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Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Mini Week. Six Steps to a Mini Pastel

'Morning on the Marsh'             2.5 x 3.5           pastel              ©Karen Margulis
sold
Have I convinced you yet? Have you tried painting a mini? Mini Week continues with a look at a simple way to paint small. There are so many ways to paint with pastels. There are hard pastels, soft pastels, Pan pastels, pastel pencils.....anything goes. It can be overwhelming. Sometimes I just want a simple method. This is a quick look at my favorite method ....6 Steps to a Mini. 



1. Quick light drawing of the big shapes with pencil.




2. Block in the dark shapes.


3. Block in the light shapes.


4. Block in the most intense color.  


5. Fill in the rest of the paper. Usually middle value.


6. Continue developing the painting and clarifying the focal area.


This is a quick look at this technique. It is a helpful way to simplify a busy reference photo and it works for any subject. I painted a snowman for my class showing them how this method still works!  If you would like to see it in more detail you might like to explore my pdf demo available on Etsy.

2 comments:

robertsloan2art said...

Thank you! This is beautiful. I love this demo. It's got me inspired again and I like the method. Got to try this, doing a mini with the big sticks all the way through.

april dawn said...

I want to thank you for your wonderful posts. The last time I did anything with pastels was when I was in 10th grade. I am now 56. I have collected my pastels over the years and have just pulled them out again. Reading your posts made me realize how much I enjoyed using pastels. In high school I did a portrait of my brother and my art teacher kept it to show students how to use them properly. It was a huge boost for me. So I'm starting a small portrait of my grandson (4x6) and even my first sketch looks just like him. So I am excited to continue and I just wanted to thank you for sharing all your tips and tricks. One day I will buy better pastels.