Messy March Paintings Drop

March 27 2016 4"x4" on Aquabord
Available on Daily Paint Works

Hello again! This is a bit of a sloppy post, but I would like to get it out of the way so that I can move forward with more posts once again. This is a conglomerate post of several others that I began, but didn't post. A little due to time, but honestly - mostly due to matters of the mind.

So- is this all I painted in March and April so far?? Honestly, no, but not too much more.  I've created one other "decent" painting, but it was for a gift I don't want to spoil accidentally. I've also done a couple more paintings outside, a couple of abstracts that really did not work, and some planning for a larger project.

March 20 & 21, 2016 8"x10" on Claybord

A piece donated for an art auction - my largest gouache piece so far.

March 10, 2016 4"x4" on Claybord

Palette:Prussian Blue, Peacock Blue, Permanent Green Deep, Chinese Orange +W

Available on Daily Paint Works

March 9, 2016 4"x4" on Claybord

Palette:Prussian Blue, Peacock Blue, Permanent Green Deep, Chinese Orange +W

Available on Daily Paint Works

After a series of still lifes, I was itching to do some abstract work while still practicing looking from life. I took a favorite blue shirt with colors like the aurora borealis, twisted it, and painted a section paying closer attention to the colors than to representing it perfectly. A fun project that needed repeated.

March 6, 2016 ~4" x 5.5" in Watercolor Sketchbook

Palette:Prussian Blue, Chinese Orange, Yellow Ochre

A few weekend, my husband and I took our first driving trip to go hiking. It was my first trip to Missouri's mountain, Tom Sauk Mountain! I thought I'd stop to paint a couple of times, but I ended up only painting once. This might be my first little plein air study! It was a beautiful view on a beautiful day.

March 5, 2016 4.25"x5.5" on Watercolor Paper

Palette:Raw Umber, Burnt Sienna, B+W

March 4, 2016  4.5" x 5.5" on Watercolor Paper

Palette: Flame Red, Juane Brilliant, Ultramarine Deep, W

March 1-3, 2016 6"x8" on Claybord

Palette: Peacock Blue, Flame Red, Permanent Yellow, Yellow Ochre, B+W

Fuji Apples & Lillies

February 23, 2016 6"x8" on Watercolor Paper

Palette: Yellow Ochre, Terre Verte, Chinese Orange, + W

February 24, 2016 5.5"x8.5" on Watercolor Paper

Palette: Yellow Ochre, Terre Verte, Chinese Orange, Ultramarine Blue, Permanent Yellow, B + W

February 26/27, 2016 8"x6"" on Claybord

Palette: Yellow Ochre, Permanent Yellow, Prussian Blue Chinese Orange, + W

February 29, 2016 7" x 5"" on Aquabord

Palette: Yellow Ochre, Permanent Yellow, Prussian Blue Chinese Orange, + W

Into the Mirror

Usually, I like to begin with the post of my favorite recent painting and then give a little recap. This time, however, I feel like I need to admit something I am a little embarrassed about up front. Despite painting in oils through and after college, and despite drawing portraits often in high school, I have never painted a portrait. I've created one quick, far away figurative oil painting in my first semester of Painting 1, but then my artwork departed from representation. 

Last night I did a few sketches of the regular items - coffee mugs, tea kettle, etc. - but they weren't able to hold my attention. It was my last day of the weekend, and with a meeting scheduled for tonight I wanted to have a focused piece. So, I decided to give a self-portrait a whirl! Since I've never had to mix skin tone paint colors before, I limited my palette immediately to one of my go-tos: ultramarine deep, burnt sienna, and yellow ochre. There are a few colors I'll need to add in to the mix if I continue to do portraits, but this helped tremendously for my first go.

February 22, 2016 5.5"x8.5" on Watercolor paper

Palette: Ultramarine Deep, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre,+ White

To my relief, it turned out all right! Not perfect, but a good start. There were a few areas of the skin that started to get rough, since the gouache would only let me work over it so many times. I forgot how fun it can be to paint people (even myself), so I may need to drum me up some models for the future!

Vase, Mallets, and an Obscene Shade of Orange

February 20, 2016 6"x8" on Claybord

Palette: Chinese Orange, Carmine, Terre Verte, B+W

Available on Daily Paint Works

It has been awhile since I sat down to do a larger, focused painting on claybord. (As a side note, it is strange to consider 6"x8" as large after doing 4 foot paintings for awhile.) This is a little red ceramic vase with a beautiful glaze that was really tricky to capture. It drips and swirls between white, deep red, and an almost green. I've mentioned before that painting on claybord can be a frustrating experience for me, but I loved being able to pick up the paint for colored highlights in the glaze. The bright reds were created this way, and the edges formed by the action worked with the pattern in the glaze.

