The Value of Keeping a Sketchbook

Today is day 23 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge! I managed to get a little ahead with my little birdie paintings, so I decided to start filling up my sketchbook with more bird studies. For today's post I wanted to write about the value of keeping a sketchbook. 

I am a firm believer that keeping up with your drawing skills will help hone your painting skills, keep your creativity alive, but can also act as a wonderful, living resource for subject matter. What I love about a sketchbook is that it can bring you back to an earlier time and place in your life. It never ceases to amaze me of what I was capable of drawing back then, and helps me to find the confidence to keep at it. It's funny to read little blurbs about my life from a few years back too...a year can make a big difference in a life! Anyways...

Earlier this month I was at a loss for what to paint so I went to my book shelf where I keep all of my old sketchbooks from years past and I started flipping through. I found a wonderful sketch of a chicken/rooster. It was very linear and had great proportion, just what I was looking for in my sgrafitto style painting. Well, it came out awesome and since I posted it, I have two people who asked. Looks like I'll be making another one! 

Anyways here are my paintings for days 22, 23 and 24, plus some bonus pictures of my recent birdie sketches. Click on the link in the title and you will arrive at my Etsy shop! 

Day 22

"Perched" 

Acrylic on 4" square by 1" deep gallery wrapped canvas 

$20 

Day 23

"In My Nest" 

Acrylic on 4" square by 1" deep gallery wrapped canvas 

$20 

Day 24

"Sitting Pretty"

Acrylic on 4" square by 1" deep gallery wrapped canvas 

$20 

 Sketchbook Studies

1/22/16

Thanks for checking out my blog and please feel free to comment or ask questions! 

Developing My Style

Today is day 21 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge and I'm finding myself coming back to the same process and finding results that I love!  I'm layering my backgrounds with fun, expressive, bright marks and colors, then adding a layer of thick white paint, and then using my favorite painting tool, the colour shaper to swipe away lines. I feel the excitement of the reveal new every time I try this approach. 

To keep things interesting, challenging and changing, I'm making a list of things that I want to do while continuing to develop and grow this style. Here goes:

1. Etch something other than birds or feathers - HA!

2. Paint thick 2nd layers with a color other than white or black

3. Paint on larger canvases using the same technique

4. Do an india ink wash over the top of the white layer see what happens

5. Research to see if any other artists out there have already do this

6. Use these as stamps to see what happens. 

I'm open to any other suggestions! 

Enjoy my paintings and please check out my Etsy page if you would like to see about collecting! 

Now to play catch up - 

Here is day 20 

"Puffy Chickadee" 

4" square by 1" deep gallery wrapped canvas

$20

and here is day 21

"Beaked Buddy" 

4" square by 1" deep gallery wrapped canvas

$20

Thirty in Thirty Birdies

Well I was on a roll with the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge for over two weeks and then I fell out of my routine. I did get back into it today and managed to catch all the way up. Working on all of my paintings at once definitely united them as a group and I'm calling them my Thirty in Thirty Birdies!

 I'd be lying if I said this was the first time I've painted birds. Ever since I got back into painting back in the middle of 2014 birds just made their way into my paintings. I won't even start with the intention of painting a bird and then it just appears. I do love them though, so I'm going to just keep it up...

Now I will bombard this post with many pictures and time lapse videos to show the progress! By the way, my paintings are all for sale (at marvelously affordable prices) and will be added to my Etsy shop.

Day  14

"Springspiration" 

Acrylic on 12'' square canvas

$40 

(this photo below is the under layer) 

Here's a time lapse showing part of the process! 

Day 15 

"Moving In" 

Acrylic on 12'' square canvas

$40

Day 16

"Checking Out the Scene" 

Acrylic on 12" square canvas

$40

Day 17

"A Frosty Dip"

Acrylic on 12" square canvas

$40

Day 18 

"A Chilly Chatter"

Acrylic on 12" square canvas

$40

Day 19 

"On the Prowl" 

Acrylic on 1 1/2'' by 3'' 

Thank you so much for checking in! I hope you enjoyed! Please email me and I encourage you to leave comments. I am still new to blogging, so if you have any advice, it is welcome here.

Creative Living

The practice of painting every night for almost two weeks is starting to feel like part of my routine, and I LOVE IT!  I hope this is the effect that the 30 in 30 challenge is said to have and will jump start my creativity and productivity. 

To supplement all of the creativity going on with the 30 in 30 challenge, I am reading "Big Magic - Creative Living Beyond Fear" by Elizabeth Gilbert.  Let me tell you, starting this now was PERFECT timing. Gilbert tells of her journey of becoming a best selling author in a way that relates to any creative individual, and guides the reader to care less about all the fears that come along with being a creator. She writes about persistence and how whenever she'd get a rejection letter, she'd immediately send out whatever was rejected to a new publication. I want to adopt this once I am ready to submit entries to galleries and competitions. Anyways, here is one of my favorite quotes from her book so far: 

"The older I get the less impressed I am with originality. These days I'm far more moved by authenticity. Attempts at originiality can often feel forced and precious, but authenticity has a quiet resonance that never fails to stir me. Just say what you want to say, and say it with all your heart. Share whatever you are driven to share. If it's authentic enough - believe me - it will feel original."

