Embrace the wild without overpowering your landscapes with Karen Margulis’s tips on painting wildflowers.
By Karen Margulis
Early in my art journey, I avoided painting wildflowers. I was afraid they would make my landscapes too sweet or too pretty. But the muse kept calling me, until finally I embraced my truth and chose to showcase the wild tangles of grasses and wildflowers that captured my imagination.
Wildflowers are survivors. They appear in the most unexpected places and often go overlooked. I want others to see that beauty is everywhere, even in a patch of weeds.
Wildflowers and grasses add spice and interest to a landscape, but they can be overdone. The key to success is restraint. Just as too much spice can spoil a dish, too many detailed flowers and grasses can overpower a painting. To avoid the effects of polka dot flowers or grass fences, I simply suggest a few forms and let the viewer fill in the rest.
Drawn to the wonderful early evening light in this scene, I did a quick study. Back in the studio, however, I struggled to capture the amazing glow I had witnessed firsthand. I realized that I needed stronger contrast between the dark and the light. Once I embraced the dark and punched up the intensity of the orange, I achieved my goal.
For the expressive approach I take to these subjects, I have just the right tool — pastels. The versatility, vibrancy, and luminosity of the medium makes it the perfect choice for painting en plein air. With sticks in a variety of shapes and degrees of softness, I can paint broad marks or linear ones as I build up many complex layers to add depth to my landscapes. I begin with simple shapes and gradually add details. The wildflowers provide the icing on the cake.
7 Tips for Painting Wildflowers and Grasses
- Large areas of grass need orchestration to keep them from looking flat and boring. It’s important to use contrast and implied pathways to lead the viewer with interesting visual connections.
- Start with the dirt — the underlying dark shapes. Painting over these darks will prevent the grasses and flowers from floating.
- Suggest a few details and let the viewer fill in the rest. There’s no need to paint every flower and blade of grass.
- Every mark needs a purpose. Plan where you will place your wildflowers and grasses to lead the viewer through the painting.
- Think of wildflowers in fields as a mass of one shape, not a collection of dots. Create patterns of color. Paint a few detailed flowers within the mass and at the edges.
- Know your wildflowers. What are their shapes, sizes, and colors? Make marks that will suggest the type of flower you’re painting.
- You have artistic license to rearrange flowers to make stronger compositions.
Wildflowers often grow in areas that are less than beautiful, thus requiring good editing. These examples were growing near a dumpster. I eliminated the clutter and used elements of the surrounding landscape to showcase them in the manner they deserved.
Connect with the artist at karenmargulis.com.
NOTE: Few pastel artists understand the reasons why they’re still struggling to create successful pastel paintings. But don’t worry…Here you’ll discover insights that could solve your frustrations for good, including a simple-to-follow method to help you produce attention-grabbing pastel paintings consistently. LEARN MORE about Karen Margulis’s art workshop, “Expressive Pastel Painting” here.
