Saturday, October 29, 2011

"Longing", a study for future painting

I did this 30 minute sketch, using markers, while up at a friend's cabin.  Kim Grant had invited 3 artists to join her for 3 days of painting.  Check out Kim's website to see how great her art is!  http://www.kimgrantdesigns.com/  She is the most imaginative artist that I know!  We had a fabulous time, sharing ideas, laughing lots, and painting late into the evenings!  We made every minute count.  This study is already being transformed into a 15" x 15" painting.  It's my goal to stay with pure watercolor, but it's been a struggle for me not to add collage to this one! 

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Patterns, 30 minute study

I'm still doing my 30 minute studies, using Tombow markers.  This time, I decided to use patterns as my main objective.  I had seen a portrait that was only in black and white, and it inspired me to try to keep mine in the neutral colors too.  Can't wait to do a watercolor and collage painting of this one.  I'll change the background, but stay with the black and white color pallette.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Adding metallic to paintings

Tomorrow, I'm teaching a workshop in Bethel, just north of Minneapolis.  The subject is metallics.  I've been preparing for this workshop all week, and am excited to share everything that I know.  This is a painting that I did several years ago, when I taught in Oregon.  It's got 3 different metallic effects on it.  I actually teach 12 different techniques! 

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Sisters

Today, I did another 30 minute sketch, using markers.  I used a photo of my sister and me.  Although this doesn't look like either one of us, it was so fun to do, and I think the love between sisters really came through. I look forward to turning this into a larger painting, and having more background, so that I can have fun with abstract design. 

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Sketching faces, 30 minute studies

Here are 2 more of my 30 minute studies.  I had the goal last year-to paint more people.  These are a type of fun carricature sketches.  Really fun to do.  I challenge all of you to do a 30 minute study every day.  The one below is done totally with a sharpie marker.  The girl above was done with Tombow markers.  They make great cards!

Monday, October 3, 2011

These are 2 of my 30 minute studies, where I didn't like the colors in the first one, and did the same design, but with different colors.  I like the simple design, and that's really why I keep the time to only 30 minutes.  You can't get too detailed when there's a limited time. This design will be the start of many paintings to come.  By the way, these are done, using Tombo markers.  I found that watecolors were too slow for my 30 minute time frame, so I work with the markers, very much like I paint with watercolors, still building up to the darks, and glazing to get new colors.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

30 Minute Studies- ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

Today, October 2nd, marks exactly one year since I gave myself a challenge- to do a 30 minute study every single day.  Actually, I started out with only a 90 day challenge, but upon completing that, I decided to keep it up and today marks one year!!!!  I can't begin to tell you how this has improved my artwork.  And I also can tell you from my experience, that this has made my whole life better in every way!  This is the first time that I've ever really completed a promise to myself.  That's really BIG in my book.  I think we're all like that, putting ourselves last.  So, I'm very proud that for once, I really fulfilled my promise to myself.  (I have to confess that I did miss 4 days within this year.  But that was because I totally forgot!  Otherwise, I accepted NO EXCUSES, no matter how tired I was, or whatever else was going on.) 
We went on  trip to Fargo, ND this weekend, and saw lots of cornfields and barns on the way.  So, I thought that this scene would be best to post as my first study.  I actually did this on January 9, 2011.  I try to write a little paragraph by each study, so that I can look back and see what influenced my choice of subject, and also to see how life really does influence your artwork. 

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