Georgia pastelist Karen Margulis knew the value of doing a thumbnail sketch before starting a plein air piece. She also knew that a notan meant an even more simplified thumbnail — just two values, the black of the pen and the white of the paper. But then she took this train of thought a step further….
Lead Image: Margulis demonstrates the use of a notan underdrawing for pastel
Margulis had heard that artist Tony Allain sometimes uses a Sharpie marker for his underdrawings. She upped the ante by using a Magnum Sharpie — an extra large one — to draw a giant notan sketch right on her pastel paper. The effect was wonderful. Margulis immediately had her strong dark-light pattern, and she had dark-darks over which she could lay other colors, with no loss of the paper’s tooth. She even used a smaller Sharpie to indicate some of the dark branches in the trees.
There was one hitch, which she discovered later. Regular Sharpies are considered archival, but the Magnum size is not. Here’s betting that Margulis will find a workaround for that issue.
Margulis says this approach is ideal for working on location. “I like to keep my plein air supplies and experience simple,” she says. “Using a Sharpie for my block-in allows me to work quickly to simplify the scene with minimal supplies.”
