Mountain View Oil Pastel - 30 in January 2015, Day 2

Oil Pastel, 5x7"

$50 plus shipping

Purchase Here

 

My Intention for the Challenge

Welcome again to the 30 Paintings in January 2105 Challenge.  My computer seems to be behaving better than it did last night, so I can give you a more of a welcome/intro than I did yesterday.  

Leslie Saeta, convener of the challenge, encourages us to have a theme for our 30 Days.  By theme, I think she means subject matter.  I have altered the call for a theme, just a bit.  Instead of a theme, I have an intention--Artistic Freedom!  

Why Artistic Freedom?

Artistic Freedom, because there are too many boxes in the other areas of my life!  Artistic Freedom, because as Robert Genn said on his AHA Radio Show interview, "I believe the only question an artist should ask is, 'What do I want to do today?'"  

  

The Challenge is to Play!

 So, I will be playing with mediums besides my usual acrylics.  I expect you will see oil pastels, pastels, gouache, and some combinations of the above.  Fun at all costs, friends!  Here at Paint Like Nobody's Watching, we are going to mix media that maybe aren't even supposed to be mixed!

I am quite interested in Oil Pastels right now, so if I start feeling I am getting the hang of it, I will share what I learn in case other artists out there might want to try them.

For now let me just say, they are a totally, completely different animal than soft pastels!

Thanks for being here, and Happy Challenging to the other artists out there...glad we're in this together.

Determination

Acrylic, 6x6"

BID HERE IN THE DPW AUCTION

Starting Bid is $65, unframed

I'm showing these to you a little out of order.  The one above was actually painted just before I did a more simplified version that you may have already seen in this post, where I introduced my present project.

As always, I thank you for Watching!

Approaching Storm

Acrylic 6x6"

Available for $95 plus shipping

Contact the Woolworth Walk Gallery

Asheville, NC

(828) 254-9234

Another candidate from my new project of getting to intimately know some landforms.   As I explained in this post, I am working towards learning to paint from imagination, or from my mind's eye. 

One of the commenters on the last post thought I had actually painted the last landform from my imagination.  I want to correct that impression, because I think I wasn't clear.

I am not yet creating the landforms from my imagination!  I am creating them from my own photos and significantly cropping to find what is to me the most interesting part of the photos.  

My plan is to paint from a photo monochromatically, then paint the same landforms using imaginative color, and eventually create my own semi-abstracted landforms from my imagination.  Make sense?

I am trying out the auction format at Daily Paintworks to put some of these works up for sale.  The auction will run for one week, starting with a lowered "teaser price."  If the painting doesn't sell during the auction week, the price will go up to my regular retail price. 

I am playing with redesigning parts of my blog (fonts, font sizes, colors), so please bear with me till I settle on what I like.  Better yet, feel free to provide feedback on any of the changes.  

Edit:  Well, turns out I have put a lot of time into this redesign---let me know what you think!  I like it, and I hope it's easier on the eye.  I know it calls for a wider header now.  Another project....

Thanks for being here, Watchers!

A New Trajectory

Acrylic 6x6"

I have decided to focus on landscapes for awhile, not to become better at capturing the landscape, but to become better at CREATING the landscape.   I want to learn how to paint from my mind's eye, rather than from life or photo reference.   I plan to come up with five to ten simple landforms and paint them repeatedly until the process of painting feels more what I intend for it to be.

My idea was to start with a neutral-colored monochromatic.  Actually, that is not true, I painted a few abstracted landscapes with all kinds of color a few days ago (will show you soon), but then decided I needed to back up and learn more about color.  I figured that if I started with the neutrals, eventually  I would just be aching to put a certain color in a certain spot, and then I would be on my way!

It actually happened sooner than I thought it would--today, in fact.  I think I painted a total of five of these monochrome landscapes over the past couple days, and today, I just had to have some color!  I will show you soon...it's drying now, and I don't want to put it on the scanner while it may still be tacky.

I promise the one in this post was painted with just one color plus white.  I see that at least on my monitor, parts of it look like blue was added in, but I assure you that is an artifact of the limitations of technology to accurately represent my work, a problem I had feeble hope wouldn't be a problem in a MONOCHROMATIC PAINTING!!--but there you have it.

So, for once, I am actually a number of paintings ahead of my blog! 

I'm thinking of changing the font of my blog or the size of the letters or something.  

