An Adventure in Daily Painting

Today's Project...

Smarties!
       I had no idea those little ovals would be so hard to get right!  And to add insult to injury, my sister thought it would be funny to tell me that she ate my still life while I was taking a break!!!  I am happy to wrap this one up, as it took almost two hours to complete.  I am now in search of a fast candy to paint tomorrow.  My computer is going into the shop for the weekend, so I will post my new work on Monday.  Stay tuned and have a joyous weekend.

Christine

Smarties, 5x7 Acrylic on board

10 minute studies

An Adventure in Daily Painting

Today's Project...

Taffy
An unopened box of salt water taffy from our trip to the Cape this past summer was the victim of today's painting.

Taffy, 5x7 acrylic on board

10 minute sketches

An Adventure in Daily Painting

Today's Project...

Peppermint Love.  I figured I would stick with candy this week, and I liked painting the cellophane highlights yesterday, so I dug these out of the back of the pantry closet.  The sketches took about an hour and the 5 x 7 acrylic took close to two hours, only because I was challenged (frustrated) by the overlap of the cellophane.  Now I am moving on to painting some Christmas tree artwork for my licensing work tonight.

Peppermint Love, 5x7 acrylic on board

15 minute studies

 

An Adventure in Daily Painting

Today's Project...

As I celebrate my birthday this Friday, I decided I wanted to mark my 45th year with some artistic endeavor.  Coincidently, Kelley MacDonald was offering a class entitled "The Merits and Pleasure of Daily Painting" at the Providence Art Club.  The practice is to do a small painting every day.  It is a time to try new subjects, materials and techniques while working on color, composition and speed.  The goal is to complete the painting in about an hour.  Today was the first class.  The sketches were completed in 10 minutes each (very humbling) and the finished 5x7 was done in an hour.  I am hooked!  So I will do my best to post each day's image as I embark on this new year of my life.  Happy Spring!!!

Candy Pair, 4x6 Acrylic

10 minute studies

First Encounter

20" x 60" Acrylic on Canvas
Currently on exhibition at the Providence Art Club through February 1st, 2013.

Since I received a good deal of positive feedback on last month's process steps, I have included them for this painting as well.  The painting was based off a plein air sketch and photos taken at First Encounter Beach in Eastham, MA during August of 2011.  A tremendous storm came over the bay and this view was about a half hour before bone chilling lighting and thunder hit our area.  The original intent was to have a few of the beach folk painted in, but I decided to omit them half way through the painting process.  The painting appeared to be a stronger statement of nature's awesomeness without us humans messing up the view.  The studio painting took about 40 hours to complete.

Plein air sketch done onsite

Blank canvas

My palette with old but wet paint to tone my canvas

Toned canvas in Cadmium Orange and Burnt Sienna 

Vine charcoal sketch with tape line to mark the horizon

First block in of the clouds

Softening and lightening

Skyholes and "God Rays" added

Blocking in of the land masses

Birds, flotsam and water "glistening" added

The Tuscan Countryside with a Palette Knife

Happy New Year!

My final commission of 2012 was a 4 x 8 foot painting on panel.  The wall which it was designed for had a vaulted ceiling, so the custom framing allowed the painting to appear as an architectural element in the room.  Using a limited palette of colors to coordinate with the furnishings, only knives and blades were used to create this painting, no brushes.  This technique gave the painting a rich texture.  Painting it brought me a great deal of enjoyment, especially when I pulled out my old "Bob Ross" plexiglas painter's palette.  I have included the progression photos so you may see my process.

Wishing you peace and joy in the new year.  Thank you for your continued support of my efforts.
Christine

Initial sketch

Gessoed panel

Charcoal outline

Tonal underpainting

Color wash underpainting - Right

Color wash underpainting - Left

Color wash underpainting - Detail

My Bob Ross Plexiglas Palette

Finished

Detail

Installed

A Forest Fellow

A familiar friend from my backyard...

This is the last little picture I could complete for the Providence Art Club's Little Picture Show.  The show runs until December 23rd.  Gallery Hours