Interesting Beginnings

"Curly"  Mixed media on watercolor paper 20 x 16 inches

                                              Available at MarySchiros.artspan.com

   I love making interesting under paintings to work from.  Sometimes those under paintings are pure experiments in color combination.

I started this one with experiments in mixing oranges and blues, then roughed in with white acrylic the mass of the sheep, I wanted to  work up.  From there I worked back and forth with acrylics, inks and charcoal.
   Just thought it would be fun to share the process of how "Curly" was painted.
Thanks for looking
Mary

Painting Too Much?

Sometimes  get so involved with painting I forget to share what I have been up to.

Carnations on White, 14 x 11 inches, oil on gallery wrap canvas

I painted this last year and simply forgot all about it.  Sometimes I get so excited about new ideas that all I can think about is starting the next painting.  This is a really nice painting and it is about time it got shared.  Today I varnished, matted and sorted a number of forgotten works.  Although I would rather have been painting it felt good to get a little organized for a change.

Yellow Daisies, 14 x 11 inches

Yellow Lab, 18 x 14 inches

  Thanks for looking

Mary

Daily Art

Frumpy Cat

I am what you call a Daily Painter, (my main website is on Dailypaintworks.com ).  An often people assume I do a finished painting every day...nope.  What daily painting means to me is, working towards a painting everyday.  Often I do cartoons, a great way of getting a feel for the character of a subject.  Sometimes I do black and white sketches, with ink or charcoal, to understand light and shadows, mass, and line.

longhorn study

   It is all part of the process, that I love about art.

Mary

Drawing is Important

"What Cats Do"  Acrylic on watercolor paper 24 x 18 inches

     Draw, draw, draw important advice to any painter.  This loose painting of cats, (what my cats actually do most of the day) started with a number of drawings.  Quick charcoal sketches help for getting to know your subject and for planning a composition.

my easel with reference drawings

   After doing about a half dozen charcoal drawings of various cat poses, I picked my favorites and used them for reference while painting.  My models do not sit still for very long, so quick drawings, (lots of them) really help me to capture posture, and the attitude of each stance.

abstract layout

   I also use black and white chalk, to create an abstract of what I plan to paint, this is extremely helpful for planning the basic composition.   With this step I am not trying for any realism just light and dark contrast, and line movement.

   So when ever you have time grab a pencil, or charcoal stick and sketch.  You never know what those sketches will lead to.

Mary

30 in 30

Actually painted more than 30 paintings, but collaged the favorites for this post.

The hard part was not painting them, but stopping to post them.

Mary

Raining Cats and Cows

Bessie's Close-up,  14 x 11 inches, on canvas panel

"Blue Moo"  14 x 11 inches on wood panel

"Sun and Stripes"

For the last couple of days I have been finishing up some more cow paintings.  Between cats and cows I have been having a good time working with color and critters.  The 30 paintings in 30 days challenge had really kept me on a roll and it is hard to believe there is less than a week to go now.  Hope you have enjoyed this month as much as I have.   Added the latest 2 cows to my site on Artspan,  schirosart.com

   And my crazy cat is headed to a new home in New Mexico.

Mary