Get loose

My name is Mud - 8x10 oil on wood panel

In order to loosen up I am back to doing some small, quick paintings.  Daily Paintworks is a good website for inspiration as it has weekly challenges - this week's challenge is to paint your art supplies.  So I threw down what was on my table and whipped this off in an hour.  It is not fully complete, but I really like the loose feel of it.  Mud is the stuff at the bottom off the cleaning jar.

It's a wiper

The one hard thing to do is to not beat myself up to much when a painting goes south and just wipe the sucker off.  I think I am getting better at this.  The above is an example... I started this one because I really love this bread box.  It is kind of retro and I bought it not just to store bread in, but because I loved the colour and it looks good.  I threw together this 'still' life, putting in the orange for some colour and the plate cause it matched.  However after working on it for the last 3 hours, I realize that the box is too big for the rest of the objects and that it just isn't translating so well onto the canvas.  Hence it is a wiper.  I will wipe it away, save my canvas for another day and call it a learning experience.  NEXT time, start with a pencil sketch... save yourself 3 hours!

Metal Challenge

Today, just had a couple hours to work on something so I tackled my little 8x8 painting of the pizza place.  The biggest challenge was getting the metal pizza ovens and hoods over them to look like shiny or dull metal.  I wanted this one to be quick and loose and got it down fairly quickly.  I unfortunately used the same brush on the sky that I had previously used on the metal, so that I greyed the outdoor, backlighting toooo much.  Now I will have to wait until this baby is completely dry to get back some really bright light behind the pizza guy. 

Monday, funday...

I didn't get to paint much on the weekend, but I thought about it a lot. Today I was over-thinking the horse-drawn sleigh painting.  I had decided to get rid of a fair bit of stuff - like the passengers on the sleigh and much of the harness paraphernalia as it was obscured by the steam coming off the horses. I need to let it dry up a bit and put the steam in I think and then correct the colours around it.  So I put it aside and started a small 8x8 painting of a new favourite pizza place, called The Stone and Wheel.  Was waiting for some pies the other night and liked the lighting so I snapped a photo and will try to make this one nice and loose and painterly, not dab it to death.  

sketchy stuff

adding a wash to get some values

still struggling

Serious Work

colour sketch on paper

Having decided that I will take this painting job seriously; I am reading, researching and listening to information on how to do this, whenever I get a spare moment.  While I paint I love to listen to Podcasts and one of THE BEST podcasts I have come across for artists is the Savvy Painter.  Antrese Wood, who is also a very good artist, hosts weekly podcasts with some superb and interesting artists  / artsy people and they discuss all things arty.  LISTEN to it, it's great!

Not the most attractive thing

Today I did a lot of 'un-fun' things in order to prep for more paintings.  I had to shop for art supplies - I am not a keen shopper.  Then I GAC'd and Gessoed lots of hardboard panels in preparation for a series I am tackling.  Then I had to complete a self-portrait as homework for tonight's class.  Self portraits are hard and in this one I looked pissed off but it is because I am concentrating on trying to draw myself properly, which wasn't easy.  Oh well.

On a spree...

I am in the process of completing my very last University art class in order to obtain my Fine Arts Certificate.  It is Figure Drawing - we mostly draw from the live (nude) model and have a couple of drawing assignments each week to hand in.  Below is a bit of homework I tackled today, a copy of a an old master drawing.  I also dabbed at a small 8x10 and a larger oil painting I am tackling.  Both were not dry enough from my last painting session so I kind of started making a mess and had to give up.  I seem to have a ton of ideas lately and am on a painting spree of sorts.  Hope this lasts!!

my sketch of old master drawing - p 149 Charles Bargue

Road Trip Inspiration

I had the opportunity to do a very short road trip with one of my sons, as he was off school this week.  We had 3 days and drove to Fernie, BC.  We snapped photos enroute - me for inspiration and painting material and my son, just because he is a talented, aspiring photographer.

Fernie, BC

I saw this fabulously coloured camper van in the parking lot in Black Diamond? I think it was.  I decided to do a warm up painting this morning with it.  It was a tad more technical than what I imagined - so I spent more time than I wanted to on it.  However I think it is worth saving to do a future painting from, with more thought about the background.

What is art?

Starting to add some colour

As an 'emerging' artist I am always interested in learning new things and trying to improve my art.  I was looking up a residency program in Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan when I came across the following:

"Have you always wanted the intensity of a day or 2 (or 3) in a large earthen hole with one other person?

In the Hole is a short-term residency located in an earthen hole on Treaty 6 territory in rural Saskatchewan, Canada. Each resident will spend 6 hours each day in this hole as a participant in this residency. Residents can come for one day up to a maximum of 3 consecutive days. There will be one person at a time at the Residency.Have you always wanted the intensity of a day or 2 (or 3) in a large earthen hole with one other person?"

You can check it out yourself by clicking residency in a hole.  I admit I did laugh, thinking that this was a joke and I pictured a camera being set up to take pictures of whatever unsuspecting sucker came along who actually took it seriously.  Trying not to judge.

Anyhow..back to the ongoing struggle.  I am working on the larger version now of my smaller study of Cypress Hills.  Trying to use lots more paint and make it more 'impressionist' in style.  I found the beautiful paintings of Erin Hanson to inspire me.  We shall see if this larger one turns out.

Get Organized

Oil sketch for larger painting

I am enjoying the oil sketch I am doing in the hopes of tackling it on a larger scale.  I often find when I am doing a 'sketch' I am very relaxed, loose and enjoying just slapping down some paint.  These paintings not surprisingly usually turn out much better than the second more laboured painting.  Think I would learn from this.

I was trying to do another painting and was struggling with finding the colours I wanted. So...  I finally got sick of digging through the pile of oil paint, went out to the garage for organizing inspiration and found this tackle box that is not being used, because it was too big to be practical to haul out into the woods.  It now holds all my oil paints and needed oil paraphernalia.  I think I love it.

My beautifully organized tackle box with a yellow, red, blue and green drawer; a swatch of each colour painted on thick board and labelled.