30 Paintings in 30 Days and What I Learned

 

NFS

This is a collage of my paintings for the last 30 days.  Thank you Leslie Saeta for putting this whole thing together!

This is WHAT I LEARNED from doing the challenge:

• Don’t ever feel it’s a waste of time to scrape off and start again.  It’s still putting in the miles, doing the work, and keeping you in the paint!
• Don’t assume anything.
• Painting every day or almost every day or making some kind of art every day makes for a good creative habit!
• It’s really good to experiment – it offers an opportunity to do something different.  You learn a lot!
• I feel I can handle paint better, mix colors more accurately in a shorter period of time, and can get the values correct on the first or second try.
• Making a lot of small paintings is really helpful if your goal is to eventually make large paintings.  There are several of these little paintings that I want to expand on in a larger format with more color detail and/or more abstract.
• Look at the work other artists are creating; it's very inspiring for your own work.  There are a lot of really good artists out there!
• Meditating puts you in a good place for painting.
• All of this DOES make a difference!
• I love having made this colorful series of small paintings!

trees without leaves I - variation 22

 6" x 6", oil on gessobord

30/30

This is the last painting in the challenge!  It's one of my favorites!

And thank you to everyone who stopped by to check out my paintings during the challenge!  I really appreciate it!

This is WHAT I DID for the 30-day challenge:

• Focused on color, value and design. 
• Tried colors and color combinations that I don’t normally use.
• Mixed most colors.
• Used a very limited palette.
• Used thick paint/used thin paint. 
• Painted tight/painted loose.
• Experimented with bigger brushes.
• Experimented with tiny brushes. 
• Documented all color choices/mixtures for each painting.
• Scraped off a couple paintings and started over.
• Did a painting in less than an hour.
• Photographed paintings every day.
• Posted all paintings – even the ones I felt didn’t work well.
• Knocked an almost-finished painting off my easel face down on the floor.
• Got over my fear of putting my paintings “out there.”
• Looked at a lot of other artists’ work.  Was very inspired!
• Got up most days at 5:00 to paint.  
• Painted for 30 days.
• Started mindfulness meditation.  
• Started Qi Tai Gu.

trees without leaves I - variation 21

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

29/30

This painting is done with a triadic color palette (three colors equally spaced on the color wheel) with two of the colors made neutral by adding their complement. 

I've started compiling two lists:  The first one is what I did during the 30-day challenge and the second what I learned.  I'll post the first one tomorrow. 

trees without leaves I - variation 20

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

28/30

As the 30-day challenge nears the end, I want to thank everyone who stopped by my blog to see my paintings.  I really appreciate it!

trees without leaves I - variation 19

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

27/30

For this painting, I pulled out a new tube of paint - Quinacridone Magenta. What a fun color to work with!

trees without leaves I - variation 18

 6" x 6", oil on gessobord

26/30

I've started thinking about doing larger paintings based on these small tree series paintings.  This is one that I am considering doing larger with more detail. 

trees without leaves I - variation 17

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

25/30

For this painting, I kept it loose, used thin paint and let the toned canvas show through.

trees without leaves I - variation 16

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

24/30

Just six days left in the 30-day challenge!  Painting every day is getting a lot easier.

trees without leaves I - variation 15

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

23/30

For this painting, I used a triad (three colors equally spaced on the color wheel). 

trees without leaves I - variation 14

 6" x 6", oil on gessobord

22/30

Every Wednesday morning, I go with my little 2-year-old grandson to music class.  This painting was inspired by one of the songs we are learning - De Colores - talking about the colors we see around us. 

trees without leaves I - variation 13

 6" x 6", oil on gessobord

21/30

For all of the paintings in my tree series, and specifically the 30-day challenge, I have started out with a specific value plan.  I have found that it works better with some color combinations more than others.  This one is a low-key painting (all values darker than middle gray).

trees without leaves I - variation 12

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

20/30

Today we are two-thirds of the way through the challenge.  I have learned SO MUCH from doing these paintings every day!  And I have gotten so much inspiration from other artists participating in this challenge. 

trees without leaves I - variation 11

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

19/30

If you have a chance, check out my friend Laura's blog today.  She has a great post on mindfulness.  

