Day 29!

Well, better late than never! I started this one yesterday and since my little "life break" I have had a hard time starting back up. This is still the arrangement from my last post but this time painted in oils. It is a beautiful arrangement but it getting a bit droopy now so it's on it's way out.  This is on Senso Primed Linen canvas sheets .

Day 26 of 30-30 Challenge

This one is quite the hodgepodge but it was fun to paint. I painted it first in watercolor then went back and added acrylic to pop the colors. Then I outlined in ink with a Micron marker. 

This arrangement is just so beautiful I had to paint it. I will try to paint it with oils if it stays fresh enough for me to get back over to the studio. I am still struggling with this upper respiratory thing. Now it has decided to move up to my nose and run like a faucet.

Thanks to Kleenex with lanolin and Butt Paste.

Yes, you read that right, I put Butt Paste on my sore nose. Works like a charm!

Day 23 of 30 Day Challenge

This is an 8x8 acrylic painting. I only have acrylic here in my home studio and I have still been a bit under the weather and not really feeling like going over to the studio so this is today's painting. It is an adaptation of a pot in one of my favorite inspiration books called Container Gardens. I so wish I could grow and tend a container garden myself but I think I am just better off painting them.

This will probably be my last painting for this "30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge." I almost made it to 30 but I have to admit, the pressure to paint and post one everyday and be happy with it is certainly a "challenge"!  I need to tend to some family matters and get well from this nasty old virus thing that I have so I will return really soon hopefully ready to paint again!
Congratulations to all who are still hanging in there with the challenge!!! Keep going!!

Day 22 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Looks like I am reverting back to my mixed media style in acrylic. Sometimes it's good to just revisit.
I don't seem to have much get up and go (paint) these last few days.  I am battling some type of chest thing with coughing. But I am not down for the count.

Day 21 of 30 Paintings Challenge

Oh man, the pressure in on now. I am determined to get to thirty. This is a crazy little 6x8 of a still life that tried so hard to work---and maybe it worked enough to post it and call it #21.  I am feeling like I am in the 4 grade again doing math homework--just get'er done! Anyway, this is a little Angus wannabe painting.

I have my favorite painters in which Angus is one as well as Trisha Adams. I will be in her workshop very soon! Ok! 21 done 9 to go!

Day 20 of 30-30 Challenge

 I am pretty much stepping out of the box here back into acrylics. I really admire and enjoy the paintings of Angus Wilson. In the fall he will be here in Jacksonville and I am looking forward to seeing how he does his paintings with acrylic.  I have seen the several YouTube videos he has but seeing him do it is person will be fun. This one is rather bold with that red and orange background. I was planning to put another color over the background but I decided to just leave it.

Below is the sketch I did with Tombo markers---same sketch that I used for yesterday's painting.

I actually have two places where I paint. At home when I get the itch to paint something I go into my little walk-in closet that's all pimped out with shelves at my fingertips and a good work surface. 

I transfered all my WSO oil colors to my other larger studio (Red Door Art Studio) in the bungalow because I am seriously thinking about changing over to all water soluble oils. (Unfortunately I have a fortune in regular oil color).  The OMS (mineral spirits) gives me a headache and the clean up is not easy for me. Here at my home studio I have used Holbien Duo oil paint for a good while now and the ease of clean up as well as the exact same consistency and results as the regular oils makes it much easier to paint--at least for me. But for now here at the Red Door annex, as my husband calls it, I have transferred all of my acrylic paint. Goodness, I had no idea I had invested in so many. That was back in my Robert Burridge days. I still love the way he paints in acrylic.

10 more paintings to go to complete the 

Leslie Saeta 30 Paintings in 30 Days.

Day 19 of 30-30 Challenge

"Bright Flowers and Pears"

6x6

Day 19! Well, as I said the other day---real life is pressing in so I have to find a way to paint something that is quick and easier and fun to do. This took about an hour to do after I laid down the transparent colors last night. I am thinking that I might work better and have more fun painting when I do it the Hedi and Dreama way. Others use this method of laying down all transparent colors first also. But for me I think it helps me to get something down on the canvas as a underpainting color map. Again, I really should have taken a picture of the underpainting but it doesn't look like too much at that point.
Here is the little Tombo marker sketch I had in my mind but I was working on a square canvas so I can to crop it.

