Magenta Forest Oil Pastel - 30 Paintings in January 2015

Oil Pastel, 6x6"

$50 plus shipping

Purchase Here

Well, I'm back in the saddle again after my computer crashed a few days ago.  Thank you all for returning to visit after the interlude.  I purchased a new (used) laptop.  You could say it's on borrowed time right now...I have 30 days to decide whether to keep it.  That should at least get me through the rest of this 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.

I did continue to paint while I was off-line.  Not sure how to catch you up on those.  Maybe I'll do a post with them or maybe skip them so these can be in synch with my DPW and Leslie's blog. 

This oil pastel painting is another one that started totally and completely different than what you see here.  What you see here is kind of what the background of the original painting looked like.  I decided I liked the background effect best, so I lost the foreground.  These OPs are amazing for making alterations, that's for certain.  

This is one of those occasions where the photo simply will not do justice to the painting...I guess that's one thing that hasn't changed from the last computer!

Anyhow, new computer, no bookmarks, hope I can find you all again...thank goodness for Feedly...

Happy Painting, everyone!

Computer is About Gone!

This computer is about gone...last night I couldn't get it to come on to post a painting.  And very strange things were happening to the screen.  This morning, since it has let me on, I am scrambling to let you (and a couple other on-line places I frequent) know why I won't be able to post for awhile.  I'll keep painting...I'll really miss seeing everyone else's work.

When I'm back on-line, I'll try to catch up!

Meanwhile, happy painting!!!   I'll miss you...

Meredith

"Around the Bend" Oil Pastel Painting - 30 Paintings in January 2015

Oil Pastel, 7x5"

$50 plus shipping

 Purchase Here

I am in a state of very tired....this painting was one of those that did not head where I thought it was going.  I did something with it I really liked, and was actually putting away my supplies, when I just had to touch it one more time.  I get carried away with this oil pastel medium, because I enjoy the process so much.  So I tried to add "just one more bit" of some color that didn't work where I put it, threw the whole thing off, made me lost the effect I had worked for quite awhile to achieve.  That one color did all that.

At first I was sure that a little scraping would do the trick, as it has other times this week.  Not this time.  Deciding the painting was lost, I decided to trash it, in my own way that I call, "going off on a painting."   Something I tend to do when a painting is lost--mess with it in ways I wouldn't if I thought it were going well, to see if I can at least learn something. 

At one point in the process of going off on this painting, I felt a balance again...  I perused the painting.  Yes!  This will do!  This gives me the feeling, the essence of the place when I was there.  Never would have thought that would happen from a totally lost painting

And the more I look at it, the more I love it and the more I wish I could show you this one in person.  It is softer and less "contrasty" in real life, and I, for the life of me, cannot get it to look correct using Photoshop Elements!



Now, to leave it alone.  I literally had to remove the painting from my access to make sure I didn't get caught up in the cycle again!



Is is still art if you almost threw it out?

30 Paintings in January 2015 - Country Charm Oil Pastel

Oil Pastel, 5x7"

Interesting thing about the 30 in 30...you find out things like:

Who really cares if you remember to eat?

Who really cares enough if you remember to eat that he suggests pouring cashews into your mouth while you continue painting?

Any of you have anything like that going on in your life?  Must be hard to be the spouse of an artist during the 30 in 30!

OK, About the Painting!

I learned SO MUCH from painting this one.  I taped out a white border around it, and the parts in this image that are white (at the bottom) are where the tape pulled off some of the paper when I removed it.  I kind of like it though, and it looks better when you can see the white border.  

For some reason, with oil pastel, I really like seeing some of the white edges showing into the image (rough edges), maybe because the oil pastel is so thick, it brings some lightness in.  Not to mention, Wolf Kahn himself often left white showing around the edges of his pastel paintings (did you miss the quotes from his book Pastel that I mentioned in yesterday's post?).

I have to admit, I resorted to adding in some of my old friends, the trusty colored pencil, to this one...

Happy Painting, everyone!    

