Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day Eleven

I keep going back to horizontal lines and stripes. One of our assignments for Jane Davies' on-line workshop '100 Drawings On Cheap Paper'  was working with stripes. This was one of the most challenging assignments for me during the 10 week workshop. I am also focusing on seeing the landscape as a series of horizontal shapes, sometimes irregular and at other times symmetrical. For this image I limited my palette to raw umber, titanium white, cerulean blue and hansa yellow deep. I wanted to experiment and practice mixing more neutrals. There is not a lot of value change between the tones mixed using the acrylics in this composition. The Caran D'ache does help to add some 'brighter' bits of colour.

Day 11
4"X4"
Acrylic, Caran D'ache watercolour crayon
 & Graphite pencil on Canson Mixed media paper

Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day Ten

For today's painting I decided to start with some collage and see where it would take me. I haven't been using much collage in my work, maybe the odd piece of plain paper but not papers that have been 'decorated'. I was very fortunate to attend a workshop with Ann Bagby a few years ago. We made a lot of papers alla 'Ann' and I learned a lot about acrylics and how to glaze to get rich, rich colours and papers with lots of depth to them. I have Ann's dvd's (which are excellent) but nothing will come close to that workshop. I enjoyed using collage for this piece, it's good to change things up. I had forgotten about glazing and how rich it can make things look. Oh and I still have some of my papers from Ann's workshop - I just can't bring myself to 'tear' them up - maybe they should be framed? Have a good day and keep creating!

Day 10
5"X5"
Acrylic mixed media
on Arches 140lb hot press watercolour paper

Collage papers from
Anne Bagby workshop
Acrylic on dry wax deli paper

Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day Nine

Went with a limited palette for this picture - a couple of blues and yellows, a brown and titanium white. Added some line work with Caran D'ache watercolour crayons. I started using the Caran D'ache in the early 90's. I was attending a monotype printmaking workshop with artist and instructor Jeremy Mayne (was a life altering 'art' experience for me - a post for another day!) and he used these a lot before and after printing. He showed us how to heat up the metal plate (our substrate) with a hair dryer and then draw/mark make with the crayon. We would also heat up the crayon and rub and blend them on the plate. The crayon printed beautifully. I still have one or two crayons left from my original set of 10.

If you are participating in the the challenge I hope you are finding it rewarding to be doing a painting day. Although I can't believe it is only Day 9!

Day 9
4"X4"
Acrylic, mixed media on
Arches 140lb hotpress paper

Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day Eight

Driving home from the city this week, you can see the harvest has started. A lot of the fields are hay, but there are some grain crops. Variations of yellows and greens and they seem to form horizontal lines as far as the eye can see. I am very fortunate to live in some a beautiful part of the world.

Day 8
5"X5"
Acrylic mixed media
on 140lb hotpress watercolour paper

Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day Seven

Here is Day 7's offering. It is a chilly 3 degrees Celsius (37 degrees Fahrenheit) here this morning. Even though the sun is shinning I can feel the damp in my bones! Had to turn the heat on - a sure sign at our home that fall is here. This picture makes me feel a bit warmer.

Day 7
4"X4"
Acrylic & Caran D'ache watercolour crayon
on Somerset printmaking paper

Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day Six

Had to play a bit of catch up for the 30 in 30 this weekend but have gotten back on track. Struggled a bit with a couple of paintings - but on to the next. I am enjoying the challenge - great excuse to be painting and not doing the mundane day to day....you know what I'm talking about - laundry, vacuuming, dusting, dishes, etc, etc..... If you are participating in the challenge hope you are enjoying the time in your studio. 

Fall is here - although not officially. The morning air is crisp and cool and the grass is heavy with dew. The leaves are starting to change colour and fall to the ground. Mother Nature is letting us know that it is time to get things ready for the winter sleep. This is one of my favourite seasons - everything is so fresh out and the colour...well the colours are amazing. In the next few weeks it will be spectacular - as long as the wind doesn't blow too hard! This is having a big influence on my painting. The rich earth tones and the little pockets of green that refuse to give in to the change. And the skies - ever changing and spectacular.

Day 6
6"X6"
Acrylic, Caran D'ache watercolour crayons,
Derwent Inktense Pencils on
140lb rough watercolour paper

Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day Five

Over the last year my palette has changed quite a bit. This picture revisits some of the colours that were very much my go to! Magentas, purples, quin's ( 'red' and 'purple' hues). There are parts of this small painting that I think are successful and others not so much. In the past this would have bothered me a lot and I would have either painted over those parts or relegated the whole painting to the 'circular' filing cabinet! I now keep all these studies. Going back and looking at some of my rejects they actually don't look so bad. And what a great reference to have. This 30 in 30 challenge is pushing me to step out of my box, practice and grow as an artist. Happy painting to you all!

Day 5
30 in 30 Challenge
4"X4"
Acrylic, collage, Caran D'ache watercolour crayons
on Somerset printmaking paper