catching up on a few days

Should be posting these each day, but sometimes life just gets in the way.  I have been painting each day for the September 30 paintings in 30 days challenge, just forgetting to post.
Day 5...

"Rose Maze"  11 x 14 Acrylic on paper

   I have been rereading a book called "Life, Paint and Passion" by Michele Cassou and Stewart Cubley.

            Day 6...Day 7 and 8 

acrylic on paper 12 x 9 inches

The main idea in the book is about letting go and painting for the process not the product.  Think the idea has wonderful to work with.  Letting go a bit on the thought process and just letting the paint guide you does help open your mind to a lot of new ideas.
Mary

Acrylic on canvas paper 16 x 12 inches

 

Acrylic on paper 12 x 9 inches

Art Learning from Others

Oil 14 x 11 inches Fall Study 1

A Simple post today, with a quote from Tad Spurgeon:

       "A painting is fundamentally a dynamic composition of monochrome values executed in color. If the composition doesn't work in monochrome, the addition of color, however sublime or inspired, will not solve it."

Think that simple line says volumes.  Just something to think about.

Mary
Schirosart.com

Using a canvas pad

12 x 16 inches oil

    A way to save space and money, if you paint a lot, is to use unstretched canvas.  Canvas pads are a handy surface to work on.  Fredrix  is my favorite brand, it has a nice texture and can be stretched over wood stretcher bars very easily.  Utrecht is also a very good brand,  has a texture truer to canvas but is a bit more stretchy than Fredrix.
    If you do not plan to stretch the canvas, another surface I like is Canson Canva-paper this one is good for applying to a wood panel, the surface is slightly more absorbent than regular canvas.  For large paintings, canvas roles are great.

   What I like about the pads is you can paint a ton of paintings and not have to fill every corner of your home with paintings.  I have a simple way to let these oil paintings dry without filling up the studio, I pin them to a cork board with tacks till they are dry enough to decide what I want to do with them.

Seven paintings drying!

   Also, I can easily work on more than one painting at the same time, by taping the canvas to a board.

   In this case I worked on two ideas for the same painting, at the same time, comparing them side by side.
    Also, these can be cropped to a different size.  One of these may end up a smaller version, ( I have not decided yet, but it is an option).

,

Just thought I would share some more tips with you, hope you enjoyed them.
Mary
Schiros-art

Some more Painting tips

Oil on canvas "Black and White Study"

I painted this one for the Daily Paint Works challenge this week.  But it was a good reminder that working out ideas in just black and white can be a good practice.  Doing this reminds me how important having a range of values can be, instead of getting caught up just in colors.

   Another tip;  if you are working in oils, it is a good idea to have a safe place to pile paint rags while you are painting.  My husband made this for me, and it is a simple and helpful thing to have.  Get an empty paint can and lid, (I got mine at a local hardware store for a couple bucks), add a knob and there you go.  Linseed oil can spontaneously combust, and that is not something you want to have happen next to you while your painting.

Another tip, I mark all the lid of my paint tubes for quick reference.  An easy way to find that red tube of paint in a hurry.

And one last tip for those of you that work in oil and water media, like watercolor and acrylics.  Tag your brushes for the media they will be used in.  Also handy if you go to a class or workshop to keep your brushes marked and separated as yours.

One can never have too many brushes :)

Happy painting
Mary
Schiros-art.com

Ink and oil painting

"Night Watch" oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches

Decide to try something different, an under painting in ink.   After playing around with ink yesterday, I used one of the ideas and painted the outline of the cat in ink on canvas.  After it dried started putting down some layers of color in oil.

First layer of paint after ink dried.

Think I like this technique, plan to try some more.  Maybe next time letting more of the sketchiness of the ink lines show.

Mary

Schiros-art

Thinking with ink

Day 2 of  #jan30in30
     Today I am just thinking and planning with ink.  A little 14 x 11 inch ink paintings that will be an idea for another painting.  There is a spontaneous flow to ink off a sumi brush that, at least for me, always inspirers a need to do more.

