then Christmas preparations came and I have been soooo busy.

I finally got a big sheet of Masonite and today I got around to cutting the panes. I cut 27 11 x 14 panesl from one 4′ x 8′ sheet. I am very happy with that because I have 30 paintings left to do and 10 days to do them in. I am really going to have to hustle to get them done.

I am going to sprint to the end and I really hope I make it. I never take a challenge lightly and I mean to finish this one!

Now, after applying the gesso one way with the brush, I use an old credit card as a spatula and qind of squeegie the gesso all over the board. It applies it to the depth of the first brush strokes, but gives me a flatter surface to draw on.

The rough boards created by the first application method just ate up my pencils. Now, with the flatter board, I don’t go through the woodless pencils quite as fast. It grabs the paint well too.

I tried squeegeeing straight on the board. It went on well enough, but I haven’t used that board yet. It uses much less gesso and gives a good tooth. the board is browner because there is less coverage, but that shouldn’t  matter.

Koi #1" - 16" x 12" Acrylic and colored pencil on Masonite - $150

I love Koi fish. I guess it might be the Japanese influence, but I think they are really cool. I found a bunch of photos online today and picked one to work on.

It turned out OK. I am not really done with it, but I don’t know what else I can do with it. I said I would post everything I do, so here ya go.

There are some of the fish that I really like but others look like sausages with mouths.

Tomorrow is another day…

Abstract #3" - 12" x 12" Acrylic and colored pencil on Masonite - $150

After working on the “Dwellings” piece, I had primed boards and paint on my pallet, so I started working on a few abstract pieces. They went really quick and were very fun to do. The last one still needs to be reworked a bit, but I worked fast and got them done. If this week is going to be busy for me, that is great that I can get a little bit ahead.

Gessoed a few more boards tonight. I got a half gallon of Liquitex “Basics” gesso. I didn’t pay attention to the “Basics” and the gesso doesn’t really cover in one coat, so I am doing two coats of gesso on the panels and it gives it a kind of a linen texture which is nice when doing dry brush. It shows that texture.

"Abstract #1" - 11" x 14" Acrylic and sumi ink on canvas board - $100

It is Saturday and as such, it is time to report on how things went this week. Today was crazy busy, with 2 boys in soccer and a meeting and THEN date night tonight, I didn’t get a painting done. Soccer season has just started and I hadn’t counted on that. This was probably the busiest Saturday I will have for a while (I hope) but I should be able to get a painting done on Saturdays from here on out.

So I finished five paintings this week on my way to 100. Three in my dwellings series and two abstract pieces that I was able to “fix” last night. Contrary to what most people think, abstract art is difficult. Most people (including myself at one time) thought it is merely a matter of throwing a bunch of paint at a canvas and calling it art. It is much more involved than that. I can’t quite put a finger on it, but it is hard to know how to start and when to finish. I did two abstracts and wasn’t happy with them, but last night I reworked them a bit and now I can say they are finished and I am posting them.

"Abstract #2" - 11" x 14" Acrylic and sumi ink on canvas board - $100

My son and I cut up the Masonite I bought. I gessoed (is that a word?) the boards we cut so I will have them to work with next week. I am getting a lot of ideas of what to paint now that I am thinking artistically again and am excited to get back to work next week.

An interesting note. I listen to Internet radio while I work. I love the blues and and Absolute Radio out of London. Yesterday I listened to a “Classic and Jazz” station from France. It would be interesting to see how different music can change your art. Have any of you found that you need a certain type of music to work by? Or have you found that your work is more aggressive or softer depending on what type of music you are listening to? Please let us know by commenting below. Thanks!