Day 4 : 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"On Golden Pond"     $99 (special price during January)
Image Size:  11" x 14"     Original Watercolor

Since I was traveling in the car a good part of today, I decided to do a really simple landscape. When I teach landscape painting workshops, we warm up by painting a little 5" x 7" painting and I actually set the timer for 5 minutes.  Yes, we complete a painting in only 5 minutes.  The students like this so much, they don't want to stop!
So, I had never tried this fast process on a quarter sheet painting, but it worked pretty well.  I had to work very fast! I wet both sides of the paper several times before beginning.  You have to decide on your colors before beginning.  There is no time to contemplate this once you have started.  I work wet into wet, and changing to thicker paint as you move along on the painting.  Everything banks on getting the right wetness of the paper, and the thickness of paint.  So, this painting took only 15 minutes to complete!  How about that?

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!

Collection of all 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

Well, there you have it!  All 30 Paintings to view in one glance!  What did I learn from this challenge?  That it is better to be prepared with meals and sketches ahead of time.  I love that Leslie Saeta features this every year, because it gives me the push that I need in January after not painting at all in December.  I discovered many new tricks and they are all shared on my daily posts, so if you are a student, you might want to look back over this past month's posts.  For those who want to buy a book of these paintings, just send me a check for $30 (this includes shipping) with your mailing address, and email to : Karen Knutson, 8621 Coachman's Lane, Eden Prairie, MN 55347.  It is size 6.5" x 6.5".  I made one last year of my bird paintings, and really liked the quality of the Blurb product.  Thanks to all those who purchased many of these paintings.  It's always so rewarding to have you buy my artwork for your homes.  If interested in any of these, I've tried to keep updating them as to whether they have sold or not, so each day should have the details of each painting status.   I can't thank all of you who commented or "liked" my paintings as I posted them on Facebook.  It really means a lot to hear what you think!  And special thanks to my wonderful husband for encouraging and supporting me when the house hasn't been cleaned all month and we've been eating take out food most days.

Day 30 of "30 Paintings in 30 Days"

"Cheers"              11" x 11"             $145 SOLD
Acrylic on paper

Wow!  I made it!  I wanted to do a toast to all the friends and family who have supported me in this 30 Day Challenge, hosted by Leslie Saeta.  So here's to all of you!  Cheers! :)  It's been quite a ride!  I always wonder if I will do it again next year.  I've done this for 3 years in a row, every January.  I challenged myself to painting figures with abstract backgrounds and I have to say that I really learned a lot!  Yes, I'm glad I did the challenge, and I'll probably do it again next year.  I could really feel the fatigue this year, far more than any other year, so I may have to find a way to make my paintings more simple.  You know how well I do simple....NOT.  Below is my value study (only 2 values) that  really helped me as I selected colors.  I wasn't "feeling" which colors to use in this painting, so finally, I grabbed a napkin that had colors that I liked and that really helped me out.  Try it! BTW, the figure on the left is ME, and the right figure is a good friend.  Wonder if she will know this is her?

Paintings 19 - 27! Almost there!

Paintings 19- 27 of "30 Paintings in 30 Days"

So there are only 3 more paintings for me to do in this 30 Day Challenge!  I can't believe how far I have stretched and how much I have learned in this painting challenge, put on by Leslie Saeta.   I find myself kind of nervous, trying to think of ones that I really want to be included in this 30 day Figurative Abstract Painting challenge.  To purchase any of these, go back to each individual day, and the price is posted under each painting.  Thanks for reading my blog and for all of your encouraging comments!  It really means a lot to me to have your support!

Day 20 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Treasured Friends"        11" x 11" image        $145
watercolor

I must admit, I hit "the wall" today.  I was so totally wiped out that I tried to take the easy way out, and just do an easy painting.  You'll see the first version below.  I thought, "It's good enough."  So, I went to have my hair colored and thought how nice it was to be done with my painting in the mid afternoon, so I could totally relax this evening and maybe even go to bed early.  I hesitantly showed my painting to my husband, (who has gotten to be one heck of a good critique), and he said, "is it half done?"  I love that he was willing to give me an honest opinion.  So, after supper, I went back to my studio and worked for 2 more hours on this painting, bringing it from "good enough" to good!  Lesson learned.  Always show your best work, or don't show it at all.  This is an illusionary painting, which I will be teaching at Cross Lake, MN in September of 2015.  Check my website www.karenknutson.com next week for details of that workshop, or email me at karen@karenknutson.com if interested.