Anyways, here is my 12th painting:

"Feathers Afloat"

Acrylic on 8'' square

The process:                               

 13th painting: 

"Feathers Adrift" 

Acrylic on 8'' square 

 

Full Speed Ahead!

Tonight I finished TWO paintings for Day 10 and 11 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge! I set up my phone to record me using the time lapse setting and the results are below! I find it so interesting to watch as the process appears before your eyes at full speed. If you haven't tried this yet, it is mesmerizing! 

The first layer - 

The second layer - 

The paintings (which may or may not get some refining tomorrow) 

"Introverts"

Acrylic on 4'' square canvas

Available

"Center of Attention"

Acrylic on 4'' square canvas

Available

Thanks for watching! 

Painting Realistically VS. Intuitively

Day 8 and 9 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Painting realistic for day 8 was a choice I made because I wanted to just see how I would do. I haven't tried it in a while and I am honestly pleased with how much I remember and how sucked into the details I got. The "how to fix this?" question came up a lot and my remedies were not always perfect solutions. There is a lot that I need to gather in my tool kit in the realist department.  There is so much refinement and squinting! Props to all you realist painters out there. I have a lot to learn from you. 

"Baby D in Bright Aqua Green" 

Acrylic on 6" Square Canvas

Available

 Photo Source - Photo Taken By Rachel Hoffman 

Intuitive painting comes to much more naturally to me. It's faster, easier and I am comfortable with it right now as I'm developing my practice. Is that a good thing? I don't know. I feel like as artists, we shouldn't ALWAYS have to be pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone, otherwise that zone would never grow at all! I feel like the technique I keep going back to - the mark making, the  covering up with white or black and the reveal with the colour shaper is so much fun and fluid. It just feels right! Here are the process photos and the result is below: 

I love to look back at old sketchbooks. This chicken sketch caught my eye as I was flipping through the pages. I started my first layer with red, because I was hoping that I could get some bright warm feather colors to pull through after I added my top layer. 

Here's where the fun starts... just playing around doodling with paint!

Adding more colors and covering with thick white. 

"Chicken"

Acrylic on 6" Square Canvas

Available  

Thanks for checking in! 

The First Week of 30 and 30

Seven paintings down and 23 more to go! I have to admit I did say aloud to my husband, "I think after the 30 in 30 I'm going to just keep on and see how far I can really go. I have a lot of unfinished work that has been on "vacation" and needs to be taken out and dusted off for some refinement. I'm saving those for after the 30 and 30 though...because those are HUGE!

The first week has helped me see myself a more dedicated and it honestly feels like it could become a habitual thing to start painting daily. It's a great feeling of accomplishment! 

So far I've been working on 4'' square canvases. Next up is the 6'' square. I'm looking forward to moving up in size. I am going to continue to paint intuitively in layers. I will admit though that looking through all of the artists posts on the 30 and 30 blog, I am tempted to step out of my zone and revisit working realistically. I'm also really inspired to try working with JUST palette knives, as Leslie Satea does, the creator of the challenge.  

So, on a very cold day in Upstate New York, I present: 

"The Guilded Mountains"

4'' x 4'' 

Available

Thanks for Visiting! 

When Your Inner Voice is Wrong

I used to label it as laziness. I was too lazy to get my butt into gear and get creating again. Now, in hind sight, I think the biggest reason for my creative lulls are the powerful inner voice that we all have, especially artists. As creators, we are in check with our inner voice often, and in my case, my inner voice can be...

well...

a jerk face. 

Tonight, as I was finally settling into the time I've schedule to do my art, my inner voice chimed in saying, "Ugh, what am I going to paint, there's nothing flowing around up here...Hmm, what excuse can I find to not have to paint?" The worst part is... my inner voice said the first comment ALOUD. Not good! 

Our thoughts do become our words and our words do become our actions. Fortunately, that was NOT entirely the case for me tonight. I got my butt in gear and pulled together not one, but TWO paintings. 

Screw you, jerk face inner voice, you were WRONG! Here's my proof (day 7 painting to be posted, well, tomorrow):

Day 6 of the 30 in 30 challenge:

"Illuminated Night"

Acrylic on 4" x 4'' canvas

Available

 $20

Working In Layers

It's been cold outside here in New York so, "working in layers" was the theme of today. For this post I'm going to explain a little of my white layering technique and show off my two latest paintings from yesterday and today. These are day 4 and 5 of the "Thirty Paintings in 30 Days" challenge. 

