Sea Shells!

oil on canvas 8X10

oil on canvas 5X7

These are #37 and #38 of my 100 Paintings Challenge.

http://www.100paintingschallenge.com/

  I was taking my time and in no rush at all since I have a year to do this challenge- well, I guess I really need to get with it or I will be passed up very soon by a participant that is on her second 100.  Should this worry me?  Maybe I should just let it happen and continue to have fun!  I am enjoying the challenge because all of the artists participating have different styles and there really is much to learn from the experience.  So- back to the easel!

100 Paintings Challenge #32, #33

 oil on canvas 5X7"

Oil on masonite 5X7"

These are the last two paintings I posted for the 100 Paintings Challenge.  Every time I am ready to post, I get stressed out.  The blog suggests that you stick with one medium instead of trying to "master" more than one.  When I started the challenge, I had intended to just use my watercolors.  I have been taking some time with the oils also, and when I paint with oils for a few weeks, I don't have new watercolors to post.  Why waste the oils and not count them?  They are still paintings that I am painting, and learning from.  Many/most of the main ideas of painting are shared between mediums such as perspective, value, shadows, etc.

Well, as you can see, I did decide not to discount the oils I have been doing since they are definitely learning experiences.  Some of the other participants have included sketches, pen and ink, acrylic, and watercolor- so why not oils and watercolor?  Why must I over think everything, anyway?

Now that I have had my morning stress, time to enjoy my coffee and crossword puzzle!

Watercolors- Ready for Summer!

Can you tell I am ready for summer to get here?  Where I live (in a valley in California) we get hit with foggy days much of the winter.  I don't mean hazy fog.  I am talking about the kind of fog they use in creepy movies.  The kind of fog that means you can't see 5 feet into your yard.  No sun for days.  Well, we saw the sun the other day and now I got a taste of what is coming- just not soon enough! I opened up windows to get some fresh air in the house after a winter of being closed in with the heater running.  

So, now I am already planning my first trip to the nursery-first of many.  I can't wait to start spending days in the garden- even though the first days will be spent doing all the dreaded spring clean-up and pruning away dead branches.  And, of course there will be the beach days!  

I am dealing with my Spring Fever by painting the beach.  I have said it before, but here it is again- I miss Long Island's beaches!  We have nice beaches here in California also, but the main problem is that they are more like an hour away now instead of the 15 minute drive on Long Island!     

Watercolors- Trip to Paris

After spending the last week painting with oils, I took some time for watercolors.  I am doing The 100 Painting Challenge (http://www.100paintingschallenge.com/) and my understanding is that we should stick to one medium- and I started with watercolor.  These are #25 and #26 of my 100, so I need to keep up with them.  I love working with oils also, so I tend to go back and forth between the two mediums- mixing in some acrylic paintings along the way.  
The reference photos for these watercolors  were taken during a fun week in Paris a few years ago.  My husband was there on business, so I had some time to wander around and take pictures while he was working.  There are bakeries and pastry shops (boulangeries/patisseries) on every street like the ubiquitous delis and bagel shops on Long Island.  Lucky Long Islanders.  I loved looking at all of the beautiful and delicious (I sampled more than a few) items in the display cases!  I am sure they thought I was crazy for taking pictures of these tasty treats, but everything is a possible future painting- something my fellow artists would agree with.  The photos for these were taken on the Rue St. Dominique and Rue Cler-  two of my favorite places of the many wonderful areas in Paris. 


Thanks for stopping by!

Finishing Watercolors

I have been enjoying my "new" studio space this last week and getting lots of painting done. With my painting table in the middle of the room instead of at the window, I actually have more room to put larger watercolor paper on it. Now I don't have a wall in front of me and the paper can go off the edge of the table if I want to turn it side ways or push it away. I haven't been keeping up with posting, so here is some of what I have been working on. I am thinking about adding some gulls in the beach painting for some interest. Sometimes I paint from 2 or 3 photos to get the painting I like, but this photo was pretty much what I wanted. I left out the washed up piles of sea weed since I don't consider them of any interest, and made a few minor changes.

The vineyard, as I have mentioned, was such a problem to me and I just wanted to be done. I did add a farm worker down the row for something else to look at. I tried to keep him vague, and duller color since he is far away- yet still have him there. I went with purple toned shadows which I often like, and added alizarin crimson and french ultra blue to my green vines to put them in shadow with the same cool purple tones as the cast shadows.

The sand pail was pure fun, and I always enjoy painting them, and the beach. I haven't painted a sand pail in a long while and they are among my favorite painting subjects -with the bright colors and details. This is an antique pail I found at an "antique" shop on Long Island and I use the word antique loosely here. Very much a junk store- my favorite kind. You never know what you will come across.

The sand pail is on 18X24 watercolor paper (as is the vineyard watercolor) and looks slightly out of perspective due to the angle I photographed from- will look better once it is scanned- this is just a peek. I will have to scan all of these larger ones in about 4 pieces and then stitch them together to print them.

I am working on the 100 Paintings Challenge (in a year) and need to keep up with at least 2 each week, or have some of those crazy weeks of one or more paintings a day to catch up!

Thanks for looking-

Sheryl

100 Paintings Challenge- #1 " Evening in Paris"

I just started the 100 Paintings Challenge, and am so excited to be a part of it! I paint most days anyway, but I think with a number as a specific goal, I will really keep at it. Only 99 more paintings to go! The way I understand the challenge, it isn't about masterpieces. It is about working on your skills and, for me, making painting even more of a priority. I think if I paint even more than I already do, I will definitely improve- practice makes perfect, right? I am already doing The Twenty Minute Challenge, and love how it makes me work on prioritizing the details in my paintings since the clock is ticking away. I have a tendency to keep working and reworking my paintings until SOMETIMES I go too far and no longer like the painting. Even I can't overwork a painting in 20 minutes!

I chose this Paris street scene as the first of my 100 for many reasons. My main reason is that I love this street- Rue St. Dominique in the 7th Arrondissement of Paris. We stayed in a hotel on this street and the location was perfect. Rue Cler, the beautiful Seine and Pont Alexandre, La Tour Eiffel - all VERY nearby. Most of my photos of the street were daytime and I really wanted to try a night scene. My night photos were all very dark except for the bright lights. I used one of the day photos (actually, as I often do, I used several photos) and tried to turn it into a night scene. That is one of my other reasons for choosing this painting- it is my FIRST attempt at a night painting. What better way for me to learn, than to try something very different for me? I am sure that if I keep working on night scenes and the different use of color, lighting, sky, etc,- I will improve. I do have a photo of a beautiful night view of San Francisco from Treasure Island. Maybe next time....

Thanks for looking!

Sheryl