Day 19 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Good Day at the Office"        11" x 11"image        $195
watercolor and permanent marker

Can someone tell me the meaning of the word "Easy"?  I totally meant to do an easy painting, since I was babysitting my granddaughters most of the day, and knew I wouldn't have much time to paint.  But, no, I had to start doodling!  And that takes hours!  I actually needed to go to bed last night with it unfinished and complete it this morning.  But the outcome is totally worth it!  This is another of my wire drawings.  I've been trying to take them to the next level.  My goal was to make them look more dimensional and to integrate the color with the drawing aspect of this technique.  I'm really pleased with the results.  By the way, I'm SO EXCITED to be 2/3 completed with this challenge.  Below are paintings 9-18.  It's been a great ride, but I really am getting exhausted.  On a good note, my art abilities have grown and the ideas are endless. 

Day 18 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"On Top of the World"            11" x 11"                $145
Acrylic painting

I love the song, "I'm on top of the World", so this time, I started with the title and then painted a painting to go with it.  Click on the link, and you can hear it too!  Again, I started with a wild under painting.  See photo below.  I highly recommend starting this way, because it takes away that initial fear of facing blank white paper.  Plus, it unifies your painting.  See Day 3 to read detailed instructions of this process.  I looked through my one year of color studies, and found one that would lend itself well to this idea of the globe, even though the colors were all wrong.  It was a starting point for a good design. I just used part of it, and worked the girl and the globe into it's design.  I drew the value sketch next, and then started painting the midtones first, to establish a unifying value.  I didn't know that her hair would be blue.  I could have made her a blonde, but it looked good as the under painting color and it related to my color scheme, so I left it that way.  Simplification is always good.  I do feel so lucky in this life, and do feel "on top of the world".

Day 17 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Whatever Works"          11" x 11" image           $145

I was up late last night working on this one, due to being on the phone with technical staff about computer problems.  I finally had to go to bed with it unfinished and get up early this morning to finish it.  So, the title kind of has a double meaning to me.  This lady has it going on.... So glad that I'm not in the dating scene anymore.  Below is the under painting and the value sketch that I used for my map while painting.  Martini anyone?

Day 16 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Quiet Moment Together"            11" X 11"       SOLD
Acrylic and Collage

Knowing I had to leave my studio in the mid afternoon, I tried to keep today's painting more simple.  Have you ever had tiny pieces of collage papers that you've thrown away?  I use them in a complicated paper collage.  AnneBagby taught me how to do this on her DVD.  Placing the collage papers randomly over the entire surface, I have my "under painting".  I use acrylic matte medium to adhere them to the paper.  It is pictured below.  Then I draw my subject on tracing paper, placing the center of interest wherever I like the collage papers the best.  After my complete drawing is on the tracing paper, I get a print of the drawing that is only 25% of it's size.  I then make a 3 value sketch on the new small copy.  For me, I HAVE to do this on these paintings, because you are actually painting where the lights are.  Below is my value sketch too.

Day 14 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Life in the Fast Lane"              11" x 11"    $145 SOLD
Acrylic and permanent marker

Back to painting acrylics for this one! This painting went pretty smoothly, although I had to resize my drawings several times to get the size that I wanted for this format.  I drew my image on tracing paper, and then enlarged it on the printer to the preferred size.  What did we ever do without the computer and printer?  I find that I'm a little out of my element when I go to Paint-in's since I don't have my modern equipment right by my painting desk.  I started with a wild underpainting, using mainly blues and greens.  I like starting with the opposite color because I knew that I wanted to do a red painting today.  Then I wiped out the light areas, using rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball.  I love the marks left by doing it that way. I doodled on the background and her dress, using a permanent marker.  I'm pleased with the colors, but then I am partial to red.  Even my grandkids know that red is my favorite color.