Mary
Schiros-art

A Change of Mind

"A Natural Still-life"  Oil on panel, 12 x 9 inches

Click to Bid

   I know one should have a firm idea in place, a plan, or outline of what is to be done.  At least that is what I have been told.  And I often do know exactly what I plan to paint....but not always.  In this case I had a textured panel all set for a landscape, and I started that way, (more than once).
   I started a landscape did not like it, wiped it off, then started a seascape...really did not like it, and wiped off the sea.  I decided I was just not in the mood for land or sea that day, but still felt like painting.  I just finished Carol Marine's newest book and thought I would try one of her suggestions to paint forms thinking of them as islands.  Painting by islands is basically to work from the middle out.  So I started with the apple, then moved on to the vase and flower, planning to do the background last.  Well I changed my mind when I saw how the still-life looked and fell in love with that sky behind it.  In fact I think I see a future series here :)
  Sometimes a change of mind is a good thing.

Mary

Why not?

14 x 11 oil on panel, "Tulips 5"

                                                                             Click to Bid

     Being fairly new to oil painting, I have noticed that different painting mediums produce different styles.  I started in watercolor, then worked in acrylics and now oils.
 I was looking at a set-up I had ready to paint, and thought it looks like a watercolor subject, but what I had out were oils that day.  So I ask my self..."why not paint it with oils like I would a watercolor".
     I guess I just gave myself permission to try something different and so glad I did!
So "why not?" is going to be one of my new sayings when I pull out the brushes :)

Mary

Some more red...

Finished up this painting this morning.....  Day 12 of 30 in 30

24 x 18 inches, acrylic on canvas, "The Bath"Available; original of print at FineArtAmerica

I know I am posting this late, but my day was busy with some of my favorite things: painting in the morning,  gardening in the afternoon, then canning in the evening.  Yes I like canning, something cool about growing your own food, putting it up for the Winter.  Kind of old fashioned but thats me.
    This painting I started at the open house for the Flint Institute of Arts, and it was painted with the same colors of the painting from yesterday. I worked on both paintings at the same time.  I find that working on 2 paintings will keep me from over working one.  I  taped several  1 and 2 minute gesture drawing on the wall in front of my easels and used them for reference.  One suggestion I can make is, if you ever have the chance to take life drawing please do.  There is no other form of drawing that will fine tune your skills as much as having to draw the human figure from life.
Mary

Mixing up some blues

Sunlit Blues, oil on canvas, 12 x 9 inchesAVAILABLE AT DPWS

Another day of taking time to learn more about the oil colors that I have.  Have found it interesting how much more I have discovered about color by doing simple color charts.  Having the charts handy when painting,  has simplified the process of picking what colors to go to when painting.  The latest chart I did because I wanted to find a green that would match a sunlit green bottle, I knew it had to be mixed but just was not sure what green to use.
   Using 7 of my favorite oils from blue to green,  I mixed the colors with whites; zinc and a titanium,   yellows,  and a complement Permanent Rose.  Found the colors I wanted and have the chart handy for future paintings.
    The chart does not have to fancy, I used Arches oil paper, the colors, and a painting knife to mix and apply the paint to the paper.  No brushes to clean, pretty easy:)

A handy idea, hope you give it try.

Mary
Schiros_Art

Why I paint, what I paint

                                              At fineartamerica.com
I went to bed last night with my mind in absolute turmoil, could not stop thinking about news and issues.
The last few days I have been drawn to painting a couple of subjects, Buddhas, and horses.  At first I could see no reason, but this morning it all came together.  

                                                                            At Fineartamerica.com

                                                                           AT Dailypaintworks.com

With the Buddha paintings I was reaching for some serenity, in chaos, I look for peace.
But there is a saying I love; “Chaos - where brilliant dreams are born”.
This morning I grabbed a coffee and immediately started another horse painting.  While painting I contemplated the nature of the horse and our Country.  The horse was not native to this Country.  But it was brought here and built and work our lands, together with cowboys, farmers and ranchers, to help build something wonderful.

Our land is a vast mix of people, plants and animals, some native, some not.  How all these mixes work out, depends on if they work together, or if they destroy. 
 The tumble weed is not native, it causes much destruction, it does not blend in and benefit the land, the Starlings take natural areas away from native birds, but he horse has an iconic role in the portrait of the US.
Sometimes I just have to look at the complicated high tech world and break it down to what I can wrap my mind around.

As an Artist, the subjects I paint may seem random, but I guess they really are not. 

                                     Watercolor work in process

Mary

More than three

16 x 12 inches, ink on watercolor paper

                                                        Available at DPWs                  

Winter is over, and time to celebrate Spring.  After working on yard work for several days, decided to treat myself to some flowers.  It will be a while before there are any flowers blooming outside,  so having some in the house feels wonderful.  Of course with fresh flowers, they must be painted.