I used my painting from the day before as a prep-day, and did a 20 minute gouache sketch to take a little time to consider the lighting and shape of the vase.

February 19, 2016 4"x6" on Watercolor Paper

Palette: Carmine B+W

February 21, 2016 4"x4" on Claybord

Palette: Flame Red, Juane Brilliant, Yellow Ochre, Ultramarine Deep, B+W

Available on Daily Paint Works

After a day of spring cleaning, I settled down to paint and wanted to paint something BRIGHT! I looked around my studio and my Art/Work book stood out as a good backdrop color to use. For the subject matter I decided to take my husbands advice, for the probably the first time ever when it comes to subject matter, and painted his drum mallets. My loose approach to them didn't work great when it came to the tight wrapping of the yarn, but I did enjoy mixing all of the colors. I think I might return to the mallets for a longer composition when I feel like doing some tight, detail work.

February 18, 2016 ~0.75"x1" on Watercolor Paper

Palette: Raw umber, B+W

And I suppose I should tack on my late-night painting sketch from Thursday, as well. I worked an evening event and just wanted to practice something quick! A teeny, tiny bottle did the trick. 

Kitty Cat Toys

February 16, 2016 4"x4" on Aquabord

Palette: Ultramarine Deep, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, B+W

Available on Daily Paint Works

The aquabord I used for this little painting was originally used for the first try of my rum composition. After realizing the painting wasn't working (maybe an hour of painting), I took it to the sink and rinsed off all the excess paint. There was still a shadow of the composition, so when I returned to use it again I decided to go with a dark subject matter. It was another evening painting, and I wanted to grab something fun that I could be looser with my brushstrokes. Since I am always tripping over little mice, I decided to paint this little guy. This gray and blue mouse is among the favorites of Copper, my younger cat, so it is often quickly lost under couches, chairs, stoves, fridges, you name it!

February 17, 2016 4"x4" on Claybord

Available on Daily Paint Works

Okay, I admit it! I've been slacking on noting my color choices. Before, I was writing the color selection down each time after I finished a painting (or before I began the next one and put my previous paints away) but I didn't do that this past week. I can't quite remember which paints I used for this carrot cat toy... I want to say lemon yellow, terre verte, juane brilliant... or it might have been lemon yellow, prussian blue, chinese red, and juane brilliant. Ah, well, it was another fun, silly still life.

Fast Peppers with a Rum Finish

February 10, 2016 5.5"x8.5" on Watercolor paper

Palette: Raw Umber, B+W

It  has been about a month and a half since I began my daily paintings, and a bit longer since I've begun regular painting with gouache, and I have realized more than once that I do better with flexibility. Doing a full, composed, beautiful painting every day makes me a little stressed out (and that does not translate into good artwork). So, I'm loosening my guidelines on myself. If I need to take a day off, I will. If I paint, it is okay to do a study with a specific goal in mind or a more complete painting.

For this vase of stones, the goal was a quick value study. 

February 10 & 11, 2016 5.5"x8.5" on Watercolor paper

Palette: Flame Red, Chinese Orange, Terre Verte, B+W

For my two pepper studies, the goal was to quickly capture the form of a bell pepper from angles I had not yet painted. And I mean quick! They were both completed in less than a half hour, which is always a challenge for me.

February 13, 2016 4"x4" on Claybord

Palette: Ultramarine Deep, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, B+W

Available on Daily Paint Works

This painting began with the composition for February 15th, below, but the stress I referred to above was getting to me and I kept making obvious mistakes. I couldn't focus well, so I pulled out a fresh claybord and simplified the composition. Working quicker let me knock this painting of the shot of rum out fairly quickly and happily. 

February 15, 2016 4"x4" on Aquabord

Palette: Ultramarine Deep, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, B+W

Available on Daily Paint Works

A few of the proportions of this were a bit wonky, but it was much more fun to paint the second time around. The box with the shot glass on top was tricky, as the lid is off center. I could have happily spent another three hours on just the bottle of rum. I think it is safe to say that I'll return to the bottle for a longer study!

Three in a Row

February 9, 2016 4"x4" on Aquabord

Palette: Ultramarine Blue, (touch of Peacock Blue), Lemon Yellow, Permanent Yellow, B+W

Available on Daily Paint Works

Lately, I have found myself losing interest in the solitary subject. Though it makes for good practice, I feel like I'm getting a hang of using gouache (except for on claybord, which is always a challenge) and will improve more by moving my focus to quick composition. Then, there is the fact that I've painted my way through most of the objects in my house that I can physically move to my studio. Do you buy produce just for still lives? For instance, I've considered buying red apples, even though I don't enjoy them as much, for a different punch of color.

