A Perfect Day...Mostly

Another lovely day - great for painting...and smoothies!  I love living in strawberry country!

"Look Mom!  I've only been working 1 minute and I've already got paint on me!"
It was nice to have company in the studio today!

After a morning trip to the grocery store, various around-the-house "to do" stuff, I was beginning to think that I wouldn't get much painting done.  By the time I got out there it was after lunch!  When I finally did get out there, I was quickly joined by two other family artists.

A good start - more to do...

It's alreay Thursday!  What made me think I might actually get 2 paintings done this week?  At least this one did flow once I got started - I was able to get paint on the entire canvas fairly quickly.  What you see above seems pretty far along, but there are still layers to be added, details to be refined, problems to fix...I always notice more problems once I photograph a project.  I'm cringing as I type.  If only I had all of tomorrow to paint.  But, we're off to see a matinee of Robin Hood at Cal Poly's Performing Arts Center.  That will be fun, too.  Hopefully, I will be able to finish it before we start back to school on Monday, though.

Springtime, Easter Vacation, and the Pre-Painting Begins...Finally

Believe it or not, these are flesh tones
 (base, warm & cool shadows, and highlight)

I can't believe it's already Wednesday and I haven't started officially painting yet - Easter Vacation is just flying by!  But, yesterday, I updated my playlists with some new songs and headed out to the garage for some of the prep-work.  I always like to start a larger-size project with as many premixed colors as possible so I don't end up running out of something in the middle of painting.  It was my "mad scientist" day - I felt like I should be wearing a lab coat and laughing maniacally when I achieved the right shade.  I will still have a palette for additional mixing and fine tuning of colors, but I should be able to do a lot with these.

Mixed, labeled, and ready to go...

One of the nice things about working in the garage on a sunny spring day is that my littlest gets to play in the front yard (which she doesn't normally get to do).  Although her big sisters are usually with her, there's a nice big window so I can keep an eye on her and she has her boundaries so that she's stays within that window of sight - of course, that's also the window where crane flies go to die this time of year.  They were all over, stuck between the glass and the screen or in webs in the corners.  So, I had to clean up that disgusting mess, too - YUCK!  But, it's fun to see my bouncing beauty enjoying the sunshine.


Now, I can't wait to actually start painting - maybe I'll get to do that tomorrow.  Hopefully, I'll get at least one painting done this week and still have some family time.  In the meantime, my painting looks a little freaky with all of the test spots created as searched for the right base colors, highlights and shadows.

Color test spots making the subject look a bit strange

Hoping for a Productive Week Ahead...

Easter Vacation is officially here!  The girls finished up their classwork today and we all have a break for the next week (from school, anyway).

The new painting is underway and surprisingly farther along than I thought!  Earlier this week, I started with a pencil drawing which I painted over and refined with burnt umber - I wanted to take the time to get the proportions right.

Happy to have a use for leftover mural mixtures!

I realized that I had several color mixes leftover from the mural - some that I had mixed in quantity and kept in airtight containers - that would actually work with this painting.  Some will need to be adjusted slightly, but they were well suited for the underpainting portion of the project.  Sooooo, I was able to get started.

Underpainting underway...

BUT, I hesitate to say that this painting will go quickly, even with all of my studies and pre-mixed colors.  I've done that before and there's always something that I get hung-up on that extends the project for a while.  I can still hope, though, and I do know that the time I took with the studies has helped me a lot.  After all, it's a complicated pose, especially when it comes to the tilt and angle of the head - I fought with that one a while.  But, I was much more comfortable with it when drawing it out on the canvas (all freehand - no projector for this).

Meanwhile, while mom's busy painting in the garage, my youngest 2 have found a way to entertain themselves before the weather turns.  I'm not sure if this is a rain dance, but...

Fine Art Monday

Well, an unexpected day off takes me one step closer to the painting projects that I've been really excited to begin.  We will taking next week off of school for Easter Vacation and I'd planned to take this Friday off as well.  However, the girls insisted that they would rather take today (Monday) off instead of Friday.  Who am I to argue? But, I think they'll regret it come Friday.

The garage door is a perfect spot to hold the studies - canvas is ready for paint...

So, I gathered all of my drawings and studies for the "Listening" painting and started sketching it on the 30" x 40" canvas.  I can't wait to get going on it - I LOVE the colors, the subject, the pose, and the many studies I did will hopefully result in smooth-sailing when it comes to painting the final.  Since I cleared out the last of the dried-out color remnants from the mural, the next step will be to start mixing some color combinations for the new project - that's what I'll try to work on between now and vacation.

Mural mixes in the trash...time for something new

Another thing that I've been working on is a re-do of my hiking bear.  The paintings that I've been working on are much different than the illustrations that I've been playing with for the past several years.  So, this is a nice little change of focus.  It's still in progress, but not far from done.

Redo in progress...

Hiking Bear original...