 "The Weight"

Acrylic on  4"x4'' canvas

Available

"Flora Embrace"

Acrylic on 4"x4" canvas

Available

So of the two of these, "Flora Embrace" is the better depiction of my white layering and masking technique. So the idea is I play around with color and composition, line and pattern and I really just have fun and use bright colors. Then I take a deep breath and slap on a whole thick layer of white and use my color shaper tool to push off the white and reveal what's underneath. What I pulled off a little picture of a plants that I got from a sketch I did from my head the other day. 

The Importance of Setting Up a Space

Today's post is about setting up a creative space and how dedicating the time and effort to do it has helped me in many ways. 

Before I begin, I want to introduce the newest member to my creative space- "The Ribbon Twirler", 4"x4", acrylic and available! She is my 3rd painting in the "30 in 30" painting challenge - which, if you want to participate in you totally can sign up for it at Leslie Saeta's Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days Challenge Blog. 

I've been painting a lot since about June of 2015 and I was starting to accumulate a lot of BIG paintings, and sadly they have just been shoved into a closet. I did put them in two pop up shows, AND even had a dear friend hang them up temporarily in their home, but they made their way back to my coat closet...until today. 

Today my husband and I realized that we NEEDED to fill up our wall spaces and brighten our apartment and so we went at it full fledged. We hung up all of my paintings and they look wonderful. We both commented that the place just FELT better. More organized, more appealing. Of course I found a way to worry - "Do you think I'll look like an artist who is obsessed with themselves?!"... No I am not, not anywhere even close to that BUT it does feel really good to physically see all of my hard work!

So we decided we shouldn't stop with the big paintings, because I've also been working small too and those babies got hung up in the kitchen. The kitchen is also my dining room. Oh, and did I mention my studio too? :) 

Getting Organized

Before I started the challenge I organized all of my brushes, palette knives and other fun tools into little canisters on my art cart.

My husband is the bomb and he also hung up this "light fixture", if you will. I am kind of obsessed with bird cages, and since it wasn't really serving a purpose, we decided to hang up this light inside the bird cage and WOW, what a difference! If you are in a creative space without lighting, you need to fix that ASAP. I'm telling you, it improved my mood, my energy and I'm sure it will prevent my eyes from going crossed! I bought one at Home Depot for like $20 and I just made sure it was a natural white light bulb.

Here's my 30 in 30 cork board...it'll work, until I bring out the bigger canvases.

This little rack shown below has saved me some space. It could work for you if you buy paint tubes that have the display hole. I'd like to find a longer one with bigger spaces between so if anyone knows of one, please leave a comment! 

Thanks for reading! Check in tomorrow for day 4!

Filling the Creative Well

Today's post will include my 2nd painting for the 30paintingsin30days challenge, which I am participating in along with almost 1,000 other artists from around the world! So here it is! 

I cannot figure out how to change the orientation of this photo to save my life, so it will have to stay like this until I can figure this out!  

AHA Moments

Welcome 2016! Today is the first of the new year and I'd like to dedicate this post to all of my "AHA Moments". I've had a lot of them over the years but many of them did come in 2015. Here's a few...

2015 was significant in my artistic endeavors in life because I discovered artist Flora Bowley and took her painting e-course, "Brave Intuitive Painting"(link to her book). It was very important for me because in taking the course, I finally convinced myself to be more dedicated to my art, and in doing so I discovered the Artists Helping Artists Radio Show or "AHA"show. Perhaps the best "AHA moment" of my artistic life, I listened to it like it was my my job, (on my way to my job) and I got a flood of inspiration and information that is helping  shape the idea of "making it" as a working artist.

So now it's 2016,  and getting my act together. I'm in the process of created a website and I'm participating in the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge, which was started my artist Leslie Saeta (the creator of the AHA show.  Now, the painting process I've learned through the Flora Bowley course is a layered approach. So I'll be doing 30 paintings, but I'll be working on 7 or so canvases at a time, recording the process as I go so that I can show it to, well, whoever sees this!

The first thing I want to share is my palette which is amazing because the acrylic paint just peels off of it easily so you don't have to scrape, rinse or wash...it's called "Mijello" and it's available at Michael's for $35. Here's a quick video of me using it...

So for the beginning of this challenge, the first thing I did was to number the canvases to keep track.

 The way I start is by scanning my supplies and picking up tools that I feel drawn to...

 Then comes the paint and the spray bottle for dripping, paper towels for dabbing...

 Flora Bowley teaches that the act of getting your hands messy can really be helpful in this process and using your fingers to spread paint, or as a mark making tool really lets the creativity flow in the beginning layers. Once I actually pick up the paint brush there is no plan, I just go with what feels right.

 The difference between cheap paint like that on the left in the above photo and the golden paint on the right is incredible. Yes both give a translucent effect, but the golden paint dries and does not re-activate, eliminating the mixing, where-as in the next photo you can see how the orange muddies up when new paints are introduced after drying.

 This tool - the "color shaper", is my FAVORITE! I love to use it for scraping into the paint to reveal the colors below and to create interesting lines and textures.

 1/30 (1st layer) 

 1/30 (2nd layer and finished!) 

 2/30

 3/30

 4/30

 5/30

6/30

 7/30