

'Meadow Dance' 9x16 pastel ©Karen Margulis available New YouTube Video!! GREEN! It can be a challenge to paint the greens of spring and summer. They are beautiful but they can also be overwhelming. Too much green leads to a boring painting. I have some ideas to help us TAME THE GREEN! In this demo I share my secrets to better greens as I paint a typical summer meadow and trees. I hope you enjoy the demo! This painting is 9x16 on LuxArchival sanded paper with Terry Ludwig Floral Landscape…

'Autumn Warm Up' 8x10 pastel ©Karen Margulis sold Which comes first, the sky or the land? Do I choose the sky color and key the land to fit? Do I paint the land and then choose a sky color to work with the land? When working from photos I have the freedom to interpret the landscape however I see fit. I could make it sunny or perhaps I want a moody feeling. This is why I like bad reference photos. Bad reference photos give me permission to make changes. A bad reference photo often has problem…

Pawley Impression' 5x7 pastel ©Karen Margulis

'Jewels in the Wheat' 11x14 pastel ©Karen Margulis available $165 It was never my favorite technique. I admired the wonderful watercolor underpaintings by Richard McKinley. And even though I bought good watercolors and practiced...they still left something to be desired. I just couldn't seem to consistently get the intensity and punch I wanted. I know that practice has a lot to do with success. Honestly I never spent much time improving my underpaintings. It may be part practice but the…

'Lavender Gone Wild' 11x14 pastel ©Karen Margulis sold I was struggling. I had this vision of what my painting should look like and it just wasn't working. I had already done a small study of the lavender fields at dusk and it worked on a smaller scale. But I wanted to try it a bit larger. I took out a piece of white Pastelbord and started with an alcohol wash. (you can see a quick video on my Instagram @karenmargulis) It was a struggle once I started applying the pastel. Part of the reason…