30 in January 2015 Pink Forest Oil Pastel

Oil Pastel, 5x7"

SOLD (Thank  you!)

I have just completed reading Wolf Kahn's book Pastels and immediately turned around and started reading it again.  I love his work, and I really appreciated getting insight into his views on the artistic process.  I want to highly recommend this book to my artist friends, no matter what your medium.

Here are a few quotes I found deeply meaningful:

"The practice of art should have an effect not only on the public, but even more importantly on the artist himself, by enlarging his sphere of freedom." (p. 16, paragraph 2)

"The moment you know how to do certain things, you should by rights stop doing them.  You would be ceasing to search and starting to perform."  (p. 18, paragraph 1)

Points to ponder...

And, as we are in the midst of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge, how about this reminder from Wolf Kahn (also from Pastel, p. 25 paragraph 2):

"The artist must beware of trading places, even momentarily, with his public.  He follows mental pathways in which audience-conscious esthetic judgments such as 'interest' have no place.  The intimacy of his personal relationship to the work at hand has to remain inviolate."

Watchers, I think that is another way of saying "Paint Like Nobody's Watching."   In his profound way, Wolf Kahn is telling us what to focus on while painting (the creation of the image) and what not to focus on while painting ("will it be good enough for my blog?  good enough for Leslie's blog?  good enough for DPW?").

Paint Like Nobody's Watching, friends....and as always, I do thank you for Watching!

Patch of Blue Oil Pastel - Day 4

 Oil Pastel, 3.5 x 2.5"

In the spirit of the Challenge, this is the one I did on my lunch hour Friday.  This piece was completed in about 20 minutes, and someone was talking to me almost the entire time I was painting it!! I'm also having a terrible time getting a good photograph or scan of it, so I'm not putting it on DPW. 

No New Art Supplies!

One of my self-imposed rules for this challenge is that I am not allowed to purchase anything new until at least January 20.   My "theme" is artistic freedom, more of an intention than a theme.  I am exercising my freedom for at least the beginning part of the challenge, by using oil pastels, a medium I had long ago put away.

Using any kind of pastels is seductive towards your wallet, because as a pastelist, you never feel like you have the color you need.  So you keep looking and buying.  And there's always new supplies you hear about to make your artistic life better--new papers, solvents, storage units, etc.

I figure by the time I get to January 20, I'll have a better idea of what I REALLY need, if anything.  I purchased some ResNGel, a non-toxic solvent, right before the challenge began, but other than that, I have stored pastel paper, mat board scraps, enough oil pastels to get a good start, etc.  

Thanks for Watching!

 

 

30 in January 2105 - Patch of Green Oil Pastel - Day 3

Oil Pastel, 3.5 x 2.5"

$15 plus shipping

Purchase Here

I must admit, this is one of my "paint ahead" paintings.   Leslie Saeta  (the hostess of this 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge) said it's perfectly ok, in fact recommended, to paint ahead for the challenge.  Luckily I did, because although I painted another version of this one at my lunch hour today using alternate colors, I left my camera at work.  And I really feel too tired to mess with the scanner right now.  So here you have it, a paint-ahead.  I'll show you the painting I did today another time.

This is a view on my regular dog walk.  It has caught my eye for a couple weeks, so I was happy to sit down and paint it and intend to work with the same composition using various color schemes.

I have visions of saying really interesting things and giving you some cool quotes from books I am reading, but apparently that is all going to have to wait till the weekend...

Thanks for being here....

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.

30 Paintings in January 2015 - Happy New Year!

 Oil Pastel 5.265 x 5.265" (to be precise!)

$45 plus shipping

Buy Now

Happy New Year, everyone!  Today is the first day of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge hosted by Leslie Saeta of the Artists Helping Artists Radio Show.  I am having a terrible time with computer tonight, so better sign off now, while I can.  I will be painting....not sure I'll be able to be blogging...depends on how my computer behaves!

Bright times for you all for 2015...

Thanks for Watching!

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!