Today's Work So Far

Oregon Coast II

Added a layer of color. The waves are roughed in, as is the sky, and the land.

Oregon Coast II Underpainting

I think I will have to set my studio up as an assembly line to produce more paintings. Doing them one at a time, I have lots of drying time in between, so maybe if I can choose several images at once, I can do all the tinting of the support, then all the underpainting, then continue doing each layer on each painting at around the same time. I have never done that sort of thing, so I don't have things set up correctly, but that can be changed.

Lone Pine, Lake Yellowstone

8"x10" Acrylic on gessobord

Just a couple of minor changes, but I think it is finished now.

Lone Pine, Lake Yellowstone

8"H x 10"W Acrylic on gessobord

I think this is finished, but I will continue to gaze at it for a while before I post it on Etsy as a finished product. Sometimes glaring problems elude me at first.

Lone Pine in Natural Light

My work light is supposedly color corrected, but it really warms these tones a lot. I have to shoot in natural light whenever possible!

Lone Pine, Lake Yellowstone New Passage

That is more like it ...

Now I am closer to the colors in the printout of the photo ... several steps removed from the moment when I took the photo. Sometimes the worst photos are the best for me to work from, because I am not caught up in reproducing nature. Nature is constantly producing wonders, and my paintings are not meant to capture Her. I can only use Her shapes and daub my mud on them.

Simplification, or The Coloring Book School of Art

Which Twin is the Photo?

In order to make the painting less complex, and less realistic, I have taken out the extraneous trees. This is about the big tree and the clouds, and how their shapes reflect one another, so that is my focus.

I like to do an outline of the shapes and then fill them in with a brush that is really a bit too large for the shapes, so that I do not get all fussy with the details. Another artist might want to get into every little thing, but my style is loose; representational but not realistic. 

Lone Pine, Lake Yellowstone

Mixing Chart, my Photo, Color Star, 8" x 10" gessobord Panel

This image called for a lot of blues, so my choice is a split split-complementary (if that is actually a term?). Yellow-orange with Blue-Green, Blue, Violet, and Blue Violet. I did a new mixing chart for the piece today. The mixtures look dark, and they are closely related, but with the addition some white, the tints will play nicely together.

I have tinted the panel yellow-orange, because there are so many cool colors that I want some underlying brightness, which will peek through in spots.

Peach Creek

Peach Creek

Here is another 6"x6" painting, acrylic on gessobord, bamboo frame, $60.00 plus shipping, to be sold on Etsy.

Pines, Armand Bayou

Pines, Armand Bayou

I had to replace one of the frames that Blick shipped to me because it had a scratch on one of the miter seams, so this is the replacement frame, which is black. I am now uploading it to Etsy, where it will sell for $75+ shipping.

Another Little Guy for the Etsy Shop

Creek, Jackson, Wyoming

This painting is now live on the Etsy shop for $60.00 plus shipping.

Step by Step, Inch by Inch ...

Messy but Kinda Kewt

I think a painting a day may not be possible for me at this time. Even a 6" x 6" takes a couple of days at least. Maybe I need to simplify the imagery?

Storm Point I Painting Framed

Storm Point I

I have listed this for sale on Easy for $75 plus shipping. With the frame it is 14" x14" x 2" or so.

Log Touched Up

A Shot in the Dark

The log seems to be flat in the back and I added a little more shading. Now it looks cylindrical! Yay!

The Product

Fallen Log 6x6" Painting Framed

Fallen Log, Bridge Bay, Yellowstone

Fallen Log

Palette, Painting, Printout of my Photo

Today's Work So Far

Underpainting

Going in the right direction

My First 6"x6" Painting

The Alchemical Laboratory

As I intended, I began my tiny painting of the fallen log today. I colored the gessobord with red-violet, because the main color in the painting will be its complement, yellow-green. This gives the outer color solidity and when bits of the complement are visible, the painting has a sense of life. Then I put in the upper section of yellow-orange and the lower yellow-green. I did not make it very yellow, because starting with a medium value, mid-hue will give me a base for the intense yellows in the grasses later on in the process. I have a bamboo frame ready for this painting, which I hope will look good with my color choices. It is a renewable/sustainable frame choice.

Fallen Log, Bridge Bay, Yellowstone

Bridge Bay, Lake Yellowstone 2014

Two Complementaries

Mixing Chart

This will be my next 8x8" painting. I have never used this particular color combination, so I had to do a new mixing chart for it. I plan to start the painting tomorrow. 

Finally!

Oregon Coast I

This painting is 16"H x 20" wide. I finally got my other supports and frames. I do not have a frame for this painting. It will be signed and varnished before it gets framed.

Making Progress

"Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things" - Horse With No Name, America  (well, no birds, but still ...)

I worked on the  sand, the grasses, the bluff on the right, and the creeping plant life on the left. Progress... still much to be done. Waiting for the paint to dry again. 

Yesterday's Work

Easel with Painting, Palette Chart, Image Printout

Again, it is clear I cannot do a painting every day unless I stick to a very small format. This 16"x20" painting is moving along, but not quickly. I have supports and frames ordered for smaller formats, including 6"x6", 8"x10", and 11"x14". Once they arrive I will experiment to see what sizes are appropriate for producing a painting per day. Meanwhile, I will continue to work on this one.

My "day job" is cooking for my husband and myself, and caring for our two dogs. Currently my schedule is to do household chores in the mornings, and paint in the afternoons. 

Bit Off Too Much for One Day

Oregon Beach 16x20

I am tired and going to bed. This is as far as I got today. I think the size makes a big difference. I would rather not rush, so smaller than 16x20" is better for a One A Day Painting. I have a few sizes ordered, and I think 9x12" should be doable in one day, but I will have to see how that goes.I think this one is moving in a good direction, but it will take me a few more hours to finish. 

Today's Painting Begins

Oregon Coast above Newport, OR

Underpainting

 I took the photo in 2010 on our Oregon vacation. We drove to the coast from Corvallis, and then proceeded north on 101. This state park was somewhere near Newport, Oregon. I have looked on the map but I do not recognize any of the park names.

I used a canvas that I had on hand, 16" high by 20" wide. First I colored the canvas with yellow-orange, then drew into that with cadmium red paint to establish the basic shapes. Now I have filled the main shapes with color. I am literally waiting for the paint to dry so that I can continue! Hehe.

The Little Guys

Here are my two new daily paintings on a small easel. I worried about the size of the signature in relation to the painting. It is as small as I can paint it, but seeing them from a couple of feet away the signatures look reasonable. I plan to frame these paintings and sell them on easy.com.

Afterthought

Added Highlights to Tops of Trees against Sky

Painting of the Day

Underpainting

Working in Shadows

The Horrible Stage

Getting There

Small is Tricky!

Small Painting of the Day

Storm Point I

I am going to do a painting a day, as much as possible. Of course that means working much smaller than I usually do. This painting is 8x8", acrylic on Gessobord, which is an archival and environmentally responsible support made by Ampersand.