30 of 30

oil on canvas, 10 x 8 inches, "Tulips Three"

 Last painting of the 30 paintings in 30 days.  Time just flew by this month, painting everyday.  I have posted most of the paintings, but to be honest I actually painted more than 30, there were a few days I painted 2 paintings in the course of the day.  I tried to pick the one I thought you would enjoy hearing about and hope I didn't drive anyone nuts with all the posting this month.
    Now it is time for me to still paint daily but work on some large projects that won't be finished in just one day.
   If you want to improve you skills as an artist, try giving yourself this same challenge, not every painting will be perfect, but you will learn something from each one.
  As these paintings from this month get dry I will be making many of them available on 
Daily Paint Works.

Mary
Schiros_Art

Just a Face

Acrylic on canvas 20 x 16 inches

 For a long time drawing and painting were two separate functions for me.  I remember taking early painting class where teachers wanted you to carefully draw out on the watercolor paper or canvas, the painting before applying paint.  The work from these class always felt tight and dead to me. 
   This last year I took a class where it was suggested to do a rough black and white sketch on a small paper, just to try out composition ideas before painting.
This plan worked out very well.  There was no drawing done on the canvas, only rough ideas on a separate paper. 
   I have started applying this to simply ideas, and find it helps more than ever.
This painting started with just an idea drawing.

Mary
Schiros_Art

Back to figuratives

Oil on canvas, 16 x 12 inches

Day 27 was an all day painting, but still part of the 30 paintings in 30 days.  Not sure yet what to call this one yet. 
Later on I will be posting a short video of the material and process, ( I remembered to stop and take photos a long the way).

Mary
Schiros_Art
 

Schiros Abstracts

Pink and Blue Hound, Acrylic 10 x 8 inches

 Day 23 of 30 paintings in 30 days.  Still working with my sketches of a hound.  Did this one with a palette knife on 300 lb weight watercolor paper.  Kind of a sad look, maybe it it the blue, but it is what it is.

Mary
Schiros_Art

8 x 10, Acrylic and ink, Yellow hound 1

Started taking a new class this semester, and think I am going to enjoy it.  Last year I took a classic oil painting class and learned a lot.  This time around I wanted to focus on some fun.  Taking a class on creativity, with mixed media, in other words, some productive play time coming my way.  Class started with a good basic exercise pick a photo, draw it 20 times quickly, pick out the best drawing and paint it, all in about an hour.  Of course I picked a photo of a dog and went with one of my favorite color combination a violet tone and yellow.  I am so happy with this one plan to work up a few of the other quick drawing.

Mary

Schiros_Art

Already at 21

     Available at DPWs

   Already 21 days, 21 paintings, this is going by faster than I thought it would.  Learning more about painting with a palette knife this month than I have in a year.  Guess practice really does help!

Mary
Schiros_Art

They wanted to be painted

Three a Wait, Acrylic on canvas paper, 20 x 16 inches

Several days this week my cats tried as best they could to park in the middle of still-life sets ups.  It took a while but I figured out they just wanted to be in a painting.  
   So I gave in......
Day 20 of 30 painting in 30 days.

Mary
Schiros_Art
    

A summer morning

Walk Around.  oil on wood panel, 10 x 8 inches

         Available at DPWS  

                         Day 16 of 30 paintings in 30 days

    I do not live in a city, but a quiet neighborhood where it is not unusual to grab a coffee in the morning, while still wearing a bathrobe, and talk to the neighbor over the fence about the weather or what we plan to do for the day.  This painting is one of those summer mornings.  It is funny my husband says it looks like a sad painting, but to me it reflects my reality.  I find it odd the different views people have on a subject sometimes, but again that is part of reality.  When painting this I wanted to leave the women’s face undefined so she could be anyone. 

Mary

      Schiros_art 

  

From here to There

Shadows and Snow, 8 x 10 inches, Acrylic on paper

 

                                 Available at DPWS

Sometimes the only way to plan a painting is to paint.  This week for the 30 paintings in 30 days I wanted to work on loose landscapes.  Pick acrylics as my medium because they dry fast, which keep allows my hands to work faster than my mind sometimes.