By the way, when I work here at home in my little closet art room I use Holbein Water soluble oil color. I really am thinking about switching completely over because the OMS seems to give me a headache and I hate the cleanup and the pour-offs etc. The WSO are just as good as the regular oils and clean up with water. But I have a fortune invested in regular oils and there are a few colors that I like to use that Duo doesn't have---namely Shiva Ice Blue. I could possibly mix that color up from Duo and put it in this.

Day 18 of 30-30

This was an interesting process to this little 6x6 painting. As I try to set up simple still lifes I try to make it pleasing to my eye but then I also need to remember a few of the rules of composition--namely the rule of thirds. I think that this one didn't quite fall into the correct area for the rule of thirds. I will surely paint this darling Fiesta Ware cup and saucer again and try to slip it into a more successful still life.

I saw an excellent "Artbyte" by Patty Mollica that is very helpful.  I highly recommend the Artbytes which are extremely helpful tutorials from wonderful painters in the Daily PaintWorks site.

Day 17 of 30-30

Just when I think I am sailing along in my daily painting, here comes a simple still life that

throws me for a loop. I guess I didn't realize how hard it would be to capture the white bowl, which is a new purchase from the antique store. White is tricky for me because it's not white really. I think I need to paint this set up again and see if it gets easier to paint. Not only is it hard to paint white it's hard to get the shape right. This was on a black background and I pretty much licked it to death--except at the top. I like to keep a little of the black showing. There's always tomorrow.

Day 16 of 30-30

Leslie Saeta 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

This is day 16 of my everyday journey of painting from life.

Whew!  I had to make the decision that I had to paint these daily painter faster. I haven't cooked my sweet hubbie much of a meal in 2 weeks and the clothes have piled up (again!) so I had to paint my daily paintings faster. So how to do that? Go smaller I guess. Sometimes it takes me just as long for a smaller one. Luckily this one only took about 2 hours so I am done for today. I decided to paint 6x8 and start from a black gessoed background which is something I enjoy doing. I have several black small canvases ready to go. 

These sunflowers were in a clear antique vase but it just wasn't happening so I changed the vase.

It worked ok.

Day 15 --Oil over Collage paper-8x10

I apologize for not taking a picture of just the collage paper on the panel but as you can see it's a harlequin design at the bottom and the top was an off white Japanese paper with some thin black geometric shapes. Sometimes I just have to sit down and paint from my imagination. This image seems to come out a lot in my imagination. I must be drawn to red flowers and yellow-ish (yellow ochre and white that is) background. I still like things that are rather grungy looking so as I progress in my painting-from -life journey maybe this will emerge there too. Right now while I am painting from life it is hard for me to decide how I edit what I see. So for now I am just going to paint what I see while I am waiting for my voice (painting style) to come forth.

Day 14 of the 30-30 Challenge

Day 14 of 30-30 Leslie Saeta Challenge

16x20

This is the last of the orange daisies!

You are probably so tired of these daisies. I bought some Sunflowers at Publix last night. 

We'll see how it goes with them. 

Day 13 of 30-30 Challenge

Day 12 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

This blue pitcher always makes a painting pretty. It's not the easiest to paint with all the designs but it's one of my favorite things to put into a painting. It was only $8 at the antique store. 

This is a 9x12 on a canvas.

Click on the Vocaroo Link below to hear me talk about this painting.


Audio recording software >>

Spots of Color Day 11

Day 11 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days by Leslie Saeta

I am really looking forward to taking Trisha Adam's workshop here in Jacksonville next month. I love how she uses color. This is a painting inspired from one of her paintings that I painted last night after studying her paintings and trying to figure out her technique.  So glad I will be able to learn from her soon!