Day 13 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Jenna"                 11" x 11" Image                   $145
Watercolor and permanent marker

This is another "wire drawing".  Basically a contour drawing, with changes and doodling afterwards.  In this one, I took it even farther than any others that I've done.  I'm trying to keep the integrity of the wire drawing, but add some depth to the painting too, without making it look like a coloring book.  I'm pleased, but will be trying to improve more as I go along.  The model is Jenna Erickson, who is Director of Programs at Madeline Island School of the Arts.  The first time I saw her, I knew that I wanted to paint her.  To me, she's like a Mona Lisa- very striking, and statuesque.  This isn't as good of a likeness as I would have liked but I'll be painting more paintings of her, and hopefully, one of them will capture her unique spirit.  She frequently wears colorful scarves and lots of jewelry. She is a genius at matching clothes to accessories.  If you get the chance, I strongly recommend the MISA for workshops.  It's beautiful and peaceful; it is located a short ferry ride from Bayfield, WI.  A nice place to reconnect with your inner soul. I've taught 2 workshops there and totally enjoyed the experience.

Beginning wire drawing of Jenna

Day 12 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"In one of my Moods"  11" x 11" commission painting

Sold 

I've had this commission since March of 2014, and the guilt just took over me today, so instead of doing my people paintings with abstract backgrounds, I did a "girl chicken" in front of an abstract background.  I feel like such a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders!  Below are the other 2 that are companions for this painting.  The buyer bought the middle painting from my 30 in 30 Challenge from last year, and wanted the chicken and rooster to go with it.  Hope she is pleased with the results. This painting is acrylic, watercolor, and collage.  To hear about the process of the dripping acrylic background, go to last year's blog from January 13, 2014.  Here is the link: http://karenknutson.blogspot.com/2014/01/30-paintings-in-30-days-day-14.html

  I'd love to get a conversation going about commission paintings with other artists out there!  Please post your comments below.  I have a love/hate feeling about them.  It's great to get sales, but I need to set deadlines for completion.  I think they push me to new levels, but obviously (from how long it takes me to complete them), I must not like being told what to paint!  I'm so spoiled!

 

 

 

 



Day 11 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Ooh Lah Lah"            11" x 11" image      $145  SOLD

“Ooh Lah Lah” came into being because I’m excited about the Golden Globe Awards tomorrow night.  I love all that movie star stuff! J  On tracing paper, I did a free hand drawing of the girl all glammed up. To check up on my drawing skills, I then placed the drawing over the actual photo to see how well I did.  I’ve been doing that lately, because I want to improve my drawing skills so much!  I used to think of myself as a pretty good drawer, but really lack confidence in that area lately as I’m really looking more critically at my skills and trying to improve each day.  Next, I drew a value sketch using only 2 values.  This is my road map while I paint.  At the very end, I decide where to put the darkest darks, depending on what I want to accentuate.  When trying to think of a background, I came up blank.  So, I looked through all my 30 minute color studies and found the one pictured below. I made a few changes, but it gave me a good starting point.  I did it on January 27^th of 2011.  That year, I had the goal to do a 30 minute color sketch using Tombow markers every day for a whole YEAR!!!! Yes, I said a whole year!  I only missed 2 days, due to totally forgetting!  How can one forget when you’ve been doing it for that long??!!!!  Life gets busy some days-- that’s how!  Anyway, I love being able to page through the color studies and be inspired for either a total abstract or a background for a semi-abstract painting.  Be sure to check out Leslie Saeta's blog to see other artist's paintings from this challenge.  I notice that many have dropped out by now.  Sure hope I make it to the finish line! Below are my first nine paintings.  I couldn't get the 10th one on there.

color study that I used for inspiration (left)
value study (right)

Day 10- 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"We hold the world in our hands"  11" x 11"  $245 SOLD
Watercolor, permanent marker, and Elegant Writer marker

Yes, I truly believe that each and every one of us makes a difference in our world!  I had this idea of a girl holding the globe in her hands and really enjoyed painting this.  Last year, one of my students (who happens to be a teacher herself in Duluth, MN), Mary Beth Downs taught me how to do "wire drawings".
 At least that's what I call them.  That's because they look like wire to me.  I can't tell you how to do them on this blog; it's actually something that you have to see.  Basically, they are contour drawings with changes afterwards. This will be a process that I will teach in one of my summer workshops if you are interested. (email me to be on the list:  Karen@karenknutson.com )  I use a permanent marker to do the initial sketch picture below.  When I started this, I honestly thought that this would be an easy painting, and picked it, due to babysitting my sick grandson this morning.  But the finishing touches took hours.  I used the Elegant Writer calligraphy pen to make some of the lines thicker and then activated it with a wet brush to cause it to soften a little.  Elegant writer felt markers are water soluble and therefore are really fun to mess around with!  Karlyn Holman introduced me to the Elegant Writer pens years ago, and I love them.  Click on this link to buy them from her store.  One of my heroes is Alphonse Mucha, and I was trying to do this painting in his style.  A lot of doodling, but it was worth it!
 