This painting was one of the more enjoyable pieces to make. The laying out and twisting back and forth of the apples, the drawing, the color choices.... It all came together without too much fuss. This black vase was one of the few things I've bought specifically to paint, and I picked it up at a favorite antique/thrift store. I love the modern shape, and was originally dead-set on painting it with a solitary lemon. While I might return to that composition, I thought three little apples all in a row would work better on the square panel. 

Vessels for Favorite Beverages

February 6, 2016 5.5"x8.5" on Watercolor paper

Palette:Ultramarine Blue, Carmine, B+W

February 7, 2016 5"x7" on Aquabord

Palette:Prussian Blue, Chinese Orange, Raw Umber,, B+W

Available on Daily Paint Works

February 8, 2016 4"x4" on Claybord

Palette: Permanent Yellow, Peacock Blue, Chinese Orange B+W

Available on Daily Paint Works

Gouache Sketches: Puzzles and Apples

February 4, 2016 4"x4" on Aquabord

Palette: Permanent Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Ultramarine Deep, Burnt Sienna + W

Available on Daily Paint Works

This mid-week has been a series of quick gouache sketches. I find that if I want to try to capture something quickly, I gravitate towards apples. There is something to their slightly-lumpy-but-still-smooth form that makes me feel more comfortable using looser brush strokes. 

February 1, 2016 ~4"x4" on Watercolor paper

Palette:B+W

February 2, 2016 5.5"x8.5" on Watercolor paper

Palette: Prussian Blue, Raw Umber, B+W

Interlocking puzzles were a subject I spent a long time with during my sophomore year of college. It was nice to revisit one of the puzzles for an evening. I still remembered the trick to parting them!

Onward to Month Two: Tea & Singing Bowl

January 31, 2016 4"x4" on Claybord

Palette: Lemon Yellow, Burnt Sienna, B+W

Available on Daily Paint Works

I have completed one month of daily painting! I have gotten so much delight out of being able to say "I have created 16..23...28 paintings this year!" When I sat down for my final painting of January, a little TNG mug, I opted for one of the Ampersand Claybords since it had been so long since I'd painted on them (a whopping five days), and I felt it. Painting on watercolor paper and the Ampersand Aquabord is a far more intuitive process for me, so I'll need to keep the Claybord in regular rotation if I want to improve.

This morning feels differently than the days preceding, not like a month has passed at all. I feel aware of how easily painting every day has returned to my habits, and how easy it could pass back out. I know there are '30 paintings in 30 days' challenges, and I'm glad that I didn't opt for that goal. There is something more to learn from this experience.

February 1, 2016 5"x7" on Aquabord

Palette: Yellow Ochre, Flame Red, Peacock Blue, B+W

Available on Daily Paint Works

For my first painting of February, I selected a singing bowl that sits nearby my painting desk. I wanted the lavender fabric to mimic the motion the mallet would take in a trip around the bowl, to give the painting a silent echo. This is a subject matter I hope to return to once I give myself several days to complete a composition. There are many lovely details on the bowl that will take close concentration and time to capture. I did my best to give a quick idea of them here.

Citrus, Spices, and Glass

January 28, 2016 4"x4" on Aquabord

Palette: Juane Permanent, Carmine, Ultramarine Deep, Lemon Yellow, + W

Available on Daily Paint Works

This was a week filled with sleepy painting sessions. As a goal, I aimed to identify and focus on the major shapes and lines in each composition quickly. My apple was my quickest study yet at 20 minutes, and the other two below were great practice in painting glass. I'm hoping to have a sit-down with a glass subject sometime in the next few days to do better justice. Still, there is something appealing in the texture of these less-refined works. 

My favorite of the week was my grapefruit and lime still life, probably because I haven't been able to resist painting them on multiple occasions this month. Even though I painted it quite late on Thursday, the refreshing colors and the lime's strong citrus scent helped keep me awake until it was complete!

January 27, 2016 ~4"x4" on Watercolor Paper

Palette: Ultramarine Deep, Lemon Yellow, Burnt Sienna + W

January 29, 2016 5.5"x8.5" on Watercolor Paper

Palette: Peacock Blue, Prussian Blue, B+W

January 30, 2016 5.5"x7" on Watercolor Paper

Palette: Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Deep, Yellow Ochre + W

First Experiences with Ampersand's Aquabord

January 24, 2016 4"x4" on Aquabord

Palette: Yellow Ochre, Carmine, Peacock Blue, B+W (with a touch of Flame Red in the copper)

Last week I had the wonderful experience of opening a package brimming with Ampersand boards to use. In addition to new Claybords, I also bought a couple of packs of Ampersand’s Aquabord to try out. I waited just a day so that I could have my first experiences with the Aquabord on the weekend, and the above was my first painting on the new surface.

They suggest you flush the surface with water first to release any air that might bubble to the surface while you paint (and I noticed no bubbling once I began painting). After I did that, I waited for the board to be just between damp and dry to do a light sketch of my still life and lay down the first wash of color with my gouache.

