Day 7 - Lily in Scarlet, 8x10 inches on Canson board
this entry is brief since I have to use our backup computer…. I spilled maple syrup into the keyboard of my laptop. don’t ask. unless you are asking, “could this bizarre story be true?” in which case the answer, sadly, is yes. so short blog post, long excuse, sad Debbie (sort of, since I have a backup computer).
For the 6th day of the challenge, I painted from a photo- Barn in the Valley, 12 x 16 in, pastel on UArt 500 grit.
Something I experience in plein air vs. photo reference painting: I find it far easier to determine composition elements from a photo, than from outdoor observation. Maybe this is a no-sh*t-Sherlock to everyone else, maybe this is something I read, but this is the first time I get it at a gut level…. the borders of a photo help me to envision painting borders. In outdoor spaces, I struggle and see infinite possibilities and no edges. I guess I need to work on this.
I finished another painting yesterday – one I started a while ago. Here it is:
Day 5, Daisies in the Wind, 9x12in., pastel on Wallis
I sat near the flowers and did the layout and underpainting on my lap. Somehow without an easel, and with only a few pastels, it seemed more honest, fresh. I used a turpenoid wash over the hard pastels underpainting. The final layer – done with soft pastels indoors – lost some of that freshness, in my eyes. But I can still see the wind.
In honor of the holiday, I completed a painting I had begun plein air back in May when I was the guest of Mary’s cousins Sue and Pete Betts for 3 days. This is the view from their sunroom window. It was an amazing that while I worked on this, leaves changed from bud to open leaf; ferns from bump to unfurled fronds; and the water level receded so the water in this painting was mere mud. While I stayed there, I visited daily with my mom and dad – that was my mom’s mother’s day gift- me!
Betts’ Marsh in Early May, 9x12
I also worked some of the problem areas out on yesterday’s still life:
I wish everyone a safe and happy day!
Harvest! We will have radish slivers in our July 4th potato salad, thanks to today’s harvest which is the subject of Day 3 painting….. which I can tell needs a little work yet. I am not fond of still-lifes. And yes, I know it is now Day 4. Very early in Day 4.
“Early Harvest”, 12x15 on canson mi-tientes paper, dots and all.
Happy Independence Day to all of you!
The city of Sparta has been adding these great bridges – one a year or so for the last couple years- and I keep saying I am going to paint them… what better time than when I am painting daily? Today I spent FIVE HOURS in the park working on this, and another hour at home tonight. Actually, there were 2 false starts before I narrowed my scope a bit and focussed on the front view. This was extra fun today, as 2 other pastelists – members of the class I taught in Spring – met me there and painted, too. We hope to make that a weekly thing. Without additional blah blah, here is DAy 2 painting: Bridge in Evans Park, 9x12 on pastelmat.
So here I am, painting plein air in my own garden on Day 1 of the challenge to do a painting a day for 30 days, sponsored by the Arizona Pastel Society (no I’m not a member).
So here is another reason for starting this blog yesterday. I consider artistic goals, and sometimes I even whisper them to myself… I actually don’t wonder why I seldom meet those goals, but I WOULD like to change that pattern. So, I am saying it out loud – I am doing the 30-paintings-in-30-days challenge. Here is my first painting:
In the last couple days, lilies have begun to open.. as the yellow lilies on the left, and the pink Lollipop Lillies in the center. Hello Lillies! Thanks for showing up just now.
