Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day EIghteen

Kept today's painting simple. Chose some different colour mixes and I am happy with the end result. At the start of the 30in30 I would never have tried this! So glad to be participating!

Day 18
5"X5"
Acrylic on Canson mixed media paper

Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day Seventeen

Trying to get a few paintings ahead for the challenge. I am enrolled in a 5 day workshop with Joan Fullerton next week. So excited to have this opportunity to take a workshop with her. So I need to get going on these small paintings. I think this will be a good thing as it will force me to paint faster, work looser and not be so picky over the small things. Have posted the before and afters of todays effort....not sure how I ended up at the 'after' - hmmm should you admit that?! Have a wonderful weekend and if you are painting 30 in 30 looking forward to seeing your paintings.

Day 17  'Start'
5"X5"
Acrylic and mixed media
on 140lb hot press watercolour paper

Day 17 'Finish'

Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day Sixteen

Wasn't sure if I would get time for Day 16. Our weather has been incredible the last few days and it makes it so hard to be indoors. After a wet summer we are finally being rewarded with some hot days.

These are not my usual colours but thought it was worth a try. I always have a pile of 'fresh' paper that has been cut or torn into different sizes. So at the end of a painting session, if I have any left over paint on my palette I will use up the excess paint on these pieces of paper and I sometimes use them to lift paint while I am painting. I like working this way because I have a piece ready to go, with a lot or a little paint on it (not 'intimidating' white). With this image I was trying to be bolder with my mark making and have a few more neutral areas. Some parts work, some not so much but I am giving myself permission to experiment.

I sometimes scan these papers before working on them. It is a great way to see where you started and where you ended up.

Day 16 'Start'
5"X5"
Acrylic mixed media
on Somerset printmaking paper

Day 16 'Finish'

Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day Fifteen

Mostly neutrals today, with a touch of some transparent red iron oxide. I participated in Jane Davies' online workshop on advanced colour. It was a lot, a lot of work - mixing, matching, colour swatches and more colour swatches. But, it was well worth the time and effort! I figure if I keep mixing and experimenting with the lessons from that workshop things will eventually begin to become second nature. I have a long ways to go! Hope all your painting is going well.

Day 15
5"X5"
Acrylic

Hmmm - when you take a 'step back' and look at it in this format needs more line work and going back in with some coloured pencil or crayon to punch it up a bit. Still can.....

Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day Fourteen

Apologies for late post! I had to take my Mac in for repairs and without asking they updated my operating system to the 'El Capitan'....latest version. I had chosen not to update to this version given the less than glowing reviews. So... neither one of my scanners now works. And, yes we have contacted Apple support and there is little they can do. So.....apologies for the picture quality - here is today's image.

Update...my husband was finally able to get things working - only took 3 hours or so!! This is the real post!  Showing what the progression to the finished image....




The start and then what I thought might be a 'finished' image - but I just didn't feel it was done.

So, kept going and feel much happier with this being the 'final' image.

Day 14
5"X5"
Acrylic Mixed Media
on Canson Mixed Media Paper

Much happier with this being the 'final' image. Hope you think so too! Have a wonderful day painting.

Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day Thirteen

'Hit' the reset button today. Needed to 'shake' things up a bit and freshen up my painting 'mind'. I don't find cruciform paintings easy to do - mine always seem to end up looking extremely stiff - like this one! This definitely was a challenge to paint but glad I gave it a try! I've been working on this off and on and think it might be done. Think I'm ready to go back to some semi-abstract landscapes now!

Day 13
9"X9'
Acrylic mixed media on
140lb cold press watercolour paper

Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day Twelve

Late posting today! Getting back into the 'regular' routine - running behind, but it all eventually sorts itself out.

Enjoyed painting this image. It is on birch panel and I really like working on the panels. I like going back in with palette knife, dried out pens, wood skewers, etc and the wood will take the process of making those marks really well - not so paper as you can imagine. I do coat the boards before starting with a couple of layers of GAC100 - helps to prevent the lighter areas of paint from yellowing over time. This is caused by the lignin in the wood. I really like this piece - it looks deceptively simple, but there are several layers of paint and lots of 'drawing' back in using the above mentioned tools. You do have to take a close look to see some of the lines, but I think it is worth a second look. The mountain ranges seem to go on forever here - row after row is how I would describe the view from on high! Have a great day and happy painting.

Day 12
6"X6" on Birch Panel
Acrylic mixed media