Immediately, you can tell the difference between the two surfaces. In comparison with Claybord, the Aquabord surface felt like it was helping me to even out the distribution of water. As I developed the intensity of color on different areas, the surface remained easily workable. On Claybord, I have found the paint needs to be just the right level of wet to blend properly, but that was much less noticeable with this surface.

I could see the way that the pigment and paint seeps into the board becoming an occasional problem. The copper plate in the back of this still life is a rocked mezzotint plate, and the light differed subtly across it based on the directions of the mezzotint rocker’s trail. While trying to capture the subtleties of this light, I found that my brushstrokes kept being absorbed into a beautiful, flat area. If you zoom into the top picture, you can see the brushstrokes more evident at the bottom.

Overall, I was extremely pleased with my first experience painting on Aquabord. This still life is of several important objects to me in relation to my education as a printmaker favoring intaglio processes. It includes the rocked mezzotint I keep for the next opportunity I have to use an etching press, a jar of copper shavings from plates I filed the edges of in my last semester, and a few samples of etching ink I picked up at printmaking conferences.

January 25, 2016 4"x4" on Aquabord

Palette: Carmine, Peacock Blue, Yellow Ochre, + W

Available on Daily Paint Works

My second painting on Aquabord was incredibly tricky in the beginning in every way but the surface, which was consistently lovely. First, it took me an embarrassing amount of time to settle on, an admittedly easy, composition. Usually I average around 2-3 thumbnail drawings before settling on a composition. This one had 7. Some with multiple onions, a knife, with/without a cutting board, etc. Then, once I realized it would be better to just paint the onion than to keep fussing, I had a difficult time being happy with the colors! I’ll chalk it up to a learning experience.

January 26, 2016 5.5"x8.5" on Watercolor Paper

Palette: Lemon Yellow, Ultramarine Deep, Burnt Sienna

Yesterday morning, I returned to watercolor paper for a quick hour-study of apples.

Lemon Slice in Tea

January 23, 2016 4"x4" on Claybord

Palette: Prussian, Lemon Yellow, Chinese Orange, Permanent Yellow, B+W

Available on Daily Paint Works Here

Perhaps it is because I try to limit the "pretty" things I buy myself, but when I am arranging my still lifes I almost always grab a gift to include. This cast iron teacup is part of a set my brother gave my husband and I several years ago. Some day, when I have an entire day open to me to paint, I would like to do a still life of the complete set - teapot, two cups, and two dragonfly coasters.

It helps that my brother selected my favorite shade of blue, meaning these will pop up over and over again. Since the tail of the coaster tilts up, it should remain interesting to paint from several angles. 

This little painting marks the first claybord that worked with me every step along the way! The medium was extremely forgiving of my mistakes last night, including needing to correct two spots when at the very end droplets of water fell from my paintbrush onto my cup.... ahh! 

Short Time, Practice Time

The last two nights I noticed that my patience was running a little thin. The desire to paint was there, but the desire to spend 4-6 hours completing a finished painting was not. I wanted to wrap up my work day, drink a glass of wine and play scrabble with my husband! So, I decided to narrow my focus to two areas that have been causing me trouble:

January 21, 2016 5.5"x8.5" on Watercolor Paper

Palette: Black & White

1. Values. I may have mentioned this in an earlier post, but I have always loved paying close attention to subtle value shifts. Translating that from my drawings and oil paintings into gouache has been the most (second most?) difficult thing about the medium. I've found I have far greater success in the application and mixing of color than in shifting values with one color. To practice with this, I decided to do a rendering of an egg. I will definitely need more practice to get things up to par, but this black and white study was a way to start working on the problem without eating my time.

January 22, 2016 6"x8" on Watercolor Paper

Palette: Black & White

2. Speed & Brush Size. Over the last week of painting, I've noticed that I've introduced some of the difficulties I have in oil painting to my gouache studies. In particular, my tendency to waste time by using very small brushes. Since I wanted to wrap up quickly, I decided to limit myself to primarily using one size brush for the study and to complete it within the hour. 

I think in the future when I am wanting to limit my time for the day painting I will return to these two types of studies. It will be good to break up the time I usually spend on setting up a still life and selecting a palette, getting right to the bone of what I need to work on.

Today I feel my enthusiasm is refreshed! Also, a new package filled with Claybord and Aquabord panels has just arrived, so I am off to play paint!

Oranges in a Swirl

January 20, 2016 6"x8" on Claybord

Palette: Yellow Orange Permanent, Yellow Permanent, Flame Red, Prussian, B+W

This painting is available at Daily Paint Works.

Last night while I was painting, I became a tad hypnotized with the dish I was using for my still life, can you tell? The glaze on the plate is full of speckles and directional dripping, wonderful to paint! I’ve included some quick-snap progress pics of the painting throughout the night below.