For this painting, I used cool grays with violets and kept it at 3 values. 

trees without leaves I - variation 10

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

18/30

For this painting, I pulled out tubes of green that I have accumulated over the years that I rarely use and mixed in yellows and blues to vary the colors.

trees without leaves I - variation 9

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

17/30

For this painting, I used a few tube colors that I don't normally use a lot.  I really like how they mixed together.  Like yesterday's painting, I used the same process of an underpainting of neutrals with brighter colors over, leaving some of the underpainting showing through.  

trees without leaves I - variation 8

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

16/30

For this painting, I did an underpainting of neutral colors and painted the more intense colors over the top, leaving some of the neutrals showing through.  I love this color combination. 

trees without leaves I - variation 7

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

15/30

Today we are halfway through the 30 paintings in 30 days!  I have lots of new things I want to try for the rest of the challenge, and we'll see what happens!

trees without leaves I - variation 6

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

14/30

For this painting, I went back to my very first image in my "trees without leaves" color series, and I'm going to use that one for the next few paintings.  This one started out with different colors, it didn't work, so I scraped it off and started again.  Same thing.  Above is the third time around and I really like how it turned out.  The colors are soft with fairly thick paint and a lot of texture throughout the painting. 

trees without leaves III - variation 13

 6" x 6", oil on gessobord

13/30

30 paintings in 30 days

I gave myself an hour to paint this one, not including mixing the colors.  It normally takes anywhere from 2-1/2 to 4 hours for me to paint a small painting.  

trees without leaves III - variation 12

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

12/30

I wanted some fresh ideas for color choices, so I went to the library yesterday and found a new book on textile art/design.  I use that type of book a lot for color ideas.  This painting was inspired by one of the color combinations from the book.     

trees without leaves III - variation 11

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

11/30

I used a complementary color palette for this painting. 

trees without leaves III - variation 10

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

10/30

Today we are one-third of the way through the challenge of making 30 paintings in 30 days!...AND...it is day 47 of my 108-day challenge to create some type of art daily!

trees without leaves III - variation 9

 6" x 6", oil on gessobord

9/30

For this painting, I used several neutral color variations within the trees, still staying with a very limited palette - 3 tubes of paint plus white.  This is really good practice for mixing subtle/neutral colors. 

trees without leaves III - variation 8

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

8/30

I'm really happy with the colors in this one.  I love the blues and greens and tend to gravitate more to a value pattern with less contrast like the one in this painting.  For me it has a very calm feeling.  

trees without leaves III - variation 7

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

7/30

I wanted to make today's painting a "warm" one (maybe because the windchill today is around -30!), so I used mainly reds, yellows, and oranges, plus neutrals made from those.  I painted this one more expressive with both thin and thick paint.

trees without leaves III - variation 6

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

6/30

Today is day 6 in the 30-day challenge.  

I normally paint pretty tight with a LOT of paint and a lot of color.  For this piece, I applied the paint quite thin.  I went pretty achromatic (without color) except for the blue.  I also kept it pretty loose (loose for me!) with softer edges.

It's good to experiment.  It's good practice and you learn a lot!

trees without leaves III - variation 5

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

5/30

Day 5 of the 30-day challenge.  Working on subtle value changes with complementary colors (colors across from each other on the color wheel). 

trees without leaves III - variation 4

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

4/30

Day 4 of the 30-day challenge.  Working with a monochromatic color scheme (one color with variations in intensity and value).

One more thing:

Before the holidays, I started a new class called Qi Tai Gu.  It's a series of simple movements derived from Qi Gong, Tai Chi and Edgu, designed to help you destress, detangle and re-energize.  It's a great class!  It is taught by my friend, Laura Granger, in Monona at Dancing Birch Studio (love the name!).  If you are in the Madison area and would like to check out what she has to offer, click HERE.

trees without leaves III - variation 3

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

3/30

Day 3 of the 30-day challenge.  Working with analogous colors (colors that are next to each other on the color wheel).

trees without leaves III - variation 2

6" x 6", oil on gessobord

2/30

I love mixing colors, especially neutrals.  Check out Kyle Martin's website.  He mixes beautiful neutrals. 

trees without leaves III - variation 1

 6" x 6", oil on gessobord

1/30

Today is the first day of the 30/30 challenge (making 30 paintings in 30 days) with Leslie Saeta.  My plan for the next month is to continue with my "trees without leaves" series, experimenting with various color combinations and harmonies.  I'll be posting my paintings here daily as well as on Leslie's blog.