One Artist's Journey

Tetons - 18" x 14" - Acrylic and graphite on Masonite - $300

Today I had time to do two paintings. It takes longer, the larger the board I am painting on. I wasn’t ready for that when I started the 100 in 100 challenge. I need to hustle and I am a little worried about moving on to larger canvasses (boards).

The two I worked on today turned out well. I am fighting the urge to get too detailed. When I get detailed or try and make it look like a photo, I get really messed up. I have to keep reminding myself “It is just a bunch of shapes” and “This is an abstract painting.”

Mesa Arch - 18" x 14" - Acrylic and colored pencil on Masonite - $300

If I can keep those two things in mind, I think I will do OK. I am happy with the two I finished today. I am also using a lot more paint than I was with the smaller paintings. I found a container to put my pain into so it doesn’t dry up between paintings. I just use a disposable plastic square container and slap the lid on when I am done painting for the day. I also have a tiny spray bottle that I use to moisten the paints every once in a while.

Lake Arrowhead with Sailboats - 18" x 14" - Acrylic and graphite on Masonite - $300

My first painting at the 18 x 14 size went OK. I like how it turned out, but it took a little finagling. It is a picture of a sailboat race up here on Lake Arrowhead. There is a high horizon, so I placed it on the top third of the board. That left two thirds of the painting to be filled with lake water. It took about 4 tries to get the water right. I had to keep reminding myself as I painted, “it is just shapes, it is just shapes…”

Finally, I got it to where I am happy with it. It isn’t perfect, but then most things never are. I am convinced we artists are continually seeking a standard that we can’t reach, so we need to relax a little and enjoy the journey. I know that when I can enjoy the journey, my inner artist will blossom and I will be happy with my paintings. That kind of negates what I just said, huh? Oh never mind…

Sailboats - 16" x 12" - Acrylic and graphite on Masonite - $250

I painted three pictures today before I ran out of boards to paint. I tried painting the abstract landscapes I sketched yesterday and I think they look great. I am starting to develop my own visual vocabulary, which is fun. I will get the images posted this weekend. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to paint a few more pictures so I don’t get behind.

Bridge - 16" x 12" - Acrylic and graphite on Masonite - $250

After I painted the landscapes, I cut up more boards. This time, I am going a little larger. I am going to try 18 x 14 boards and see if I can fill them well. It seems to take time for me to work up o large sizes. I enjoy painting on large surfaces, but if I am not ready, I do a bunch of junk just to fill the space.

After using the 12 x 16 boards today, I feel I am ready to move up a size.

After I cut the boards, I prepared them with gesso. Last time, I applied the gesso in one direction. When that dried, I brushed another layer perpendicular to the first direction. That gave me a lot of tooth for the paints, but it absolutely ate my pencils up!

This time, I brushed in one direction, then used an old credit card like a putty spatula to make a smooth top layer, filling in the gaps. I will try this and see how it works with the woodless pencils as well as the acrylic paint.

Music Hall - 16” x 12” Acrylic on Masonite - $200

PAINTINGS COMPLETED TODAY: 1
PAINTINGS COMPLETED TO DATE: 24

Got to paint today and did 2 paintings, but then I washed all the paint off of the second one, so I guess that doesn’t count. That is why I love acrylics. If you paint fast enough and then catch it fast enough, you can take it to the good old kitchen sink and wash the whole thing down the drain.

I am going to try and fix the second canvas tomorrow.