A Different Technique

I am off to a good start and enjoying using a different technique to paint. This technique uses squares or grids to paint various shades of color to create an interesting impressionistic final result. Yesterday I divided the canvas into various loose squares and today I will develop those squares to create a tree shape. See the painting below.

Inspiration For Next Painting

I looked around yesterday at a design store. I saw a painting of a tree that was broken up in small squares. I have decided to play around and develop a similar technique. Of course, it will never, ever end up looking like my inspiration piece, but it is a good place to start and we will see how the painting evolves. It's always good to try something new.

Try, Try Again

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. I went back and reworked my tree painting. It has much looser brushstokes and I am pleased with the result. See the painting below.

If At First You Don't Succeed

I think the tree painting got away from me and became a little overworked. I am happy with the grass in the foreground and the sky but the tree itself needs to be reworked. No big deal. Will try to rework it and paint more loosely. We will see what develops. Sometimes what is in my head is much more difficult to put on canvas. Yesterday's work is shown below.

New Painting Started

Late yesterday afternoon I quickly roughed in a painting, doing the under-painting and working wet on wet. I am happy with the results and will try to keep the loose quick brushwork look of the painting going. I do not want to overwork this painting. It is hard sometimes to stay loose with a painting. The tendency is to keep going and add detail etc. There is a definite art to knowing when to stop. See the painting below.

Chaos vs Order

I tend to be a bit messy in my work area. If everything is in its place it appears too sterile an environment. From time to time I have to organize the chaos a little. I was reminded of this when I recently watched Lust For Life about Van Gogh. Van Gogh while living in Arles was quite prolific in his work. He painted many, many works and his canvases were strewn about everywhere. When his brother Theo had Paul Gauguin come join him, Gauguin was appalled at Van Gogh's working environment. They had different personalities and different ideas about how an artist's studio should be kept. Gauguin liked everything in its place and liked to think about everything before committing to canvas and preferred working indoors. Van Gogh liked to paint outside and liked to try to capture the emotion of what he was painting and was he anything other than neat and orderly. When my work environment gets too chaotic, then I straighten up (a little). Too neat and orderly does not work for me. It stifles my creativity.

The Next Painting

It is often difficult to decide what my next painting project should be. I recently painted three paintings of groups of trees, experimenting with color and design. I have decided to paint a single red tree next, not a group of trees. I will paint it in a loose, impressionist style.
Yesterday I watched an old movie called Lust For Life which was a movie about Vincent Van Gogh. The movie got me to thinking about Van Gogh's use of color and made me want to jump in and paint with lots of vivid color and strong impasto application of the paint.

Don't Give Up The Day Job

"Don't give up your day job" is a bit of advice I got when I was considering pursuing my passion of painting. It is very, very difficult to support yourself on sales from your art. Sales are sporadic and you never have a steady income. But the joys of creating your own art and being your own boss are compelling. But unless you are a person of means and do not need the income, perhaps you should keep that day job and just do your art on the side as a hobby business. If you do your art just for pleasure and do not have to worry about the income flow, you will keep the love and passion for your art.

Autumn Tree Painting

I finished another autumn tree painting. This is the third painting in the series. I think it came together faster because I have painted two similar paintings already. I was able to finish this painting with only painting two days. See the finished product below.

Productive Day

Today I started a new painting in my autumn tree series. I had a very productive day. A lot has been done today. I have all the under-painting done. See the painting in process in the photo below.

A Lead Balloon

Well, so far offering prints of my paintings is going over like a lead balloon. Only one or two people have even looked at the prints. I will continue to offer prints but it may not be the answer I had hoped it would be. I don't want to concentrate on the marketing side of art. I would much rather think of creating and having fun with my art. The sales will come later.

Working With Noise In The Background

We are currently having our old deck torn down and new deck put up. We get out for part of the day, but while we are here we are dealing with the banging and noise associated with construction. We are playing music, but it doesn't drown out the noise. So, the environment is not very pleasant and not helping me think or be creative. The best I will be able to do today is to do some much needed photography of some of the prints that were done for me by my sister while I was in Oregon visiting her. Oh well, one does the best they can do. Below you will find a photo of one of the prints that is matted and framed.

