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

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

Three in one day

Acrylic and inks

   Today is day 5 of the 30 paintings in 30 days, instead of one I did 3 paintings.  What started as a warm up exercise, ended up with 3 little painting I really like.   I like to sometimes set up a full sheet of watercolor paper, section it off and pick a subject to paint multiple times.  Today I set up a blue vase with some silk tulips and started painting, alternating between inks and acrylic paint.

    Here is the group together...

After I separate and matte these I will be adding them to my Daily Paint Work site.

Mary

Day 2 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Daisy and Rose"  14 x 11 inches Acrylic

                                                                                          

Day 2, worked with a acrylic paint to make a loose mass of flowers and vase.  Then after letting the acrylic paint dry finished with a liner brush and acrylic inks.  Two done and only 28 more to go.  Should be a fun month:)

Mary

Embracing my wild side

14 x 11 inches "Just a Cold One" Mixed media on paper

                                            

     30 painting in 30 days is happening again in Jan.  I have done this challenge from the first one started and plan to give it a go again.  This time I am putting my oil paints away for 30 days and going with mixed-media.  Going to explore working loose, pushing myself out of my comfort zone and seeing what happens.  

     I have started following an Artist by the name of Robert Joyner at his web site Paintloose.com  and he has really inspired me to work with mixed-media.  

   Thought I would share a few paintings with this loose approach today...

And just so you know I actually did 4 beer can paintings with just one beer...just I am not too wild after all :)

Ok how about some coffee now...

16 x 12 inches mixed media on paper, "Blue Steam"

                                                 

14 x 11 inches, "One More  Cup"

                                            

Hope you all enjoy the up coming month it should be fun.

Also hope everyone had a great Holiday and wish everybody a wonderful New Year too.

Mary

 

Always Something to Paint

Acrylic on canvas 6 x 6 inches  Geranium 1

                                

Acrylic on canvas 6 x 6 inch Geranium 2

                                  Click to Bid

 The subject for these 2 paintings were a some Geraniums I pick outside a Holiday Inn I was staying at for a short trip I took this Fall.

  I was restless and  really wanted to paint something, so I took a short walk and noticed the flowers still in bloom outside the hotel entrance.  So, I helped myself to a couple of blooms and went back to my room, grabbed on of those cheap plastic cups and set the flowers up on a window sill and started painting.  The first painting was done in the room that evening.  The second painting I used the original painting as a starting point reference.
  The idea is if you love painting you can always find something of interest to work from.
Mary

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

Tone, values and color

Table Top,  12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

Had the pleasure of taking a workshop with Qiang Huang in AnnArbor Michigan.  It was a great learning experience, and would recommend his work shop to anyone interested learning more about oil painting.

Qiang Huang spends the first part of the day demonstrating and explaining his process, then we spent the rest of the painting.  This is the first step the line and placement on the canvas, from our own set ups.

The next stage is value and modeling out our paintings.  Flowers by color and detail.

Each day a new painting was completed.

Orange Reflection,  14 x 11 inches, oil on canvas

Working from tones to color give such a rich depth to a painting,  something I plan to practice much more in the coming days.

Mary

Schiros Art

Spilled Paint

Ever open a tube of paint, only to have about half the tube come squirting out.  Well,  I have, just a couple weeks ago, Old Holland cad. orange.  But I did not let it go to waste....

Pale Ride, Acrylic on canvas, 12 x 16 inches.  the orange adds a warm glow to this painting.

This is one of the finished paintings from that accident.  After the paint plopped out on to my palette and hands, I grabbed several blank canvases and starting priming them with the orange.  Mixing a little clear gesso with acrylic makes a fine base to paint over with either acrylic or oil paint.

2 of 6 canvas that got primed with the orange acrylic and gesso.

WIP

Some I added more color and some modeling paste and really had fun.
Just because the canvas starts out very orange, often the painting only shows a bit of that orange.

16 x 20 inches

While other paintings I let the orange show in all it's glory :)

16 x 8 inches oil Middle of the Pine

16 x 8 inches Right of the Middle

16 x 8 inches Left of the Middle

So to make a long story short.....never waste your paint :)

Mary
Schiros-art

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

How to Loosen Up

Did the Daily Paint Works challenge this week..........three times in a row!

Want to loosen up your painting style?  Try painting the same thing at least three times in a row, quickly.  You will loosen up, really.
Started with this one, more or less a copy of the subject presented for the challenge to paint.

I had 3 canvas panels lined up and started right in on a second version. 

Click to Bid

With out stoping to rest, did one more, think you can see the change happening here:)

Click to Bid

This really is great way to loosen up. hope you give it try.

Mary

Snow day

Last night we got about a foot and half of snow.  What is not to love about Michigan :)
Lucky for me I had nowhere I had to be today.  So what do you do when you are snowed in....
paint!!!
    This where I stopped for today.

18 x 18 inches, Acrylic on canvas

Going to think about it for a while, before I decide if it is finished yet.  When I decide it will be added to my web site at Daily Paint Works.  But for right now it is time to just hang it and think about it.

    Thought I would share the steps, layers, that got me to this point.  

I started with base colors, flexible modeling paste, and really only the thought of sky.  I wanted some wild texture to the first layer.

The mid point I let the texture dictate the ground.  Nature is not perfect, and I wanted this to be part of the painting.  If you think about painting every blade of grass the way you think it should be, reality is lost.  Interesting thought that a little chaos and abstraction is more real than planned perfection.  Ok that was a little deep, hope I do not get a head ache now.
    Anyways, just thought I would share.  Off to texture some more canvas before the roads are cleared here.
Mary
Schiros-art.com