Day 10 of 30-30 Challenge

More Tulips 12 x 12 on Gesso Panel

As you see I really changed this one, leaving out the window and pumping up the colors.
I started this painting with a dark brown, almost back gessoed background. I am just trying all the different ways to start a painting. There and MANY ways to start a painting. That's the confusing part. Which "start" will I stick with? I don't know yet.

But I decided to help it out in Photoshop before I painted it so below is the image I painted from.

Apparently I 'blued" everything in the painting but I guess while I was painting my inner muse choose blue. I am trying to paint with my instinctive artistic gut so this is how it turned out.

I added the picture below to show where I put the "to die for" window panels. They will live there very nicely. Just need to put a picture over them. As you see I paint from my iPad. 

Day 9 of Leslie Saeta Challenge

It's Day 9 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days from Leslie Saeta's blog.

Whew! And it's only day 9!

 I set this still life up in my studio with my new vintage window panels that I bought at the antique store around the corner. I had been eyeing them from quite some time. They were to die for but I quickly found out how hard they were to paint. Luckily they found just the right spot in the studio to live in.

"Tulips and the Window" 8x8 on Panel

Below is the picture I took. The limes didn't make it into the painting and neither did the shadow on the vase. It just didn't look right so I took artistic license and left it out. I actually hand painted the striped canvas cloth on the table. I am still trying to set up a really good still life that I am passionate about painting.

And just look at this sunrise this morning! 

 This picture doesn't even come close

to doing it justice.

God paints everyday so of course He is The Master Painter! 

Maybe I will try to paint it myself.

Orange Tulips--Day 8 of 30-30 Challenge

These beautiful daisies were fun to paint and with each still life I think I am improving in my quest to paint from life. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I think I should paint these flowers one more time before they die maybe with a lighter background. I am watching Hedi Moran videos and I think she is one of the best teachers out there. I love the way she paints. I watch her then go try to do it and mine just doesn't do it like hers. She sometimes uses a little cheap .99 brush. I think there is magic in that little cheap brush.
I did use all transparent colors as a underpainting like she does---and this is how it looked. Maybe I should have left it. I think I might like it better.

Day 7 of 30 paintings in 30 days

"Ripe for the Pickin'"

12x12 on Birch Wood

Ok, so here's the thing. I have taken workshops by several different talented and well known teachers in the last year; Alice Williams, Dreama Tolle Perry, Connie Winters and I have Trisha Adams coming up in February. Every teacher has a different method of painting from start to finish. They have their own particular colors and brushes that they like to use. I wonder if all this instruction from these vastly different but fabulous painters is helping or hurting me. I need to rephrase that---it's helps tremendously if you want to continue painting like that teacher but then here comes another one who does it the complete opposite. Then there are the DVD's I have watched from wonderful teachers like Hedi Moran, Richard Schmid among others. My head is swimming with techniques.  After I do Trisha Adam's class I am just going to paint and see what gels from all this instruction. I am hoping that a little from everyone will come out in my style.  But so far I am not sure which way I want to paint. I love the way all of them paint.  In the fall I am planning on taking Angus Wilson here in Jacksonville. I absolutely love his paintings. That one should really shake things up for me! But it's all so fun just learning and absorbing and trying and sometimes failing and getting up the next day and trying again.

Day 6 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

This is Day 6's painting. I actually painted this one twice. The first was a scrape-off but I am not going to get upset over scrape-offs because it's just that many more hours into my 10,000 hours to become a master oil painter.(I am reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell) This was a simple set- up on some fabulous material I just got from FabricGuru.com. Actually it has cute dots in it too that I attempted to do in the first painting but...so  much for the cute dots.

Red Vase--Day 5

"Little Red Pot"

12x12

Day 5 of Leslie Saeta's 30 paintings in 30 days. 

Hope I make it!

I completely turned my studio around and put the big easel into my big room. Here is the new painting area. It gives me much more room to spread out and have a good runway to back up and look.  I have to add more cool natural light because you can see from the picture how warm the lights are in there. I can also set up a still life to my right which is something I couldn't do in the sun room. In the other room the light might have been a bit more natural but I was just too crowded. You can see below how small the little sun room is where I was painting. So I 

moved it all. It was a feat but well worth it.

