Day 2 of 30: Three Apples

Three Apples.  Watercolor.
Approximately 7 x 10 inches.

For the third January running, I'm participating in 30 paintings in 30 days.  It's hosted by Leslie Saeta, and you can check out the artist participating here.  I highly recommend it if you need some kind of push to get going.  It's an excellent exercise.

The painting above is from Day 2, and is the 5th painting I've done using the palette of quin gold, phthalo blue rs, and quin red.  You can see an example of one on my blog here.  Others are on Instagram.

This is also the 2nd still life I've done of late.  I usually paint without any reference, but every once in a while I need to loop back through a reality based painting framework to revisit shapes and composition.  I'm not sure it helps, but I struggle with getting almost too loose otherwise.

Here's to a great start of a New Year, cheers!

Still Lifes--Two Pears and an Orange

Two Pears and an Orange.  Watercolor.
Just smaller than 9 x 12 inches.

I had to take a little break.  After finishing 30 paintings in 30 days (ok, for me it was 24 paintings in 30 days, but still a super productive month) I had to get ready for a show, and then I was so tired, I just needed to breathe for a minute.

Coffee with Orange

Coffee With Orange.  Watercolor.
8 1/4 x 9 inches.

Way, way back when I first started this blog, I was working on a bunch of still lifes that I was painting alla prima.  I thought I might go back to that for a little bit while.

This painting was done with three colors--cad orange (a medium), indian yellow, and indigo.  On a scrap of Fabriano 300 lb rough watercolor paper.

I like the bleeds against the sharp edges of the white.  And, I like the composition in general.  My style has loosened more over the last couple of years, and it wasn't all that realistic to begin with.

I don't think I'd pick indigo again.  Sometimes it works as a good dark, but in this case, I think I would have been better off with a different blue.

It was my husband's coffee cup, and he was home today, so when I stepped away for a minute the coffee cup was gone.

And A Few Painterly Resolutions For 2015

Three Oranges.  Watercolor.
Approximately 8 x 11 inches.

As 2014 closed, I looked back.  Today, it's the first day of 2015.  Since it's a clean slate, this post is about looking forward and setting a few goals.

Oranges and Grapefruit

Oranges and Grapefruits.
Watercolor.  

Yesterday, I got together with a group of fellow artists for critique.  It wasn't the whole group, but Marilyn Bishop, Rama Desai, Nancy Wisely, Sherry Stoffer, Margie Carleton, Diana Marra, Andrea Chemero, Barb Smucker (fearless leader and organizer), Roxanne Brett, and Taylor Bush were able to be there.  Many of them aren't online, but if they are, I've tried to include links.  A lot of them read this blog--big grin.

Two Pears And An Apple

I had a full sheet set out this morning, and could not decide what to paint.  I pulled two pears and an apple out of the fruit bowl and fridge (the apple), and set them on the opposite end of the paper.  It's a study in yellow, blue, and purple.  The painting is alla prima (no drawing) and I started by establishing the shapes with the yellow (indian yellow) and then adding more definitive shapes and shadows.  It's approximately 14 x 10 inches on Fabriano 300 lb rough paper.

At one time, I was doing a lot of these still lifes, which you can see here and here.  Lately, I haven't painted as many, but I probably need the discipline of the shapes and values.  Watch for a few more.    

Prairie Coneflower

I thought I was growing Black Eyed Susans in my border, but when I went to look the flower up, discovered that they were more likely some kind of prairie cone flower.  Who knew?  They took a couple of years to establish themselves, and for the first two years were perpetually attacked by deer. They were in full bloom when we returned from vacation, and they're beautiful.  Here's my take (from memory, so kind of abstracted), and a picture of the border.  

Great Lakes Adventure

My family just returned from a two week tour through Michigan and Wisconsin.  We went up through Michigan stopping at Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes and Mackinac, and got as far north as Isle Royale.  Isle Royale is a 3 h ferry ride from Copper Harbor, MI on the Keeweenaw Peninsula.  We had flat, flat water on the ride out and then 2-4 foot waves on the ride back.  2-4 feet doesn't sound like much until you're on a ferry--whew baby.

If you haven't clicked through, please do--there are three more paintings.

View From Sanctuary

Last Sunday, instead of listening in church, I was studying the view out the window.  Our church lucked into some life long dedicated gardeners, and on the grounds you can see all sorts of bits and pieces of their handiwork.  The sanctuary windows look out on to some of their plantings, and the turning leaves against the dark backdrop caught my eye.  
A couple of weeks ago, I thought I should start carrying a sketch book around with me.  I ordered a 6x6 inch one that fits in my purse with the idea that I'd draw every day.  (I haven't quite managed that, but I am drawing.)  I whipped out the sketchbook, and.....didn't have a single thing to draw with.  I ended up scrounging a green pencil, and did a quick study with notes about colors--see below.

When I sat down to paint, I purposefully limited my palette to Prussian Blue (two o'clock), Alizarin Crimson (ten o'clock), and Quinacridone Gold (six o'clock) and looked at various values and ways that the paints mixed before I started--again, see below.  In the past, I haven't planned things quite so much.  I'm not sure if I like this or not.

 The final result took two tries.  I tried the first painting on 140-lb paper, and I was having trouble with the paint drying too fast.  I tried again on 300-lb paper, and liked the result much better.  The painting is alla prima, and is 4x7 inches.  Definitely makes me think of fall.
 

From the sketch book.

Planned palette.  That's Prussian Blue at two o'clock, Quinacridone Gold at six, and Alizarin Crimson at ten.