 Of the 4 done so far this is my favorite.  This has hints of subjects in it I can explore further, I see a small house or barn still not defined, suggestion of either a morning or evening glow to the sky, and a landscape of shadows yet to be explored.

   It is interesting what developed form the first lay down of colors and lines, so I thought I would also post the beginning of this work.

   I am looking forward to finding out where the now finished small landscape will lead to.

the beginning

 Mary

Schiros_Art

Time for Landscapes

Setting Sun,  Acrylic on Canvas paper,  8 x 10 inches

 Available at Daily Paintworks

 Day 12 of 30 painting in 30 days
Wanted to loosen up and play more in acrylics.  Thought some small landscapes would be the ticket.  The next few days I will be adding these to my growing group of work in the 30 paintings in 30 days tab.

   With this type of painting I put down a quick idea, lights and darks on an already orange tinted sheet of canvas paper and go from there. 

The start of any good painting should be a good abstract.

   Sometimes the starting idea is an abstract I leave alone, but other times I venture farther into the idea to see where it leads.
   I just remind myself, it is only paper and paint, see where it can go.
   Tip for the day:  do not be afraid to make mistakes, you can always work through them or simply start again. 

Mary
Schiros_Art  

Escaped Daisy, 20 x 16 inches, Acrylic on canvas

                    CLICK HERE TO BID ON

Day 10 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge, decided to work in acrylic and focus on texture.  Did most of this with a palette knife which was fun for a change.

 Mary
Schiros_Art
 

Elephant and Tea

Day 8....

Elephant and Tea, 14 x 18 inches, oil on canvas

 Found another little object that said; paint me! So combined my new favorite tea pot and the little red elephant for day 8 of
30 paintings in 30 days

Mary
Schiros_Art

Tea and Tulips

Tea and Tulips, oil on canvas, 16 x 12 inches

Day 7 of  "30 paintings in 30 days"
Found this little tea pot at a friend's store in Durand MI
Called ReTHINKin It and just could not resist getting it it.
I tend to be a tea pot collector.   The same day I got an order of new oil paint, Rublev Colours,  from Natural Pigments.
Love the paints, creamy and soft , perfect for working this little painting up.  
Nice way to start a new start the second week of the challenge.

Mary
Schiros_Art 
 

a little green paint please

 

 

 

Frog in a Bowl 2, oil on canvas, 10 x 8 inches

For the 5th day of January  2013,   30 paintings in 30 days, a Frog in a water bowl. why not.  On January  4th  I just painted the frog and the bowl, but it need something more, so I repeated the idea adding the water pitcher and like it much better.  Also, I think painting the frog a second time was good practice.

Mary
Schiros_Art
 

Happy as....

Day 3  (30 paintings in 30 days)

Oil on Canvas 12 x 9  inches, Happy Duck

 Another whimsical oil painting for day 3, a duck in a sunday dish...why not.   Think I could have put this little guy in anything and he would have looked happy.

Mary
Schiros_Art 
 

Whimsical week

Day two of 30 paintings in 30 days.
Decided week one will be all whimsical still life paintings.
Using the same mug from yesterday's warm up and add a black cat.  Calling it "Me and My Shadow". 
Oil on canvas, 12 x 9 inches.  off to find another odd ball subject to paint for the 3rd.

Mary
Schiros-Art
 

New Year Warm Up

Taking the "Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days"  challenge, an idea from Leslie Saeta

     Thought starting the year with a small warm up painting would be perfect. 
      Doing warm up paintings is one of my New Year resolutions.  The idea is the same as stretching before a run.  Starting the painting day with small warm up paintings helps to get one in the creative mind mode before working on larger works.  This is something I never thought of until I took a work shop from Robert Burridge.  It is a great idea and has helped me a lot. 

"Brushes are Ready"  Oil on canvas 10 x 8 inches

Mary
Schiros-Art