Surprise! Day 31 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Wearing their Paintings"        11" x 11"            $145

First of all, let me explain why I did a 31st painting.  In the middle of this challenge, I painted a chicken painting instead of my figurative paintings, due to the guilt of that long overdue commission painting.  I knew that the chicken wouldn't fit in with all my other collection, so I promised myself that by the end, I would replace that painting.  I will be making a booklet (published by Blurb) of this series, so if you are interested, mail me a check for $30 (includes shipping) with your shipping address and email, and I will mail you a copy upon it's publication.  It usually takes about 3 weeks to publish.  My address is Karen Knutson, 8621 Coachman's Lane, Eden Prairie, MN 55347.

Now, a little about this painting.  I've always gotten a kick out of artists holding their full sheet paintings in front of themselves, because it looks like they are wearing their paintings.  So, this was so fun to do, and complete the background with a Frank Lloyd Wright look to it.  I'm hoping that the figures don't pop off the page right away.  I tried to make you see an abstract first and then, later, discover the figures.  By the way, this is me and a Florida friend, when I taught her how to paint in acrylics for the first time. It brings back such fond memories!

Day 28- "30 Paintings in 30 Days"

"Love that Dove"  $145  Watercolor and Felt Markers,  (11" x 11" image)

Now I can relax.  The one bird that I really wanted to include in my bird series was a mourning dove.  It's probably my favorite bird.  I love it's gentleness and when it calls, I love it!  Beautiful sound!  We have a pair of mourning doves that land on our deck every Spring.  I love watching them.  In this painting, I challenged myself to staying with neutral colors, something that I usually don't do.  I usually LOVE color!  But today, because of the gentle nature of this bird, and the fact that it's feathers are different shades of grey, I decided on a neutral background. Then, I added lines at the very end, using Tombow markers, channeling another favorite, Frank Lloyd Wright.  I have the full set of 96 Tombow markers.  They work great for my 30 minute sketches- water soluble and double tipped.  I love them! 
I didn't realize until today, that mourning dove is spelled like this.  I always thought it was "Morning Dove".  I don't think of it's sound as mournful, but rather soothing.  I can't believe that I only have 2 more paintings to do in this challenge!  These last 2 weeks have been fun for me!

30 Paintings in 30 Days- Day 3

"Spring Fever"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I look at the temperature outside, here in Minnesota (below zero AGAIN), I long for Spring, so I decided to paint a robin today. I've always loved robins.  Last year, I saw hundreds of them in early Spring, all gathered together, looking at the snow as if to say, "Am I early?"   This was a sight I've never seen before, and probably won't see again.  I again used collage papers for the feathers, just like Day One of this challenge.  I also printed off quotes about birds and robins and collaged them in the light areas.  I've always been a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright, so that is why I put the line work and graphic style in the background.  It was a fun project. Again, this is 11" x 11" image and it is available for $95.