Day 30 of 30 day challenge

Whew, the pressure is off.       I didn't finish the other two of the Waiting at IHOP trilogy.      Here is the group shown together, and the one I'm counting as today's painting.   

This was an elderly couple seated at the far end of the bench.      They did not speak the whole time they were there.   Don't you wonder how people who have been together for many years - have they run out of things to say?   Or are they just comfortable together in their silence?          His shorter pant legs, and saggy socks, and her swollen ankles spoke to me, and I knew eventually I'd have to paint them.   

 I've been holding these images in reserve for almost two years.   The 30 day challenge nudged me into bringing them out and blocking in the first stages of the paintings.

I'd like to thank Leslie Saeta for this 30 day challenge and for introducing me to many artists I would not have found on my own.    Seeing each one's daily offering, is awesome.      I have subscibed to many of their blogs so I can continue to follow their work.

Day 29

I didn't finish a painting today, but I blocked out a trilogy.    This is based on photos I took while waiting at IHOP for my granddaughters 16th birthday breakfast in Santa Cruz.   I was intrigued with the feet and legs of those seated across from us.     The group of three on the left are a mother and two children.    The boy on far left was wiggling and complaining so his  mom in the boots, took him to the rest room.  The little girl remained on the seat to save their places.    The figure on the right was alone.

I'm counting this as a painting for day 29.   Called Waiting at IHOP.    Golden's Fluid Acrylic on watercolor paper.    Two colors.   Paynes Grey, red iron oxide plus white gesso and water.

Day 28

30 days hath Sept.     Two more painting days for the challenge.    It's been a blast.   And talking with friends about their works, and how this challenge has changed their lives - well, Leslie really started something.     There are actually hundres of us out here painting daily.    Only a couple hundred post their pics, probably because many do not have web sites or blogs.   

Here is today's painting.   I'm calling him young poet.   Done with three colors plus white gesso and a touch of black.   Two reds and a green.    All Golden Acrylics - liquids.        I love those transparent liquids.   

I was looking at a black and white copy of a Degas  (I think) painting.   Hmmmm   maybe it was a Matisse?    That's where this face came from - until I got ahold of it.  Now that I see it in better light, I would like to change a few things, but it's just an excercise so it may just stay like this.      

Day 27 - not sore now

This is a follow up on the toe.      This is how it looks today.    

I have no explanatoin why there is a blue line at the base of the toenail.   Honestly, it is there.     

















I'm going to follow up this dreary little series with a treat for you.       

This is a post card that came in the mail today from my artist friend Roberta.    She is also painting in the 30 day challenge.      Thanks Roberta, it is more colorful than my blasted toe.     

Day 26 - ouch

What to paint?    I'm running out of ideas here.   But my toe that got injured last week when I took that tumble is looking so colorful, I figured I'd paint it.   First here is the one that looks like the toe looked on the second day following the fall.

It was pretty sore having the toe nail torn half off.   I'm not planning to cut it yet, I expect it will fall off or something.   Time will tell.   

You will notice I did not waste a canvas on this little painting.   Just another piece of scrap cardboard.   LOL

Mixed Media Group

Yesterday the Mixed Media Group met at the gallery in Lodi.   Several of us are painting daily in the 30 day challenge, while others have only recently begun to join in.      I took pictures of a few things they brought to show and tell.     

This is Patti Wallace showing Marilyn Erickson some of her recent works for the 30 day challenge.

 Here is Linda MacAllister showing a unique piece of mixed media work.  

These are a few of Marilyn's paintings and mixed media works.

These are some of Phyllis Cook's drawings and paintings.     She says this 30 day challenge is helping her grow as an artist.      

This is the collaborative puzzle challenge we recently worked on.   it is always great fun to see all the pieces together.     We are leaving it in the gallery for this month, so if you have a change to stop by, ask to see it in the studio/workroom.

How to keep busy - even when you have other things in your life

I've spent several days laying out and getting approvals for the new post cards for the Lodi Annual Small Works Show at the Lodi Community Art Center.     I'll try to post the pic here.    I had to copy it from the Vista Print site and then figure out how to use the new scanner to scan and send to this computer.   In the midst of my muddling attempts, I get a phone call from India's HP (I guess) service center telling me they know I'm having a problem and he can help me.  Then he rattle d on so fast, I could not tell if he was speaking English or even any recognizable language - so I told him I don't hear well, and could not understand, and hung up.   I can usually muddle through these things on my own.     I got really agitated that  someone out there is following my computer use (without my invitation).    Remind me to cover up the little camera at the top of my screen.      I don't want them watching me!   Seriously, this is way to invasive for my comfort level.      Poor guy that has to watch my activities.  Must be a pretty boring job.    hope he is paid well.       if they call again after I post this, I'll really be weirded out!