I have moved all my calligraphy supplies in this room so this is a nice area to do calligraphy, watercolor and work in my journals. I will have to put all that off until after the 30 day painting challenge.

Here's some calligraphy just to remind you.

Painting over an annoying painting-Day 4

So this is Day 4 or Leslie Saeta's 30 paintings and 30 days challenge.

Sometimes I see an acrylic painting in my studio that was ok at the time but basically annoys me now. This was one of those paintings so I decided to just paint right over it in oils from a still life set up. I like it much better now and it was certainly good practice to sketch right over the paintings with my oils and go for it. A little bit of the original painting is peeking through. A closer inspection shows it better.
I wish I had taken a picture of the original and I know that it is posted somewhere on this blog but I couldn't find it. It was a little village with a graffiti-like background.  I probably would paint over more of these graffiti -like paintings but several of them sold a couple of years ago. Who would'a thought???

Day 3 of Leslie Saeta 30 in 30 Challenge

"In the Blue Glass Vase"

12x12

I wanted to paint this one just with the palette knife which I think is fun to do. I might even become a palette knife painter. Washing brushes is a pain and the "odorless turps" give me a headache so it  might come to a point that I have to just put away to brush altogether and use the knife.

This was a still life that I set up in my quest to paint from life. This is a beautiful blue glass vase which is much prettier than I painted it. I will have to try it again.

On this one the background was dark and I turned it light. Not sure if that was a good idea actually. Anyway, this is painting 3.

Day 2 of Leslie Saeta Challenge

"Grungy Pear"

6x8

I just found out about Leslie Saeta's challenge to paint a painting everyday for 30 days for the month of January. I decided I would try it. I painted this very quickly last night. I enjoy just putting paint down quickly and not thinking about it too much. This is a throw-back to my "grungy" mixed media days with acrylic and I think I still am drawn to this distressed look.

"Blooming Tulips" 12 x 12 on Gesso Panel

Hey Y'all!!

I sure hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and I hope 2013 will be an artistically prosperous year

for all of you. I am starting out with fresh inspiration and a new outlook to my painting journey.

No more beating myself over the head just because my oil painting didn't meet my expectations.

Remember my little artist alter ego, Mattie Lou? She is still alive and well in me. 

But if this little girl in the picture kept it up and persevered then she is a master painter now.

I have been reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and have been intrigued by what he says about successful people. Is it talent, or hard work and practice? I am sure you know the answer to that. I am sure talent does play a part but it's hard work, and many many hours of practice---and of course a passion for the thing you are practicing.  He surmises that it takes about 10,000 hours or about 10 years to become a "master" at your craft.  I am not sure how to count my hours of painting. I have been painting in watercolor and acrylics for years but still lifes in oils are another whole thing. So I guess I have many many painting hours to go. Hopefully I will be able to enjoy the journey and realize that every painting will not be a masterpiece but it surely will help me to click off the hours of practice. Sometimes the bad painting may take a really long time because I sometimes spend hours trying to save it.  So this is my mantra for the new year: 

"The painting might be a miserable failure but 

I am just that much closer to becoming a master."

These were some beautiful red Tulips that I bought at the Fresh Market and as soon as I turned the light on them they started opening up. I didn't want them to do that but they wouldn't listen to me so this is how they were. I have been buying some pots, vases and fabric for my set ups. I know that now in my oil painting journey I need to paint strictly from life or from photos of my set up still lifes. Deciding on the objects, the composition and colors in the set up are still a huge challenge for me not to mention the painting part.

Happy New Year!

Well, here we go into another year! Goodness, they are going by fast. As I said above I usually don't make resolutions because I either break them--or forget what they were...but I do want to go into this year with a new and renewed excitement for my art journey. I want to paint for the enjoyment of painting with no expectations other than the fact that with every painting I am learning and getting better. Good or bad, agony or ecstasy, I am moving forward to becoming the best oil painter I can be. I know that it's going to take years but I am in it for the long haul. Next year if I remember, I am going to post my first painting of 2013 and my last one of 2013 and compare to see the improvement.

So, here we go... hello 2013!