And, The Leaves Turn Again...

When I started putting this blog together, one of my first posts was a plein air painting I did of some sycamore trees.  Every once in a while, I cycle back around and paint more trees....in the spring, and again here and here.  I apparently really like trees.  Now, almost a year later, the leaves are starting to turn again--although, barely.  The colors seem later this year.

Some of my best lessons of the year?  The grass does not need to be green.  That you don't need to be looking at the tree to paint the tree.  And, that my favorite season is rolling back in.  

A new group of trees caught my eye.  They must be a little bit stressed, since they're turning much earlier than the trees around them.  This was painted alla prima, with about four colors (Prussion Blue, Indigo, Indian Yellow, and a tiny bit of Permanent Orange Deep).

From the Kitchen Table to the Window Sill

About the time I started writing this blog, I posted about a series of still lifes I was painting  from objects I set out on my kitchen table.  Every once in a while, I'd loop back around and do another still life.

Then I just got away from still lifes.  I've been working on getting my paintings looser after several years of getting tighter.  And, as part of that, I've been trying a lot of imagined or abstract paintings.

But, yesterday my neighbor gave me a bag of tomatoes, and I set some out on the window sill. They are an intense orange red against the white and blue gray of the window balanced against the green outside.  They shout (almost scream) end of summer.  I had to try painting them.  The painting is alla prima, in just a couple of hours, and measures about 11.5 inches square. 

And, just in case you're wondering...did you know there is a whole class of paintings called "Widow Sill Paintings?"  And, there's a whole movement called "Paintings In A Day?"  I've hit two milestones!

Eggs Alla Prima

The title sounds like a breakfast dish, doesn't it? 

In return for a favor, I received six local chicken eggs.  They're lovely pale blues, greens, and browns.  I took some pictures--here's one:

 

It's hard to see the variations in the egg colors--it's overwhelmed by the wood grain in the table.

When, I went back around to paint them (different arrangement), I set the eggs on a white surface.  But, I made a poor choice for the background.  I wanted delicate, and I ended up with overwhelming--like the wood grain.  I also painted them alla prima (not drawn first), and I'm not sure that it worked well for something as symmetrical as eggs.


I'll try and paint them again, of course! 

Here's the finished version of the painting:

A Plein Air Adventure

Last week, Clair Breetz,  my fellow studio mate from the Art Circle invited us to Ryland Lakes to paint plein air. It is a country club community, surrounded by cottages and summer homes.  It was so beautiful it qualified as bucolic.  I did a couple of plein air paintings, one of which, I'm showing the evolution of here. 

At the end of a long lake, sat a triangle house, nestled at the bottom of the hills and the edge of the lake.  Really.  Triangle.  And, it was framed in white.  On the left is my first attempt, and on the right is a second version.

I like the sky, and I like the water.  The middle section?  Not so much.  That house looks out of place, and where the shore meets the tree line is under defined and washed out.

What to do?  I went back in and weighted the shore line with darker colors.  When I rephotographed the painting, you can still see the house.  That is a powerful triangle.  (The inconsistent blues of the sky have more to do with my photography skills.  I'm working on it, but watercolors can be challenging to photograph, in my opinion.  See here.)



And, here's a picture of me painting the 1st version, taken by my +Connie Springer , who does lovely portrait photography.

Small Abstracts

I've also been working on a series of abstracts.  This is a small painting called Lunar.  It's about 3inches by 3 inches and has 4 colors.  From Daniel Smith there's carbazole puple, rhodonite red, and permanent yellow deep.  Then, from Maimeri Blu, I believe, burnt umber.  It was an experiment to see how the pure color would go down and mix.    The paper is Arches 300 lb cold press.  I was especially happy with the way the bleeds across the colors worked.

The Kitchen Table Series

Last January, I started trying to produce one painting a month.  After a year of not painting, one painting a month seemed like a noble goal.  Logically, I recognize that to become a better painter, I should be painting just about every day.  There are a few other things that I think I should do, but that is a separate post.

As 2012 comes to a close, and I look back over the art I produced, I can see some themes emerged without any planning on my part.  (I mentioned things I should do to improve as a painter?  Planning would be nice.)  Most of my work I did sitting at my kitchen table, alla prima, very quickly.  I'm calling these paintings the "Kitchen Table Series."  Typically, they are small still lifes.  Here's a recent example, called "Pear, Orange, & Vase."  There are several common themes among these paintings.

--I'm always sitting in the same position at my table, so the light is always coming from my left.

--I do the paintings alla prima.

--I use whatever I have on hand.

--They are typically very fast.  One to two hours.

This is a theme I plan to carry over into 2013, to build into a series. 

Painting En Plein Air

The last few weeks have been absolutely beautiful, and my plan was to go outside and paint.  I wanted to visit Winton Woods, and capture the fall colors reflected in the lake.  But, I found I couldn't park close enough to see the lake without hauling my gear.  And, boy, did I have a lot of junk to haul.  Here is what I was carrying yesterday:

--palatte (large)
--brushes (about 10)
--paper
--water
--paper towels
--paint
--a drawing box
--pliers
--reference photos
--boards
--medium spray bottle
--watercolor crayons

Plus, as a bonus, I had a camp chair, a table, my ipod, a camera, car keys, and phone.  My goal for next week will be to stream line my bag!

I found a nice little picnic area, and did a small painting (11.5 x 7.3 inches) alla prima in about 45 minutes.  Sentinels.