Venice #2 - 20" x 16" - Acrylic and graphite on Masonite - $500

I finished one painting of Venice today. My brother and his wife went to Europe and took a bunch of pictures. I hijacked them – the pictures, not my brother and his wife – and plan to paint a bunch of them.

Lavender Fields - 14" x 11" - Acrylic and watercolor pencil on Masonite - $300

This one turned out well. I love the lavender fields in France. (Not that I have ever been there).

I don’t usually use this color, but I might have to get a tube of it. I don’t like to spend a lot of time mixing colors. I prefer using the color straight out of the tube.

Tuscan Fields #3 - 14" x 11" - Acrylic and watercolor pencil on Masonite - $300

Today I finally got around to painting. Thanksgiving week has been BUSY!! Tuesday, I was at the dentists all afternoon.

I lead the young men’s youth group at our church. They are working to earn money for summer camp and other camping exploits. One gentleman in our congregation offered to pay a large amount of money if the young men would come and shovel mulch and spread it around his property.

I went with 7 young men and we worked for about 5 hours. It has been along time since I have done physical labor that hard and that long.  That was on Wednesday (School was out for the young men) and I was totally out of commission on Thursday. Friday I was still sore. And today, Saturday, I decided to paint. I worked on 3 Tuscan Landscapes on 3 small panels (14 x 11).

They turned out well and I like them a lot.

Dwellings Series #6 - 20" x 16" - Acrylic and graphite on Masonite - $350

PAINTINGS COMPLETED TODAY: 2
PAINTINGS COMPLETED TO DATE: 40

I got to paint Original Acrylic Paintings today. This week has been soooo busy! For a guy that is unemployed, that is really saying something. I haven’t had a second to  paint.I am starting to get worried about the 100 paintings in 100days. Smaller canvasses were a snap, now I am up to 20″ x 16″ and that takes more time and paint to do Original Acrylic Paintings.

Anyway, today I cleared more space out of the studio because my panels are getting bigger. I need space to store, gesso, paint and store again, so I moved some boxes out. They are in the middle of the landing now and have to go somewhere else, but I can do that later.

Abstract #13 (Ginger) - 20" x 16" - Acrylic and graphite on Masonite - $350

I am returning to some of the earlier paintings I did. I re-did a “Dwellings” piece today in a larger size. It went pretty well. Original Acrylic Paintings are easy to store. I don’t know what oil artists do. Doesn’t it take days for them to dry out?

I also did an abstract that my wife says is one of her absolute favorites. That is saying something because she is very supportive of everything I do.  Thanks Babe!

Abstract sketches based on photographs

I was thinking about it and I like doing abstractions. When I start adding too much detial, I get messed up. What if I take a photo of a scene and break it down into its largest groupings and treat them like geometric or abstract shapes?

I have tried painting outside, but have had trouble. I try and add too much detail and it becomes too realistic. I don’t like that. So, maybe this abstraction idea will work.

I tried it with a magazine of photos I have and really liked the results. It is kind of how I draw anyway, so I think it is a good fit. I can sketch the pictures and abstract them out, but I will have to wait till tomorrow to see if I can paint them in practice. Here is an excerpt from my sketchbook.

Abstract #10 - 12” x 16” Acrylic and graphite on Masonite - $200

The idea for this started as a few squares in space. But then I started linking them up and came up with a grid. This isn’t what I wanted, but I have decided to trust myself and go with the flow. I started filling in the boxes and it turned out OK, but I really wanted to cover up some of the lines and when I tried that it just didn’t look or feel right.

I filled everything in and played with the outlines a bit. It turned out OK, but was just the beginning of this exploration.

Initial sketch of boxes

Kanji #1 - 12” x 12” Acrylic on Masonite - $200

PAINTINGS COMPLETED TODAY: 4
PAINTINGS COMPLETED TO DATE: 16

I have decided to keep track of how many paintings I complete so I don’t have to go back and count them again and again.

After looking at the two of the abstract images I did last week, my wife mentioned they looked like Kanji, or Japanese or Chinese characters. So, I Googled some beginning Kanji (up, down, man, woman, etc.) and decided to paint those today. I used them as a starting point in some abstract paintings. I think they turned out OK.

Kanji #2 - 12” x 12” Acrylic on Masonite - $200

Last week, I did 5 paintings on Monday and hardly made it down to the studio after that. That isn’t the point of this experiment to paint 100 paintings. The point is to get into the studio for the next 100 days and create art.

So, I made an effort to get down there today I ended up completing four paintings. I need to get down to the studio (I say “down” because it is downstairs) and paint every single day till New Years.

While painting, I get frustrated because what I am doing looks silly or contrived. But then I have to remind myself that this is supposed to be fun and natural. “Art is Fun and Natural.” I should engrave that and put it up on the wall.

Here’s to Fun and Natural…

Abstract #6" - 12" x 12" Acrylic and colored pencil on canvas board - $150

I went “down the hill” today to visit my friend Barry. I walked into the furniture store he works at and met the owner’s wife.

I introduced myself and she said, “Oh, you’re Shaun, the ceramist!”

“Wow. I am known!,” I thought.

Anyway, she works in glass and needs some molds made. I haven’t made any glass molds before, but I am sure I can.

We talked about glass and how she works with it. It is all new to me, but I think it would be a blast to do some glass work.

What she does is layers the glass with clear glass and colored pieces. She sets it on the mold (of a bowl or plate) and heats it until the glass fuses and slumps into the mold.

It is pretty cool.

She said I was welcome to use her kiln any time!!! I might just get back into ceramics. I will probably trade a glass mold for kiln time.

I prefer a wood burning kiln, but beggars can’t be choosers, right?

Before I left, I mentioned that I am also a painter. She offered to let me put my work up on the walls of their furniture store! Wow, a place to exhibit. Cool. They show by appointment only, so there isn’t a lot of traffic, but one store can open the doors to more.

Abstract #4" - 12" x 12" Acrylic and colored pencil on Masonite - $150

These were really fun to do. I scribbled the lines and then filled in the color with paint that was still on my pallet.

I had a really fun way of painting with gesso while I was in school. I would paint color and then come in with gesso to make the color go farther. I remember when it started. Actually the first time I used it, I was painting over some pencil lines. It would grab a little graphite and shade the areas I wanted white. I like the effect and used it. Then before I knew it, I started adding a little color with the gesso and the rest is history.

Abstract #5" - 12" x 12" Acrylic and colored pencil on Masonite - $150

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.