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.

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.

Expressive Drawing #2 used as idea for abstract series # 10, 11 and 12. I really liked the bottom left corner.

PAINTINGS COMPLETED TODAY: 3
PAINTINGS COMPLETED TO DATE: 29

Today is Saturday. Soccer games are over. Everyone has gone somewhere. I think I have about 4 hours alone today and I am in the studio. I’m excited. Here we go!

I started the day working on an expressive drawing. I don’t really like it, but then I wondered if I could learn something from it.

I looked at different sections and realized I really liked the bottom left corner. I then took that idea and made a series of abstract paintings. I am happy with them and I really like the last one. Here is what happened…

Expressive #1" - 30" x 40" House paint and gesso on paper - NFS

I have been reading the Expressive Drawing book and have been anxious to start drawing. I bought a roll of white paper that I will use on my plywood easel. I taped a large 30″ x 40″ piece up on the board and went at it.

I scribbled with a 1″ house paint brush. I even used house paint because it is more liquid and flowing. Then I “obliterated” or “erased” with gesso. I think it turned out OK.

It was fun to do.

"Dwellings Series #3" - 11" x 14" Acrylic and colored pencil on canvas board - $100

Today is 9/11. I noticed when I was in the dentists office this morning. I wish I had something profound to say about that, but I don’t.

I need to work big so I can work more freely. I can’t do 100 paintings in a large format because it would be cost prohibitive, so I am doing most of the paintings small, but I can draw big on paper. I got a large roll of paper today so I can set up my board and draw to my little heart’s content. These will count and I will post them on the blog.

Finished the third “dwelling” painting. I might be getting the hang of this.