Let me know if you like one of these fonts better. 
Let me know if you like one of these fonts better.   
Let me know if you like one of these fonts better.  
I mean, please let me know if you like one of these fonts better...

Thanks for watching!

30 in Sept 2014 - Ode to Fall, which Needs no Ode from Me!

Acrylic by palette knife, 6x8"

Being an artist can be quite humbling.  I have detected a pattern in my creative life.  It seems as soon as I paint something I really like (such as the one in the last post), I expect I'm going to be able to repeat the process and come up with something I like equally well.  But what happens instead is I find it almost impossible to make the next few paintings work, even if I'm using similar methods.  

The past week has been me slugging it out with a couple of paintings that did not seem to want to be birthed!  The above is one of them.  I wasn't even sure if I would show it here, but after letting it go for a few days, took another look and decided you may see it.  The other one, I thought was a lost cause, but peeked at it today and may give it one more go (sigh....).

The intensity of painting this week, along with the extra blog hopping last week (translate, laptop time) has resulted in a somewhat blown out neck for me right now.  I have missed seeing my friends' work this week, and hope to catch up--maybe after I visit a chiropractor!  But I still love you guys...

And thank you all for Watching!

Coming Right Up - 30 in September 2014!

Acrylic with Palette Knife, 8x10" unframed

PURCHASE HERE for $200 plus shipping

Here we go again!  30 Paintings in 30 Days, courtesy Leslie Saeta, convener of the challenge and host of Artists Helping Artists blog talk radio show (AHA).   If you are an artist reading this, you, too, can join the challenge.  Even if it's already started.  Even if you know you will never actually paint 30 paintings in 30 days.

Like me...I like to say I'm "along for the ride."  My schedule simply does not allow me to complete a painting every day.   I am at peace with my limitations, and Leslie is kind enough to say there are no rules, except to have fun.  If you are just discovering this challenge and we're already half-way through September, you can still join!

So, I promise to have fun, I promise to learn, I understand I will be seeing lots of great art throughout the month, and maybe I'll even make a few more friends.  

Leslie has recommended we all have a theme for our 30 Paintings.   After a lot of soul searching, I realize I will possibly pull my hair out if I limit what I paint.   Oh, I will envy those artists who have a theme and will come out of this thing with a cohesive body of work and an amazing collage at the end, to boot.  But I know myself.  I could declare a theme today and I wouldn't stick to it, anyway!

I heard the late, great Robert Genn say on his interview with AHA radio, "I think the only question artists should ask themselves each day is, 'What do I want to do today?'"  I think Mr. Genn would approve of my not having a theme.  But the most important thing is, I approve. 

So, my only plan is to start with the palette knife and see where I go.  What fun!.

Oh, and one change from the other challenges--this time I plan to put my work up for sale, at least some of it.

The above painting was completed during the January 2014 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge.  At least, I thought it was completed.  The other day, I had another go at it.   I made some small changes, and I think they are improvements.

Thanks for joining me on this adventure.

Lady Bug Dress

Acrylic with Palette Knife 10x8"

My latest in my new series of toddler legs.  Legs courtesy of my OTHER niece!  I am now out of nieces, so if anyone has any photos of little toddlers they would like to share as painting references, feel free to send them my way!

If you have read my blog for awhile, you will know that I am on a quest to improve the photo images of my paintings (now there's a positive way to put it!).  Thanks to Rick (photoshop guru who is helping me tremendously with my prints) at Henco Reprographics, I now know that the color and values are even affected by the ANGLE TO THE MONITOR the image is viewed from.  Artist friends, did you know this???  Try viewing one of your paintings on your monitor from various angles, and you will see for yourselves...

P.S.  Guess whose dog needs surgery on her other knee?

30 in January 2014, Is it really possible to sum up this amazing experience?

I have already stayed up way too late trying to create this collage, so will hopefully be brief and will get to bed soon.  The issue with the collage, created at PicMonkey.com, was that the site kept wanting to change the format (shape) of my paintings.  This was a compromise I could live with, but it took forever!

I am filled to the brim with gratitude to everyone who participated in this challenge--what a privilege to see all your wonderful work,  meet new artists via our blogs and Facebook, deepen relationships with artist friends I already had, and learn so much more about myself as a painter.   I am so proud of all of you and look forward to seeing your work on an on-going basis. 

One of the artists who contacted me through the challenge is actually fairly local to me and is part of an artist guild that I am going to join.  I am so excited that my world of in-person artist friends is about to expand, and some of them will even go out plein air painting together!
 
