28th of 30

"asparagus" 9"x12"pastel on Wallis warm Belgium mist

Today was one of those days when I was feeling it, in the zone, or whatever you want to call it.  A better day than yesterday when I had to wash the pastel off the paper and ditch the painting for the day. I hated to waste the paper, it had a nice shadow of the old painting still on the paper. It actually seemed good for what I was going to try for my daily painting today. So I went to work and finished the painting in about 45 minutes. Voila!

"garlic" 8"x10" pastel on Uart 500

I was feeling good after finishing this and went off for lunch with a friend. I had been to Whole Foods and taken several photos of the produce. Always a feast for the eyes…or for me , always on the search for painting material. So I pulled the asparagus photo and did my daily sketch.

daily sketch

Still feeling good , I decided to go ahead and do my 28th out of 30 paintings for the month of January. 

drawing and block in on the Wallis paper

alcohol wash over the nupastel

Off I went for dinner, the whole time thinking about the asparagus and my color choices. I couldn't wait to get back home to finish the painting! I'm ahead one painting for the month, but I'm going to continue tomorrow with the produce photos I took and hopefully still feeling in my zone!

Paintings from my recent Connecticut trip

"Candlelight Farm marsh" 12"x16"

I decided to make a trip up to CT to visit with my Mom and sisters. I like to try and get up there several times to experience the seasons. I missed the snow this trip , but I was still able to get some nice winter  photos. I have made a commitment to myself this year to draw and paint everyday. Although I did not sign up for the 30 paintings in 30 days , I am at 23 of 30! I hope this improves my work. 

While in CT, I had brought along my sketch book , some watercolor paper and Schmicke watercolor set. These 2 paintings are 4"x6" watercolor. It was good practice for me to work in another medium. The top one is of my sister's Maine Coon cat Lily. The 2nd one, my sister and I took a drive around looking for some photo opportunities and came across these cows in New Milford posing nicely for us.

"boundaries" 8"x10" pastel on hemp Canson Mi-Teintes paper 

All over the CT countryside are these beautiful stone walls. some are very old and falling down, like this one.

"along the way" 8"x10" pastel on Uart 500

 On the drive over to my Mom's home, we drove by this field of what I thought were hay bales. Turned out they were corn bales, and the sun was just coming out from a storm and there was a golden glow.

"old, but not forgotten" 9"x9" pastel on Uart 500

Who can pass up an old barn?!  You just don't see very many any more with the decline in farming. This one was right on the road so I was able to get some nice "drive by" photos.

I hope to get back up to CT again soon for some photos and for sure in the spring.

Hope you enjoyed my paintings!

Day 10 , one drawing and one painting per day

8'x10" pastel on moonstone Canson Mi-Teintes

It's cold , grey and blustery today. I'm not much for these kind of days and am always looking for ways to brighten it. I chose a reference photo from a January day when I was at the beach. Since I am pushing myself , I thought I would go "out of my box" with color. I also chose colors that I don't use a lot. I tend to be a green girl…… Anyway, here is my reference photo, thumbnail and drawing on the paper.

 I was afraid to start, but I just went with what I know, laying in the darks , mid tones and lights. 

 

I worked on the painting about 40 mins. It's not one of my better paintings, but I feel like I accomplished my task for the day. I may last it sit for awhile and have another look and see if I want to do anything else to it.

my #dailysketch

drawing and painting everyday

5"x5" pastel on Canson Mi-Teintes (moonstone)

There is something to be said about drawing and painting everyday. After all, you don't get good at things unless you put yourself into it and commit. Many of my artist friends have committed to doing 30 paintings in 30 days to start off the year. One of my goals for 2016 is to improve on my art skills and although I did not commit to one of the groups, I thought I would push myself to draw and paint everyday. You have to get creative when you are looking for material to paint everyday. I took one reference photo that I had taken on a CT visit and used it three times. I can most likely do more with the photo , but I will just show you the three I have done so far. 

my reference photo 

It's been dreary and cold , so for my first painting, I wanted COLOR. I didn't want to paint how I was feeling

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9"x12" pastel on Uart 500

I changed the view of the photo and wanted to concentrate more on the sky and moved the horizon line down. A beautiful sky always makes me feel good. 

5"x7" pastel on moonstone Canson Mi-Teintes

For the 2nd version, I moved the horizon line up and focused more on the grass and wildflowers.

For the 3rd version (photo at the top) , I decided to zoom in and concentrate on a small section of the photo. I'm already thinking about the next version, possibly choosing a different color scheme……

I also have been drawing everyday. Here is one of my daily sketches.

I am primarily drawing with black pen, but who knows where else this daily drawing will lead me. It's a good place to just let go and see what I can do.

Goals for the New Year

8"x10" pastel on textured gator board

The New Year is upon us and most of us set goals for ourselves. I've been thinking about my goals for days, but have struggled to come up with some realistic goals for myself that I will stick too. So I've decided to continue on the path I chose for myself for last year. My goal….. to draw , paint, read art books, take art workshops and get into my studio everyday. I know I can be better and I have seen improvement in my work over the last year. It's almost like an addiction ……something I must do or feel I really need to do.

For today's painting I decided to challenge myself with trying out a new surface. I am very inspired by the work of Tom Christopher. He uses textured boards as his surface for the pastel. So I took some gator board, applied a coat of clear gesso and then a coat of fine pumice gel with a brush. A close friend of mine had sent me a photo that she had taken and thought I might like to paint it….. perfect for a textured board.

here is my drawing on the textured board

I decided to do a watercolor underpainting to cover up the white board.

 I just painted in the main shapes from the photo without any detail and chose vibrant colors hoping to let some of the color show through the layers of pastel. It was very different from anything I had tried before and I know I will have to try more of this to become accomplished.

My thoughts for this year's work…… to push myself to find a direction with my paintings that is all my own. To take what I learn and turn those bits and pieces into something that comes from my heart. The reality….. my paintings are just pieces of me.

Happy New Year