Day 73

 

Sea Star

Oil on Gessobord

6 x 6

 

Another painting from the Mom's Getaway Weekend.

There were several star shape bowls around the kitchen.

I was in the midst of painting it before I realized it was supposed

to be a sea star. Makes sense since we were on the beach. Fun bowls.

If our cabin wasn't the size of a postage stamp I might consider

getting one.

Day 72

 

The Day After

Oil on Ampersand Gessobord

5 x 5

 

The house we rented had some lovely blue glass vases in

the windowsills. While I was pondering how to use the vases in a painting,

I happened to notice the lovely amber drink my friend Jodie was holding.

Then I started to think about other rehydration drinks the gals

had brought for the weekend and a still life was born!

Day 71

 

Winter Afternoon in Snohomish

Oil on Ampersand Gessobord

5 x 7

Plein Air

 

 A lesson was learned painting this picture. I am not cut out

to paint a winter sunset. I was so cold after painting this

that I considered giving up plein air painting in the winter all

together. It's actually pretty tolerable if you can situate yourself

so your standing in the sun. Once that sun goes down though -

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!  

Day 70

 

Mom's Weekend Away

Oil on Amperand Gessobord

5 x 7

Sold

 

I just returned from a wonderful weekend away with my

Mom's Group. We rented a beautiful house on the water

just north of Bellingham. The weather was grey, cold,

windy, and wet or I'd have to say - perfect. Perfect that is if you

are sitting in a lovely home with lots of windows overlooking

the sound, a fireplace, good friends and lots of yummy

things to eat and drink. Lucky me!

 

 

The view from my bedroom. I sat up in bed Saturday

morning to see three eagles outside the window.

Day 69

Melissa's Boats

Oil on Canvas

6 x 6

Sold

 

I painted this a little while ago when I was first testing

out the waters for daily painting. I tried doing a painting a day for

about a week or so to see if it would be a realistic goal or not.

The painting is based on a photo I took at one of my favorite

campgrounds near LaConner. These boats were beautiful catching the

light of the setting sun. Aaaahhh summer, I miss you.

Day 68

Return to Oils

5 x 7

Oil on Ampersand

 

I've been experiencing some long term throat irritation. Horror

of all horrors, I thought my oil paints might be the cause.

That is one reason you've seen so many watercolors lately.

After my throat finally felt better, I tried this painting.

I've been watching a video by Quang Ho. Wow, what

a painter! This is more or less the same color scheme he

used in his demo. I really liked the bright red against the

greens and warm neutrals.

Day 67

 

Megan - the middle

watercolor

5 x 7

 

If you paint one daughter you absolutely have to paint

the other one. They'd be happiest if you painted both

at the same time. Honestly though, it wasn't a trial

 painting Meg. This is from the same photo shoot as Anika's painting.

It will be turned into a much larger painting some day.

I wouldn't consider this one finished either.

I just needed something to post this evening. Maybe I'll

get it finished at the "Mom's Getaway" this weekend. :)

 

Anika - the middle

 

This is the same painting I posted a couple days

ago just further along. Which one do you prefer -

the earlier one or this one?

 

Day 66

Elizabeth's Choice

watercolor

5 x 7

 

 

Well here's a spot of color on a grey winter's day! I hope

you enoy it. Thank you Elizabeth for arranging the still life for

me. It's really nice having an eye as skilled as yours

make the design decisions. The orange scarf was my idea.

Did I put it over the top?

Oops Day 64

Anika - the beginning

Watercolor

5 x 7

 

Sometimes you surprise yourself. I started this one evening

while sitting with my mom. It's based on a photo I took

this summer in preparation for a major piece. Never did

I expect this quick study to come out so well in that it

actually resembles my daughter! This is a beginning stage.

Weather permitting, I will take a photo of it's current state

tomorrow. Sometimes the beginnings are the best . 

Day 65! 300 to go

 

Pears

Watercolor

6 x 6

 

What is it about pears? I think if you looked at the top most

painted fruit, pears would probably be number one. I love paintings

of pairs. I own a beautiful painting of a golden pair by local artist Nikki Wheeler.

Pears are very anthropomorphic.  This, I believe, is the reason for their

universal appeal. Who do these pears remind you of? 

 

 

 

Day 63

A Whole Lotta Blue

Watercolor

5 x 7

It never ceases to amaze me how what appears to be a simple

composition can take me hours to paint. In some cases the 

less there is the more there is to see. Reflected light becomes very

noticable. I find reflected light much easier to paint in oils then

watercolor. So of course this took me hours to paint.

To view the auction on this painting click here.

