I have been having fun lately, just working on figures.
I found a group on face book call One Hundred Figures, a group sharing various styles of figure painting. A wonderful artist Tina Naya'li Berendsohn share demos and everybody gives them a try.
When you find a site like this just have to "pick up that brush" and join in.
Day 8 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. A good friend of mine makes wine and uses photos of her pup for the label. She was kind enough to give me a bottle of her latest batch. So thought it would be nice to give her something back. This painting is for her. Thanks Deb.
But thought I would share the painting process of this one with you. I started out just planning to paint the bottle, roughed in the form and built up the layers with acrylic paint on a wood panel. But as I went along it need something to add some more interest and balance the composition a bit. Thought adding the pup peeking over the table was just the ticket.
Friday, September 2, 2016
8 x 8 inch acrylic on canvas
A study in contrast for day 2 of the #30paintingsin30days challenge. Thought I would do some work mixing my own darks. For this painting I used magenta and dark green.
As you can see I really enjoy painting cows :) Thought I would share a collage of them up to now.
For the 30 in 30 you will probable see a few more, along with other subjects.
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.
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.
Off and on I like pulling out inks to work with. This painting "Into the Wind" was done with shellac based ink.
There are 4 types of inks I work with, india ink, walnut ink, acrylic ink and shellac ink. Each ink has different characteristics. India ink is classic, moderate work time, dries permanent and depending on the company making it, moderate to course pigment texture. Walnut ink is a brown color, fine texture and works much like watercolors, in that it does not dry permanent, so it can be lifted after applying. Acrylic ink I like best when working in mixed media. Acrylic ink comes in many colors, fine grain, mixes well with regular acrylics, watercolor paints or pencils, and dries permanent. Shellac ink is grainy, permanent, and dries quickly.
Shellac based is something new for me, although it has been around a long time. I am really loving the texture and bit of a shine it has when it dries. Shellac ink dilutes well just like all the other inks for creating toned washes. But what I like best about this ink is the very fast drying time. I just love the challenge of getting the brush work down fast, keeps me from over thinking the process. I haven't tried it with mixed media yet so I have some thing to look forward to.
Having something new to try really keeps me going, and with art there is always something new to try. Mary
Decided it was time to have some fun after working in monotones for the last few days.
Got my inspiration for painting cows from the site Paintloose.com
Besides finishing this cow today I had to paint a cat too. Pretty productive day.
14 x 11 inches, "Sun and Stripes"
So nice to go wild with color and line again.
Hope you enjoy looking at these as much as I enjoyed painting them.
For the last few days I have spent my focus on tree studies in ink. I am planning a large ink painting for my living room, mainly of pine trees. But before starting the large painting I wanted to spend some time getting comfortable with my subject.
Amber Fringe, 11 x 14 inches
Although this is not pines it is my favorite of the studies I have done so far. This painting was completed with shellac based inks, like these they are a bit thicker and also dry faster than acrylic or standard india inks.
With ink as with most water media paints working in layer is a good plan. Thought I would share a few of the studies showing 2 layer of each one.
These 2 studies I started with walnut ink, a dark brown ink that dries like watercolors, not permanent so it can be lifted until the work is sealed. Added some acrylic ink washes for the final steps.
For the last one I used acrylic ink and tried to approach the subject in an abstract style.
Sometimes it is fun to try a little of everything at once. Started this painting with walnut ink, then added some acrylic paint. Let it dry a while and out came the charcoal and some pastels. Think the only thing missing was the kitchen sink.
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:)
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
The blades are basically rubber palette knifes and great for roughing in an under-painting.
This is the beginning of my next one using this method...
Here is the subject, soon to be another finished painting. Prefer so far painting with these on the a smooth board, letting the under painting dry then when finishing with detail.
Thought I would collage all the photos of the September paintings together. Guess I got into it pretty well, 35 paintings in 30 days, and some have already found new homes. Great little challenge, may even do it again when it comes around.
3 more paintings of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge...
Day 13
"Cool Shade" 14 x 11 inch Acrylic on watercolor paper
Day 14.....
"Reeds in the Light" 16 x 12 Acrylic on watercolor paper
The paintings above were what I call warm-ups. If I have a painting that is taking a while to finish, each day before working on that painting I start out with a smaller warm-up. Doing these warm ups get me in the painting mood for the day.
Day 15 I finished up one I have been working on for a couple days.
After 2 days of working with my portable watercolor palette, I notice how similar the two paintings looked even thought they were different subjects. So going back to a still-life decided to change palette and medium. Wanted to address the sunflower but with acrylics.
Day 12.....
16 x 12 inches, "Hidden Poppy" Acrylic on watercolor paper
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
I started this planning on a dominant blue color in mind. I started with the red as an underpainting, planning on it being an under tone. But, I fell in love with the warm red red color and just kept going. This is day 3 of 30 paintings in 30 days.
Yesterday I dropped by the Fenton Michigan community center in time to paint with some of the wonderful painters that are part of the (LAVA) Lakes Area Visual Artist group. The group had a model that day to paint, and I decided to give it a try with my watercolors. Pretty happy with how it turned out.
