Timed Challenge - Flower

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#071

I've been out of town and gotten behind almost a month! Going to try to catch up before the end of the month. This painting was actually painted about 3 weeks ago. It was done in response to a challenge through daily paintworks that was timed. The challenge was to complete it in less than 2 hours. My time was 1:58:50.43. haha All I can say is WHEW!

Painting Walls and Huddle House

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#069

People always talk about how painting is therapeutic, how it's relaxing, reduces stress, and gets the endorphin's going. Most of the time people are referring to artistic endeavors involving oil paints, watercolors, pastels, canvases, brushes, etc. But, I've been painting walls -- with gray paint, of all colors -- and found it almost comparable. Almost! If it weren't for the limited palette, one brush and one roller, the last two weeks of painting might have felt as rewarding as when a painting turns out better than you expected. AND, I'm really on top of my trim game now! I must say, my technique has really blossomed... come into its own. No need for painter's tape here! 

Above is a painting of my husband paying the tab at our local Huddle House. It's down at the foothills, and one of the few places to go for breakfast if you don't feel like "dressing up" or driving too far. At HH you just throw on a hat, a favorite sweatshirt, and your most comfortable jeans (belt loosened, of course). It makes the grits and country ham taste even better that way!

And no, I can't think of a connection between painting walls and the HH (in case you were expecting me to draw some sort of conclusion at this point). But, if you think of one, let me know. 

Study

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#068

One of the main reasons I started doing daily paintings, is to help with my larger pieces. (I was getting bogged down, too tight, and loosing the "fun" inspiring part of painting.) Trouble is, I've had so much fun with the daily small ones that I've neglected any of my bigger work. Art shows have been coming and going and I have little new to exhibit anymore. MY BAD! Time really does fly when you're having fun. Anyway.... I've had a painting sitting in my studio for months .... ok, a year ... almost finished, with people asking about it. (It's part of a fairly popular series that I started a few years ago ... ok, maybe a decade.) 

Anyway... trying to get back into my larger works with this study. (Obviously) there's a hand in the painting. I had my husband pose for this. What I learned:  1. The positioning of this pose will work... mostly.  2. I need to add a lot more shadowing, and accentuate a very warm top-down lighting.  3. The cool shadows will have to be warmed up.  4. The inside of the hand can be softened.  5. My husband has an extra fold between his top two knuckles on his index finger! (How'd I miss that?) Guess I'll have to soften it or eliminate it entirely. The fold, that is. :)

Happy Painting!

Quick - Silver

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#67

I thought I was finished painting silverware for awhile, until I spotted these guys at an antique store. They were stacked and held together with a old piece of worn masking tape that read, "$6". I brought them home, polished them up, and painted them. Now they're in my drawer, ready to be put back in service.

I didn't have long to paint these, and they went much faster, and were much easier than I thought. Guess they were just happy to be rescued! 

Proper

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#065

If you saw this one on the Daily Paint Works site, I commented on how I seemed to lose the "vision" for it toward the end. I couldn't get the perspective to look right to me, no matter what I did to "fix" it. It's kind of like when you spell a simple word a couple of times and all of a sudden it just doesn't look right anymore. Maybe that's just "over thinking it"?

Anyway, I did capture photos of my steps UP TO my state of complete confusion. lol Here they are:

This background color is a taupish-gray that I'm really liking; it reminds me of damp clay. I used my white chalk pencil to sketch it in. At this point, I still liked the composition. (It's hard to see my half-point hash marks, but they're there.)

Next, found the  darkest darks. I love how this easy step gives so much dimension to your objects and sets your composition "in place."

Usually, I would save my lights at this point, but I wanted to get a little of this turquoise color down first. After I did it, I didn't really like it. It seemed over powering, and it wasn't easy to tone down. 

After saving my "whites", I blocked colors in, dark to light, one color at a time. 

Lastly, I added the background, keeping it cooler than the silverware overall. Then I tried to refine, working here and there. This is the part I over analyzed until I just could not see it anymore.

Sorry to get you to the end and then just say, "And this is were I lost it!" Ha! Almost sounds like an April Fool's Day joke.

Farewell To Pansies

Can't believe it's been over a week since I posted anything! Spring break can do that to ya...

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#065

The other day was the most gorgeous day yet this spring in North Georgia. Time to say goodbye to the Pansies. Down here, Pansies are what we plant in the fall. They don't mind the cold, sticking around through the worst months of winter when everything else has given up. They maintain their bright and cheerful attitudes, showing off their vibrant purples, yellows, and reds. (So why are they called Pansies? Isn't that the slang for being weak or frail, maybe even wimpy?) Anyway, as pretty as they are, I'm still ready to say "adios, muchachos!" Time to bring on the hydrangeas!

You may be able to tell that flowers are not my forte'. In fact, I think I've only ever painted them on other time, years ago. But between the weather and my new outdoor easel, I had to do it!

No link to buy.... This painting is hidden on my daily paint works.

10 Minutes A Pop

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#064

This was just a study I did, spending 10 minutes on each piece. I normally might not post an exercise, but this one was particularly fun and with pretty good results. As this type of exercise does, it forces you to paint quickly and loosely, more intuitively. 

I looked for popcorn pieces on google images. Did you know that people actually take pictures of their popcorn pieces and post them online? They post pieces that look like something else. One might look like an animal, another a face, or a car. It was actually pretty amusing (or maybe I'm just easily amused). Now it makes complete sense why painting these reminded me of painting clouds. HA!

OH yeah! Almost forgot! Pulled #060 from daily paint works because it was too dark and I couldn't get a good picture of it. Until now, I didn't post it here. Still has the problem, but here 'tis. I feel better if I don't skip a number. We're all a little OCD, right?

Someone complimented me on this painting, saying, "Nice beets!" That's why it's called "Not Beets" ...... they're actually radishes. :)