Day 62

Longing for Spring

7 x 5

Oil on Ampersand Gessobord

I really enjoyed painting these irises. I enjoyed painting

the crinkles in the paper sleeve and the glowing stems

all the way to their tips. The flowers were a little tough. There

was a lot going on so they were a bit difficult to simplify. Overall

though, I'm pretty happy with this painting!

Click here to see the auction on this painting.

Day 61

 

Fog Rising

Oil on Gessobord

5 x 7

Plein Air

 

We have had some amazing fog around here lately. This is from

the morning I mentioned earlier when I headed down to Snohomish

and the fog was beginning to lift. With a cup of hot chocolate in my had, I watched

the fog fade from the hillside and frost melt in steamy tendrils.  It was wonderful.

Today, even on top of the hill, it hung around all day. So it seemed a

fitting time to post this.

 

Day 60

Single Iris

watercolor

6 x 7 1/2

I headed down to Snohomish for the second day to take advantage

of this beautiful sunny but very cold weather we've been having and

do some plein air painting. For the second day I was surprised by the fog.

I need to find a webcam somewhere so I can check on this before I 

pack up and head out. Yesterday I was actually able to do a painting

 of the fog rising. Today is was as thick as pea soup. Ah well, better luck next time.

Day 59

Megan's Sugar Bowl
Watercolor
6 x 6



Sketch of Megan's Sugar Bowl

Previous to starting the Daily Painting Adventure I was doing
a fair amount of sketching. Books, teachers, the web, they all say how
important it is to draw as much as you can. So I've decided to add a
drawing element to my daily painting. I will draw for at
least fifteen minutes before I begin to paint.
If nothing else, this blog keeps me accountable.
As a result, you will be sort of forced to look at my drawings.
 Plein air painting is the exception as the light is changing so rapidly.
Thanks for hanging in there with me! 

Day 58

 

Watercolor

6 x 8

 

Here is another scanned watercolor. The image is a

little fuzzy and the blues are much more intense. If you

can get it to work, scanning is definitely the way to go.

 

I mentioned a artist's blog talk show yesterday.

This is the description from the website:

 

Welcome to Artists Helping Artists, the #1 Art Show on Blogtalk radio! Join in each week as your host Leslie Saeta discusses how to market and sell your art, along with interviews with guest artists, gallerists, and others sharing their knowledge of the business side of art.

 

If anyone is interested I'd recommend giving it a try. I've enjoyed

the talks I've listened to. A nice accompaniment to a painting

session. Click here to check it out.

 

Day 57

Apple and Grapes

watercolor

4 x 6

 

Another attempt at a daily watercolor. Sunday I listened to a blog

radio clip of another daily artist Lisa Daria. She paints in acrylics. So

 her routine is to paint at 5:30 (yikes!) in the morning and then

(being it's acrylic it's dry) she scans it at night. How beautiful is that? No setting

up a stand for the painting or putting Don's camera on a tripod or making sure

everything is level, in focus, and the white balance correct . Then removing the card

and uploading the image. So if I had to struggle with a quick watercolor

at least I could try the scanning thing. The colors are a little off

but not too bad. Hmmmmm...

Day56

 

Watercolor with Mussel Shells

5 x 7

 

I have the great good fortune to study watercolor with

master watercolorist Elizabeth Kincaid. If you haven't seen

Elizabeth's work you're missing out. Click here for her website.

 

This painting was started in class last week. I'm accustomed to

taking a good 40 to 50 hours to complete a watercolor. So this

painting-a-day in watercolor is very new to me. There's a lot

of grumbling and stomping around the house right now

while I figure this out. Oh, you can throw some serious

pouting in there too. My poor family.

Day 55

Oil on Canvas

5 x 7

Plein Air

 

 

This morning I woke up to find it had frosted so hard

it almost looked like snow. It was so pretty

my first thought was, "I should go out and do a painting

of some of that beauty!" My second thought was, "Dang,

it looks REALLY cold out there." So I stayed in my cozy,

warm house. In the afternoon I did buck up and head out to paint.

I returned to my new spot near Snohomish. The painting above

is from my first excursion there. Unfortunately, today the sky

was blue everywhere but over the mountains.

Day 54

Why Not Limes?

Oil on Ampersand Gessobord

5 x 7

 

I often see really lovely paintings with glowing

lemons and oranges. Limes are a different story.

What, I ask, is wrong with the innocent lime?

In Mexico the best dish served in the family home

I lived in was chicken soup with a good squeeze of lime.

So this is my little ode to the lime. I almost painted it

without the tomato but couldn't resist putting a little red in.



Day 53

 

Narcissus with Vase and Cup

Oil on Ampersand Gessobord

5 x 7

Click to bid on this painting

 

An unexpected perk of doing this painting

challenge is I feel totally justified in buying flowers.