This is the scan I made of the front, back and invoice together to send for approval from Pres and Chairwoman.         I got approval so it's a done deal and I can get back to other things.     Like bathing the dogs.       LOL   

Day 25

Day 25 brings another little cardboard sketch/painting.      This time it is a strange person.  Is she young?  Is she old?    Does she feel young even though her locks have turned to salt and pepper?      Hmmmm..... whoever she is, I painted her.

I recently watched Jane Davenports video on making fanciful faces.  I can see her influence here.   First time her influence crept into my paintbox.

Day 24

Day 24, and I have to play catch up.     Three paintings today, very quick ones.   No masterpieces, I guarantee!     It's more fun to paint when you don't try hard.     This is a little quick crayon on cardboard scrap sketch, painted with liquid acrylics and gesso.      Could not be quicker or easier.     I didn't even go back and try to fix mistakes.    

Day 23

Sept 23rd is my dad's birthday.     If he were still on this earth, we would be celebrating his 111th birthday.     I painted a chicken for him.   It's one I'm thinking of painting on my fence.     This is just a little practice one on a piece of scrap cardboard.    It's very interesting the effects of a brayer with paint on the cardboard.   It brought out textures I could not see.        Acrylics and gesso.    

Day 22

My goodness can 22 days be past now.     Here is the one I just did.   It went very fast as

I had watered down my Golden Acrylics to a glaze consistency and treated them like more of a watercolor so they would blend.    The other day I primed the canvas with several layers of thick gesso.     I really like to paint on a heavier gesso.   I guess that's one of the things I learned during this course of the 30 day challenge.     I've always jsut painted on anything handy.      Now, I think I'm spoiled.     If I do the priming ahead of time, it's just as easy to pick up and paint on a whim later.    

Day 21

Here's a little mixed media piece, with a rubber stamped image of fish and acrylic paints.     Just a nice easy little exercise.   

Day 20

This morning my friend Roberta sent me an email with two photos attached.    One had this pair of birds tugging on a little strip of lettuce.   She said it was okay if I wanted to paint it - or I did.    Actually it is watercolor pencil and a bit of water.    No longer a piece of lettuce, and I placed the birds on a branch rather than on a table as it was in the photo.    

Day 19

This is the little quick painting I did of Nikki on a little scrap of cardboard.    She is always very alert and loving. Does it show in the painting?    

Day18

Mixed media artists have this little habit of cleaning off our brushes and tools on a blank sheet of paper or canvas.   Eventually we usually paint overthem letting some of the earlier layers show through.     this is a little canvas board I had done this to, but decided on the spur of the moment to draw little figures on it with oil pastel crayons.    Just for the fun of it.  That is why they have green faces.

Day 17

Here's a change of pace.     This is my little dog Lulu.    Nikki will have to wait another day for her portrait.   Then maybe I'll do the kid's dogs.    I have been so impressed with the dog portraits in the 30 day painting challenge that other artists have posted on Leslie Saeta's blog - I could not resist trying my first dog portrait.     It's not a good painting in any sense, but it looks like Lulu.   My grandkids loved it just now when I came in from the studio with it.   Candis took a pic and it's probably on Facebook by now.      Lulu is now curled up on my lap as I type.    

Day 16

A chicken.    Now, I'm getting the hang of chickens and roosters.  Adding the cut paper feathers and rubber stamping the chicken wire in background really makes it so much better.    I went back and added chicken wire to the red rooster I painted earlier.     Here is the white chicken.   Acrylic paints and gessos on a canvas board.  Permanent ink for the stamping, and Trader Joe's flyer for the text applied with a rubber gloved finger dipped into liquid gel matte medium.     

Day 15

I'm on a chicken and rooster kick.    The one I plan to finish tomorrow will be one to pair with this handsome rooster.    Acrylic paints on a canvas board with gessos, gel medium and cut up Trader Joe's flyer.     

SOLD

Days 13 and 14

Here are two new paintings, done in a rush.     This is all just for fun anyway isn't it?     Being a non commercial artist, it takes the pressure off and makes it all a big game.      If art is not fun, why do it?

These are both done of decades old canvas boards and acrylic paints and gesso,      Very limited palettes and some inspiration from the past and present. 

Day 13

And Day 14

Days 12 and 13 in 30 day challenge

Here is a very quick little colorful abstract.     I'll probably paint over it later.      This is for day 12.

 Today is day 13.    I'm amazed how many of the artists that signed up are painting and posting every day. 
Four of my local friends are also taking the challenge but only one has a blog.       Still, it is a good challenge, and since we are not painting to sell - it really doesn't matter.  

