Echinacea

Today I decided to take a little break from homework and paint something simple. Except it turned into something much more detailed than I anticipated :)
This painting is a Pastel measuring 12X9" on Colorfix Brown pastel paper. I didnt use any underpainting on this one and just used the tone of the paper to set my darks. When using a darker tone paper its almost like its doing part of the work for you, all you have to do is respond to it with the appropriate values and it fills in the blanks :)

For Sale @ www.facebook.com/kruglovfinearts

Enjoy!

Painting Daily

As much as I browse the internet and check out other artist's blogs, they all seem to find time to paint something daily. I will have to admit, however, that I am not able to keep to that routine. I usually end up painting once or twice a week more or less, but just as any artist I would like to gain experience and the only way to do so is to paint often.

I think I know what my problem is... instead of painting something manageable in short period of time, like 30 minutes, I always start something grand, large, complicated... Simply put, if I know that I cant finish something i want to paint in time I have available I simply don't start it.

So here is my resolution: I am going to paint every day starting tomorrow and do it for consecutive 7 days. Any subject, any media the only limit is 30 minutes! We will see what come out of this :)

Pastel on Colourfix (brown) 8X10

Keeping a limited pallette

Its always a good idea to limit your palette especially for a beginner. It allows you to focus on values instead of color. In medium that can't be easily mixed such as pastel it is especially important to pre select your colors  until you are very comfortable with them and then slowly add new ones to the palette as your confidence grows.

How I pick colors for a limited palette:
1. I try and set 4-5 value ranges for my paintings usually based on my sketch.
2. I pick 2 - 3 colors in the same value range.
3. I try to pick at least 1 warm and 1 cold color in that particular value range.
4. I try to keep it to no more than 14-15 colors depending on the composition.
5. I try and remember that the color doesn't matter as much as value. For example if you paint blue trees, they will still look like trees if the values were selected correctly even if you don't use any green.

Here is a quick painting done with the palette selected above:

Durand Eastman Park 5X7 Pastel 

Finding motivation and interesting subjects to paint ... try holiday cards!

Finding something to paint could be hard at times. Especially when you are unable to go places and paint outside. I found that sometimes its not the subject that gets me going but the purpose of the painting. For example, around mothers day I was determined to paint everyone a unique card that moms can frame easily after they've read it. So i began to doodle on a 5X7 piece of 140lb watercolor paper. My first try was a disaster but I was just warming up... My second came out fabulous and after that one I was able to do 2 more and they all came out uniquely different! I then glued the completed paintings to a clean piece of watercolor paper of the same size and it gave me a clean surface to write my message, I can't even begin to explain how much my ladies loved their cards. They also told me that they framed their cards after the fact and displayed them in their house. Great success, mission accomplished!!!

Each one of these took me about 30 minutes to complete.

My wife and I had a beautiful baby girl on January 25th. Since then I haven't put the necessary effort into my work or my blog and i apologize :)
Today, I just wanted to announce that I am back to painting and I am going to update more regularly so please stay tuned.

For now, here is one of my recent works. I painted this one on Uart pastel surface that I mounted to 140lb watercolor paper with an Acid free glue stick. I was curious how the glue would stand up to the alcohol under painting and to my surprise, it did really well. This painting was approximately 5X7".

Dusty road

Pastel can be applied in many different ways. My favorite way is with an under-painting.  This scene was painted over a bold watercolor under-painting of mainly shadow and complementary colors. In some places where pastel was applied very thinly, you can see some of the watercolor texture showing.

If you are interested in purchasing some paintings I have available, please visit my etsy store by following this link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/kruglovfinearts

Painting daily

The only way to get better at painting is to put miles of paper into practice. Taking lessons will definitely speed up the process exponentially but no lesson will provide you with confidence of handling your tools and media, only practice will. My goal is to sketch or paint something daily and I intend to stick to it as long as time allows.

Soft Pastels review - Michael's, Prismacolor and The Mount Vision

While watercolor remains my favorite media, I truly enjoy soft pastels. Choosing the right kind of pastels could truly be challenging and downright intimidating. When I go to our local art store, I usually have easily 15+ brands and hundreds of colors, hues, sizes and softness levels to choose from. I will try and review some brands I have come across and give you my honest opinion.


Michael's Brand:

My first ever set of pastels was the Artist set from Michael's. Its their house brand and with a coupon it cost me no more than $5. I'll be honest with you, I still have some sticks sitting around somewhere but I never ever use them anymore. I wish I could say that its a great set for beginners, but it just isn't decent quality. The sticks are uneven, often with air pockets and cracks. As a result, they crumble unexpectedly or sometimes have hard scratchy pieces inside that prevent even and smooth application and leave you frustrated.

Conclusion:    I would not buy this for a serious painting purpose. It will fit the bill for some rough sketching if your budget is tight, but when you switch to a better quality pastel set, you realize what you've missed.

Prismacalor NuPastel Sticks:

Prismacolor makes a great selection of art products and these sticks are not an exception. I have been using these for some time now and I really enjoy their hardness. If I ever need to make a hard line or give something a good edge, these do the job perfectly. Generally I also use these for an under painting where more color will be applied on top and I don't want to fill in the tooth of the paper too much prematurely.

Conclusion: Its a great product while its not very expensive. A small set is usually enough to start with, something like 10-12 colors. I would rather add softer pastels in larger variety to this set than get a giant set of these sticks. Price is about $25.

The Mount Vision Pastel Company:

Currently this is the set I use the most. when I was new to this, I went to a local art store and stared at boxes and boxes and drawers and displays of hundreds of pastel sticks. I was confused and ready to leave and do more research when someone approached me and happened to know a few things about pastels. The nice young man helped me choose a set suitable for my tastes and purpose. This set included 50 sticks of large semi-soft pastel sticks in "landscape assortment". When I started using these is when I realized what I was missing up to that point. The pigment was of perfect consistency and flowed off the stick on to the surface like I was painting with oil, without getting crumbly. I also got to like the carefully selected colors in this set and at first I was kicking myself for not getting a larger set but then I realized that the limited pallet kept me focused and allowed me to achieve better results because I focused on the value and not color.

Conclusion: A professional set like this is a game changer. It allows you to create without obstacles and results in better looking work. The only setback is the price. A 50 piece set could cost up to $130.

This blog is dedicated to my work as an artist. Here I'll post my experiences and lessons I learned as a self taught artist. Here I will also display paintings that I have available for sale. My goal is to share information with others in order to help them grow as artists just like I do. My goal is also to provide some demonstrations of my process via photo and video. I hope you enjoy reading my blog and keep coming back. Happy little trees to you and your family :)