Sketch for New Painting

It's Mother's Day. Yes, I am enjoying the day. I will paint only a little today since it's a holiday. I'm ready to start the third painting in my graphic series. I have not put brush to canvas, but have put pencil to canvas. The sketch is included below.

Busy, Busy

Today is one of those days filled with lots of busywork. I am trying to have more of an online presence. I have had an eBay shop in the past and sold quite a few paintings over the years. For the past year I've concentrated more on selling my smaller paintings on etsy.com. My larger paintings were mainly sold in some local shops. Now I have only one shop in Carmel Valley, California selling my art. I thought that until the economy picks up again, I would put more effort into my etsy shop. I have purchased a promo slot which starts at 12:01 a.m. tomorrow morning and ends at 11:59 tomorrow night. I have had quite a few lookers lately and people marking my shop or my paintings as favorites, but no recent sales from the website. I am hoping that tomorrow will bring even more exposure and activity in my shop. I have added several paintings of France in my promo showcase which had formerly been available in the local shops. I just added more paintings to my etsy site. The painting below is one that was added today.
Besides working on the website store, I also am starting my third painting in my graphic series. So, today I am busy, busy.

The Planning Stage

Not enough is said about the planning stage of a painting. Sure, some artists don't plan or put much forethought into a painting, they just express themselves. That works great with expressionist style paintings, but many paintings must go through a planning stage. You need to find the right photo and composition and see what lends itself best to the particular style of painting you have in mind. Since I am experimenting with a more graphic style of painting, I am putting a little more time into planning a painting. I've selected my next project and it will be a painting of a lighthouse. It has a lot of dramatic shapes and lends itself well to this style of painting. I had a multitude of photos from which to select and decided on one that my sister sent to me. I'll have a print made and then rough in a sketch, select my color palette and start the fun part, the actual process of painting.

Second Painting In Graphic Series

My second painting in my new graphic series is finished. At least for now, I am satisfied with the result. It lent itself to a different graphic treatment than the first painting in the series. This painting is more linear in nature. Though the painting was of redwoods, the trees where painted in purples and oranges which gave the illusion of brown. No brown pigment was used painting this piece. The painting evolved into something different and that made the process so much more enjoyable for me.

Interruptions

It seems most days when you are trying to paint that you end up dealing with interruptions. They can be pleasant or they can be annoying. I normally get out and walk and get a little exercise most mornings. When I return from walking, I do whatever business needs to be done online (this blog for one thing) and then after lunch I paint. Yesterday was a day of interruptions. Both interruptions turned out to be pleasant. One interruption was finding out that a painting had sold at a shop over the weekend. When I found out I delayed painting to do an invoice and take down to the shop to leave for the shop owner so that I would be paid. Another interruption came when we received a call and were having visitors drop by to see us. Yes, an interruption, but pleasant. Hopefully today will be more productive. If not, then no worries. Life is full of interruptions and you just try again the next day to get the work done. Working as a freelance artist and having no commissioned work at this moment, interruptions are not a problem. There is no deadline to meet, just the deadline that you have set for yourself.

Painting, Like Laughter, Is Good Medicine

Yesterday I had one of those awful sinus headaches. I wasn't very productive. I took medication and I then had a nap. Upon waking I was feeling a little better. There were a couple good hours of daylight left. I decided that even though I didn't feel 100% I would work on my painting. I added more graphic lines to the tree trunks of the redwoods. The trees are slowly taking shape. By the time I finished working on the painting yesterday, I was feeling better. So I have concluded that painting, just like laughter, is good medicine.

Playing With Color

Just a few quick words about use of color. You do not have to use the color you would normally think of using in painting an object, for instance a tree trunk. I started my painting of redwood trees. The tree trunks so far do not have brown in them. Yes, that's what I said. I painted the dark areas in deep purples and used an orange to create the lighter areas. It's not what you would normally think to do, but somehow it works. From a distance there is the illusion of browns. The painting below is still a work in progress, so the finished product will look much different. Notice the effects of the unexpected color.