I'll post day 13 later.   I painted a island/seascape with palm trees.      On a whim.  
   
Yesterday was the mixed media group in Lodi.   There were only five of us attending, so we had a great chance to really visit and catch up with what's going on in each other's lives.   That's a rare occasion.      We worked on faces cutting up magazines and drawing features.     Here's a quick sample.  They eyes were drawn on scratch paper the day before the exercise.    Luckily they just fit the face.   LOL   

Catching up from Beach Trip

This was a quick trip, two nights away.    And we were rewarded with foggggg.   Dripppppy, chillllly foggggg.
Mostly we stayed at the beach house with art projects, British comedy videos, and dogs to walk.  Also cooking and eating.      Our only real venture out, other than to the grocery store, was a thrift store in Aptos, and Wysteria garden and home decor in Capitola.     Two of my favorite places to visit.      Here are a few pics.

First there are my two little pals sitting on a warm blanket warming up after a walk.

Then there is Tuff, Rosemary's little fella, who spent a lot of time snooping and sniffing under everything looking for stray toys.     And then trying to pull them out. 

 Here's Rosemary starting to do some art work.  I had laid out the mixed media group puzzle to check which pieces were still missing.      I'm happy to report, as of yesterday, the pieces are all here now.   

This is a cup rack/lamp with beaded spoons from Caroline's Thrift Store in Aptos.      I bought this for my kitchen.

This is one of the delightful paths at Wysteria in Capitola.   There is much to see here, with the damper, cooler weather, plants grow so well.   The sun peeked out while we were there.  

There are multiple display rooms/areas to explore, the green room has always been my personal favorite.      The beach room is newly done.   I like it much better than the old decor.      Isn't it cozy looking?

Day 11 of 30 day challenge

Yes, it is

Yes, it's another little bird in my bird series.    I've about run out of these little stretched canvases so will probably change subjects soon.   LOL   It's been fun painting in a series, though.   

Day 10 of 30 day challenge

Here's another little bird, posterized  in Photoshop after painting.    

Day 9 of 30 day challenge

Here are two versions of this little bird, one has been photoshop tweaked.  I've been out of town a few days so I'm a bit behind.    

Day eight of 30 day challenge

I'm just getting ready to leave for the beach, so I had seascapes on my mind.      Here's day 8.     

Day Seven of 30 day challenge

Another little bird.   When nothing else comes to mind, I paint birds.     LOL     

Day six of 30 day challenge

This little 5 x 5 inch painting is very mixed media.   I layerd dressmaker tissue on the little canvas, sealed it with gel medium, and then some gesso.     Next I dragged Porfolio oil pastel sticks over the surface for texture and sketched in the trees.     Then a little paint and it was done.

Once I photographed it, I tweaked it a bit in  Photoshop for the next pic.     One of my favorite things to do.   It also give me ideas on how I'd like to improve or change a painting.       In this case, I like the original best.

Day 5 of 30 day challenge

Here's a little change of pace in my painting extravaganza.   LOL    Using a photo that I had enlarged and textured and painted/tinted some time back as the inspiration - I turned my hand towards making a small landscape using the same colors and scene.    But, you know in art, things often change midstream.  Instead of a farm, it turned into a little community of buildings and outbuildings.    Makes me think of a little mining town, high up in the hills.

I really liked the warm autumn colors at first.    But ..... last night I didn't like them at all.     So I smothered the background with gesso and found myself turning it into a snowy scene.       It's not done yet, but I like this one better.       This one speaks to me.  I can almost see people inside and how isolated and mutually dependant they must be in a tiny community like this.       

This is the farm scene I started with, sorry it's under glass so hard to get a good pic. 

Day four of 30 day challenge

Another little bird.       I did this a couple days ago, knowing I would not be able to paint every day.    I've spent the better part of two days on rat patrol.   I was calling it a mouse, but now I know it's not just a little guy, its  got to be a rat.     We are clearing under and behind things that have not been disturbed for many years, places it likes to hide.    My dogs always know where it is, but they can't get to it.     Now I'll be able place rat traps way back under things and not worry about my doggies noses.      We threw away a lot of stuff stored on outside shelving, and scrubbed a bunch of things I plan to keep.     My it does look good.   It's so good to have a grandson handy who can help out.   It would have taken forever to get this done.      

Enough of that.  Here's the bird.

As you can see, I used PhotoShop to posterize it.    I like the graphic quality of posters.  Now I would like to see it printed on fabric.   Hmmm....  What do you think?

Day 2 of 30 day painting challenge

I accidentally reused the image from day 1, due to confusion on how to upload the pics.  The one I put up for day two did not have a viable link.    So, now here is the real painting for day two.  

It's a silly little birdie checking out an empty nest.