I painted way more paintings than I imagined I would, WAY more than I have ever completed in any of the previous two challenges!  I serendipitously began the use of the palette knife with my acrylics and find that this is a method I want to continue to explore.

I found an area I want to continue in a series, namely, the little legs in tights above.  I have another one on my easel that I was not willing to rush to finish tonight,  just to have one more completed painting.  I will show it to you in its right time.  If anyone has photos they are willing to send me to work from--little toddler legs in interesting tights, clothing, or shoes, I would love to increase my file of references for this series.  THANKS!

Thank you to Leslie Saeta, our wonderful leader and convener of this challenge, for giving us all the gift of this opportunity!

Finally, a question for the artists in the group--does anyone have any ideas on how to continue the community we have developed here, along with the obvious idea of continuing to visit each others' blogs?

Leggings - Acrylic with Palette Knife, 30 in 2014

Acrylic with Palette Knife, 8x10"

This photo was shot about 6 years ago and painted sometime that year.  The owner of the legs is also the owner of the original painting, my niece T.  I wanted to see how it would work to use a palette knife to paint it again.  Unfortunately, T and the painting live far away, so I will have to rely on my sister to tell me how this one compares with the original.  Funny how an image can stay with you for years!

Congratulations to all my artist friends who are completing the 30 in 30 Challenge.  I am so proud of you.  Congratulations, too, to my good friends who decided not to do the challenge this time.  You all are also doing fabulous work!

Spiral Tree - Palette Knife (30 in January 2014)

 

 Acrylic with Palette Knife, 8x10"

 Sorry for the glare on this photo.  It is from my scanner.  The painting is quite shiny.  I need to adjust my proportion of gloss to matt medium.  In a couple of weeks, I can put some matt varnish on this piece and then scan it again.  I'll try to remember to show it to you then!

 After spending a chunk of yesterday morning on a painting that wasn't going to work out, I spent a chunk of yesterday afternoon playing on this one.  I think the playing won out over the working!  This one was purely for my amusement, seeing what moves I could make with the palette knife and just enjoying seeing colors next to colors.


I remember when I took the reference photo this fall, what attracted me to the scene was the way the leaves seemed to spiral around the tree.  I hope I have managed to convey some of that effect here...

Thanks for looking!

Five Things I Know So Far about Acrylic Palette Knife Painting

Acrylic with Palette Knife, 8x10"

 "You can't hurry art..."  Like this one--this one took two days of my spare time to complete.  I've actually painted from this photo before, with brushes, oil paints, and the help of a teacher.  Yesterday, I was staring at the GOBS of leftover paint I had on the palette from doing the quilt painting.  I recognized that the palette was perfect for this reference photo!  Of course, I couldn't find the earlier version of the painting until today, so I didn't have the benefit of what I had learned the first time until round two, today.

This kitchen belongs to one of my blog readers.  Extra points to you if you figure out it's yours!  Don't worry, though, if you don't figure it out.  I just got my artistic license, and I used a lot of it with this painting...

I missed a few days of the 30 in 30.  I wasn't feeling well, and needed downtime with my family.  But don't feel bad for me--I'm not mad at myself or anything.  In fact, yesterday I bought myself some presents as rewards for what I have accomplished so far.  I am now the proud owner of a new ArtByte from DPW and two out-of-print art books from Amazon.  I respond well to rewards!  I'm so encouraged, I'm going to continue to paint--maybe I'll deserve even more...

This is the most ambitious palette knife painting I have completed.  Here is what I have learned so far about Acrylic Palette Knife painting:

1) Use medium!  I am still experimenting to determine my favorite medium--what I do know for sure is that medium adds body to the paint, which makes the paint behave better for palette knife painting.  As a bonus, the medium really stretches the paint!

2)  The paint stays wet a long time.  I have to learn to use wet-on-wet techniques, for at least part of what I am doing.  I am used to wet-on-dry!

3)  And when the paint does dry, those palette knife ridges can sometimes get in the way of what I need to do next!  I don't mind any of the ridges once the painting is complete--the ridges are just a function of having used a knife.  But the ridges can be tough to work with when I still want to do some overpainting.

4)  Sometimes I want to use a brush in the middle of the palette knife painting.  So I do.  And that's ok.  Except when it's not.  And then I can fix it.  

5)  I have a lot to learn about Acrylic Palette Knife Painting, but am so excited to practice and learn.