Mixed Media Experiment

My sister is quite a good photographer, specializing in macro photography. I love to paint, mostly in acrylics. Together we make a good team. We have been experimenting with mixed media. She prints some of her photography on matte paper which we mount on canvas board. Then we apply a gel medium that dries clear to add emphasis to certain areas and also use acrylic paints. We intend to experiment with adding gold leaf and other items to the photographs. Yesterday I added some crystal rhinestones to the art below. On some rhinestones I left the silver mirror type material on the back and on others I removed the backing. The ones in which I removed backing give a clear reflection. The other stones have a shimmer. I am happy with the result of the experiment. It was quite fun to break away from the usual painting and do something different and combine our talents.

New Items - Art Prints and Cards

Today I started offering a more affordable option for potential buyers of my art. I am now offering art cards and art prints of some of my favorite paintings. I am hopeful that this will promote more sales. At any rate, it is exciting to offer new items in my shop. Keep watching my etsy shop for new items.

More Supplies

Today I stocked up on more art supplies. I thought of a couple of  different projects I wanted to do and needed a few more items. I was near the art supply store so I dropped in an bought even more supplies. Now there shouldn't be too much to slow me down.
I hate to keep putting more money into supplies because it seems that things aren't selling and it takes quite a while to have the materials fee covered or reimbursed. But whether items sell or not, I will continue to paint and do my other projects. I'll try to forget about the cost and keep buying more supplies as needed.

Restocking Materials

I had a few minutes between doctor visits and the utter chaos of having construction done at the condo to stop in at an art supply store. There were several items I needed to have to start some new projects. I also wanted some mats and frames to put the prints my sister made for me of some of my art. I was able to find everything I needed at one location and am now ready to get going on several different projects. I need to photograph a few prints matted and framed and upload them to my etsy shop. I will soon discover if prints will sell better in my shop than original paintings.

Continuing The Painting Series

It is often difficult to determine when it is time to stop a certain painting series and start something different. I am enjoying the latest painting series so much that I am almost certain to continue it for 2 or 3 more paintings. It is a fun experiment with color and is a combination of my impressionist and graphic styles. The subject matter, trees and foliage, is a timely subject since it is the end of summer and fall is fast approaching. So, on to the next painting.

Art Walks

It's that time of year again for artist groups and individual artists to participate in organized art walks and open studios. I try each year to take advantage of these events. Last week, while on the Oregon coast visiting my sister, we took a drive to a community called Toledo which was having an art walk. I always enjoy going from gallery to gallery seeing what others are doing. It is very inspiring. This little community was 9 or 10 miles inland. It was a much more affordable place in which to live. I think the artists that I enjoyed seeing the most was a couple, she did turquoise jewelry and he did photography and was playing a guitar. They were not part of the organized tour. They called themselves a renegade group and were fun to talk with. They appeared to be a remnant of the old hippie groups. Being around them reminded me of my college days in the early '70's. It was a fun day. There was quite a variety of art to see - even painted gourds. All in all, it was a fun event.

Another Painting Completed

It feels good to have had several days in which to paint. I actually had enough time to finish my latest painting in a relatively short time period. I enjoyed the experiment with color and am quite pleased with the result. The finish painting is shown below.

Enjoying The Process

I am definitely enjoying my current painting project. It is a fun experiment in color and placement of graphic elements. This week is going to be a rather hectic week for me with Bernie having eye surgery and doctor visits and also having work done on our deck at the condo. As a result of all the chaos of the week, I may get few chances for painting. A normal routine is absolutely out of the question. Today I hope to finish this painting. The progress can be seen below.

Back At The Easel

After a couple of days rest from a fun trip, I am back at the easel! It feels great! I am working on another landscape, an autumn tree painting. It is going really well. I am enjoying experimenting with use of color. This painting is the second in a series. I found a canvas on which I had started a painting and the painting never developed. I had already painted over the surface with white. The canvas is now re-purposed for this fall tree scene. See the first day's progress in the photo below.

Exchanging Of Ideas And Expertise

I recently returned from a trip to visit my sister on the central Oregon coast. We are both artists, my sister is a photographer and I paint. We feed off each other's ideas and expertise. Rather than send digitized images of my paintings off to be printed, my sister helped me by printing my artwork for me. I have printed samples of several of my paintings and will now try to sell those. Also, we printed a few greeting cards with my artwork on them. The printer my sister uses for her photos did an excellent job of printing my art. I in turn helped her set up an online shop on etsy.com as an additional venue for showing her work. She already has some of her work in a local gallery but wanted an online presence. So, not only did we have great sister time during my visit, we also were very productive with promoting our artistic ventures.