And if they just happen to brighten up my kitchen

while they wait to model for me, who am I to complain?

Day 52



Brass Pitcher with Red Bottle and Grapes

Oil on Ampersand Board

7 x 5
Click to Bid

 

I have a feeling I probably should've posted this one

closer to Valentine's Day. Ah well, I couldn't wait that

long. I'm feeling better about painting on Ampersand

Gessobord. I think with this painting surface you either

have to be very bold with your paintbrush or

very delicate. Inbetween doesn't work very well.

I do really like the fact that it is an archival product

that is ready to go should someone decide they want it.

Happy Valentines Day a little over a month early!

Day 51

Oil on Canvas

5 x 7

Plein Air

 

We had a fine but thoroughly saturating, sideways driving rain

today - all day today. Definitely not a good time for taking photos of paintings.

So we are going to return to a sunnier, warmer time.

This was painted back at the U-Pick farm in Snohomish just off

Springhetti Road. What a great name for a road. I was driving

through there during our recent little sunny patch of weather

and discovered a great new place for plein air painting. It's

away from traffic and has a spectacular view of the mountains.

Although it didn't come out as well as I hoped, I will post the

plein air painting I did there soon.

Day 50!

Grape Study

Oil on Canvas

5 x 7

 

I have to say this is the first time I have made an effort to

really study how light effects grapes. I can now see

why they are painted so often. They are fascinating

to look closely at. The normal rules of shading don't apply here,

I'm guessing due to their transparency. Grab a grape the

next chance you get. Notice which part is lighter and which part darker.

Which part is a warm green and which part is a cool green.

It might surprise you.

Day 49

 

Brass Pitcher with Snowberries and Madrone Leaves

Oil on Canvas

6 x 6

Click to Bid

 

I spotted this pitcher in the Whidbey thrift store and immediately

fell in love. What a shape! Then I looked at the price and almost

had a heart attack. Thirteen whole dollars! By far the most I've

ever spent on a still life prop.  I couldn't leave without it though. :)

 

A huge thanks to my husband Don for hanging yet another shelf

for me today. This one is specifically for still life set ups. Now I

have my art desk back. I saw the idea in a library book I checked out

yesterday. You never know what you'll find at the library!

 



Day 48

Oil on Ampersand Board

6 x 6
Click to Bid

 

So I've been keeping an eye out for interesting fabrics

to use as backgrounds. It recently occurred to me that

my clothes closet could be a source of new still life

material. The background in this painting is an

old skirt of mine. The patterns are fun but ended up

being very time consuming to paint. Maybe not

 the best subject for a daily painting. :)

Day 47

 

Japanese Jar with Snowberries and Moss

Oil on Canvas

6 x 6

Click to Bid

 

I picked this wonderful jar up at a great thrift store on

Whidbey Island this weekend. I then painted this in our

teeny, tiny cabin trying really hard to stay out of

everyone's way. The snowberries and moss were

collected just outside our cabin door. Those berries

have always fascinated me so it was I was kind of

excited to have an excuse to paint them.

Day 46

 

I'm sorry there is no picture here. Blogger must be having technical

difficulties because it won't let me upload photos from either one of

our computers. So instead I posted the photo on my business Facebook Page.

To view the painting:

 

Click Here

 

While you're there you're more than welcome to "like" my page (wink, wink).

 

The piece you will see was painted in plein air on New Years day

 on Whidbey Island. We have some acreage and a teeny tiny cabin there.

When I say a tiny cabin I mean tiny, all 300 square feet. It gets a little

tight with four in the family but we make do. It was my first day

in a long while to get outside and paint due to all the rain we've had.

 Boy was I in heaven!

Day 45

 

Three Fingers Mountain in January

Oil on Canvas

5 x 7

Plein Air

 

Sun, glorious sun! One thing about people from the

Northwest, we appreciate sun! After weeks of rain

and gray skies we've finally gotten a break.

So today I headed out to a favorite plein air

haunt near my home. The mountains were showing

off their beautiful, bright, new coat of snow. It was fantastic!

Day 41

 

Bowman Bay

Oil on Panel

8 x 10

Plein Air

 

I have five brand new paintings I could share with you.

I just need to take photos of them. We got home from the

island too late today to take photos outside. It really does

seem to work best to take the pics outdoors with the

equipment I have. So I'll wait one more day.

 

In the meantime this was painted last spring at my first

Plein Air Washington Artists paint out. Bowman Bay is a really

beautiful park. If you can manage to get a reservation

for a camping spot there, you are in for a real treat. It's a small

campground with beautiful beaches and several nice hikes.

 

After reviewing several of my latest posts I noticed I skipped

Day 41. So we are going back in time today. :)