Thanks for visiting and Watching!

Practicing Scales

                                             Acrylic with Palette Knife, 6x6"

I wanted to merely practice my palette knife technique without having to focus on all the elements that go into making a painting, so I decided to paint this quilt pattern, as a musician would practice scales.  I thought it would be simple and I would probably knock out a couple of these tonight.  Ha!!  The maniacal laughter you're hearing is me, contemplating how much work it was to even get the drawing onto the paper, let alone to make sure the colors were in the right place, not to even mention using the knife to get the paint into all the little spaces.   This is probably a good time to note I have a truly renewed admiration for quilters!

I started at the upper right, and you may be able to see that I was quite focused in the first few upper right squares to get the paint on smoothly.  After several squares, I wanted to hang it up.  But I stuck it out, soon realizing that the nature of palette knife is that things are not going to be perfect and that's why we use the knife.  So, slap on some more paint and get on to the next shape!

Remind me next time I create an exercise to practice the looseness of palette knife technique, I should be painting rainbows or something else where I can make sweeping motions with the knife!

 I want to remind all the artist bloggers out there that the important thing about this month's challenge is NOT to end up with 30 paintings.  The important things are to learn more about your working methods, your materials, your preferences, and your sources of inspiration.  We don't want anyone finishing this challenge being burned out on painting.  Please be kind to yourselves and give yourselves a break when doing so would be wise.

Stormy Sky - 30 in January 2014

                                           Acrylic with Palette Knife, 6x6"




I started this one with 20 minutes of my lunch hour yesterday and finished it last night when I got home.  This one is from one of my photos.  I found it very difficult to get soft cloud edges with the palette knife and ended up using my finger, which is very strange for me, since I normally paint with gloves on to avoid touching the paint.  I wonder if I can prevail upon two friends who usually paint with palette knives to do a demo of clouds on their blogs--Carol, Jacklyn? 

How is everybody who is in the challenge doing at this point?  I find myself needing to be more into my own thing and having less time to look at everyone else's work.  Yesterday morning, I used my time before work to scan and blog the painting on yesterday's post, and that is what I will need to do this morning, too.  Then, my next time to check email and Feedly is normally my lunch hour, but I painted on my lunch hour.  And last night, I also painted.  I haven't had time to look at all the paintings on Leslie's blog in a few days.  I know it's a good thing for my painting life to be more focused on my own process, but I do miss all the inspiration!  So, how are you guys doing???

Warmer Winter Morning Plein Air, acrylic with palette knife

                                          Acrylic Plein Air with palette knife, 6x6"



 I got up early and went out plein air yesterday morning...yes, Watchers, this one was completed actually outside, not huddled inside looking out a window.  The temps are up and my acrylics (not to mention myself) can be outside again!

I see I am getting some glare from the scan, perhaps due to having used some gloss medium in with the mix of mediums I am using.  I've been experimenting with mediums to use with the acrylics and palette knife, to give the paints more body.  Also, in the painting, the sky is much grayer than the blue my monitor is showing.  You would think that would be an easy fix in Photoshop Elements, but so far it is not!  It probably means the rest of the colors are off, too. 

Have a great day everyone...

Second Foggy Morning Painting from Yesterday

                        Acrylic Plein Air (out the window view) w/palette knife, 6x6"

This is the second one from yesterday.  I did go out plein air painting this morning, but will have to wait till tomorrow to show you that one, since I don't want to put it on my scanner today (still may be slightly tacky).

I want to share some words of wisdom from Leslie Saeta, our leader in this challenge.  I think her words are wise and wonderful:

"...I think it is important to reflect on what we have learned from this challenge so far. Painting for 30 days is not about creating 30 masterpieces to sell. It's literally impossible to paint your best when you undertake a challenge like this. Rather, it's about the process we have to go through to paint a painting every day....

When faced with a Challenge we are more focused and excited about reaching our goal. What you will learn this month will help you all year. You will have an easier time painting those masterpieces."

It's a relief to know I am not expected to create "masterpieces" every day.  I think some of this work is among my best and most is....practice, brush mileage, showing up and doing the work.  Not to mention, trying new things (palette knife!).  In regards to this painting above, I can see things I could change.  However, the fog is gone, the moment is past--on to the next!



Many thanks for all the love you are sending to my sister's dog Claire.  I think it's working!  Although she is still in the hospital fighting for her life, her bloodwork levels are starting to show some hope for her survival!