14 x 11 acrylic on canvas sheet

I pick a few flowers from the bouquet, set them on the table with just the right light and started painting.

14 x 11 acrylic on canvas sheet

  After three paintings set the blooms aside, back in my kitchen.  Studied the paintings, although I liked them, they just say what I wanted the paintings to say.

 14 x 11 acrylic on canvas sheet

 Today while walking through the kitchen, I noticed how well the light and shadows looked on the bouquet, so got my watercolor pad out, a couple brushes, and my inks.  Standing in the middle of the kitchen, I painted them just as they looked, (minus the dishes in the sink), and was finally happy with the painting.

Sometimes it takes more than 3 times to get some right.

Feeling Brainy

12 x 12 inches oil on canvas panel  "Mister E"

                                                                                 Available at DPWs

     This is a little follow up to my last blog.  I had mentioned links for painting ideas, and one was the Daily Paint Works Challenge    Many of the challenges are open for quite a long time, which is great because you can pick and choose what you want to do.
     One of the interesting things is see how different each painting posted to the challenge can be.  Fifty artist looking at the same reference subject will come up with fifty different paintings, this always amazes me.

Mary

Finding Ideas

                                           On the available paintings tab of this blog

Wanted to spend some time today sharing some helpful links.   There are times I know I just need something to give me a kick in the rear to get going.  Having some sites on the web to spark ideas is wonderful.  I have some old favorites and a new site (at least for me) that are great to go to.

The idea for the painting on today's post came from a site I just discovered;
paintmyphoto.ning.com  This is a site photographers and painters get together.  Photographers offer photos for painters to paint,  how cool is that!  You can as a painter post your paintings there also, and there are a number of forums for tips and ideas.  I have posted both paintings and some of my photos for other painters to use.

One of my old favorites,  is a web site called Wet Canvas  This site has activity for all media, and a great photo reference library.

Also, if you need an idea or challenge Daily Paint Works isn't just for selling and buying art, (although I highly recommend a little shopping there), it also has challenges, contests, and tutorials.

And one more site I just found for painters wanting to understand color;  Hand Print
This has information on color pigments and more.  I haven't finished looking around the whole site but use it mainly for pigment detailed information.

Hope these sites help you out, and let me know of any others that are good too.

Mary

Inspiration from the tube

Acrylic on watercolor paper, 16 x 20 inches, Over the Shoulder
Available at Daily Paint Works

We are bombarded by imagery every where, not by just what is around us, but also from television and movies.  If you are like me TV drives me crazy, mainly the over load of commercials.  But with the nifty invention of the remote and the DVR those can be passed over.  The second thing that is handy about the DVR, is the pause button.  Often there is a scene with a beautiful location, or a face just perfectly shadowed that just yells paint me.  Well pause at that scene and start sketching.  Occasionally a movie that is totally about art, will drop in to your lap, that is full of inspiration.  The movie “World of Art” is one of those.  If your a painter take some time and check it out on YouTube.  While watching that movie I did several sketches that I am working up into paintings, thought I would share the sketches and a couple of the paintings so far. 

Available at Fine Art America

Mary
Schiros_Art

Save your sketches

I know I have said this before, but it is worth saying again....Save you sketches!   Even those 1 and 2 minute drawing, sometimes those have the most expression.   When cleaning my studio this Winter,  I was tempted to pitch a bunch of old drawing.  But as I sat an looked at those old 1 and 2 minutes drawings, ideas started popping into my head.
   Instead of dumping the sketches I grabbed one and started redrawing it, focusing on what I liked about it.   The following ink and color paintings are some of the places I went with one rough sketch.

14 x 11 inches, Solitude" Acrylic on canvas

                                                     AVAILABLE AT DPWS

A Gift to Paint

I have been having a blast the last week or so.  A friend gave me a the coolest gift;  a bleached deer skull!  Yep he is a hunter, and gave me this to paint.  Thought I would share some of the work I have done so far....
Today I did a study in ink and acrylic, plan to work this one up later in oil:

Ink and acrylic on paper,
AVAILABLE AT DPWS 

Here are a few more..........Can you tell I am aging FUN :)

   The following are available on my Fine Art America website as prints.

This one is on Zazzle;

Anyways just wanted to share, hope you enjoyed seeing what I have been up to, now back to my brushes :)

Mary