Value sketch (left) and first drawing using permanent marker (right)

Day 8 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Love Forever"            11" x 11" Image        $145  SOLD

I was kind of lost when I first started painting today, so I looked back through my 30 minute sketches that I did using Tombow markers, and found the swirl design in one of the sketches. Then I drew another value sketch, using only 2 values, light and medium.  Pictured below are the beginning underpainting and the simple value sketch.


I loved the colors so much in the underpainting that I decided to keep as much of it as possible. Would you like to see how I painted the word, "forever"? I believe that it is much more painterly, if I wipe it out rather than actually painting the letters.  So, the first step is to cover the area with masking tape.  Then carefully cut out the letters, using a single edge razor or exacto knife.  Be careful not to cut too deeply, so you won't cut a hole in the paper.  Then I rub the word out, using a cotton ball that is soaked in rubbing alcohol (91% Isopropyl works better than 70%.  Read at the top of the alcohol label).  (This only will work if you have prepared the paper in the very beginning by coating the surface with matte medium.  Let it dry before painting the underpainting.) **Very important:  Once you have scrubbed out the word, be sure to dry it with a blow dryer.  The heat from the dryer melts the glue from the masking tape and makes it easy to remove.

I've had so much fun painting in acrylics lately, that I've decided to teach a summer workshop in this process. If you would like to be on the list, email me at Karen@karenknutson.com  By the way, I'm so excited that I have over 100 people reading my blog now!  If you want to get on the list, simply provide your email at the top right area of my blog. Happy Painting!

Day 7 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Shop till we Drop"          11" x 11" image          $145

This painting had lots of ups and downs.  But to tell you the truth, I almost get excited when this happens.  I know, you're thinking I'm crazy.  But when I struggle with a painting, usually that's when I have to use my imagination to solve the problem and then I make a breakthrough.  I started with a messy underpainting (as explained in Day 3), and tried some new colors. Micaceous Iron Oxide is the one that I had the most trouble with.  I love the color, mixed with iridescent sparkles, but I know that next time, it should be a finishing coat, not an underpainting.  Anyway, I had a real mess, and then thought that the only thing that would solve the problem was to make complicated paper collage.  This process is explained on a video by Anne Bagby.  I took a workshop from her last summer, and she's a fantastic instructor and really top notch artist!  I strongly recommend her videos! Thanks again, Leslie Saeta for this incredible challenge.  Be sure to check out all the other paintings.  There are really some incredible paintings.  I'm amazed!

Day 6 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Love- Homage to Klimt"         11" x 11"         $395  SOLD

 

 

I started this using the wild underpainting, as explained in Day 3's blog.  This is acrylic on Strathmore Aquarius paper.  I got in a hurry and started putting in my dark values to form the figures.  Then I remembered that I had promised myself to do a value study this time, because I'm almost always more successful when I have a "road map".  I like to use only 2 values, and then put my darkest darks later on within the midtone area, and let the painting tell me where to put those darks.  When I paint with acrylic, I never paint the color that I intend to end up with.  There are at least 4 layers to build up to that color.  You can see the steps pictured below.  Gustav Klimt is one of my favorite artists, and this is in homage to his famous painting, "The Kiss".  I used their position and then took off on my own.  Can you see the hidden word in the painting?  This one is my favorites of all that I've done so far.  Don't forget to write me an email if you want to be on my student email list. Karen@karenknutson.com  I have 3 workshops in my home studio each summer, and they fill up within the same day that I advertise them by email.

Day 5: "30 Paintings in 30 Days"

"Balance in my Life"     11" x 11"         $145

In January every year, I crave balance in my life.  Are you the same?  Housekeeping, cooking, healthy eating, exercise, & painting:  Guess what gets the most attention?  Painting! .....as it should be, right?  :)  And I'm proud of that!  I always make time for friends and family, but I do take my painting seriously, because it's my job, not just a "hobby". (the dreaded word)  But sitting painting all day is not healthy, so I must make time for these other things.  That's my goal!  This painting started out the same as the past 3 posts.  The underpainting is below. Even though you might question this starting pattern, a little of that underpainting shows through to every layer on top of it.  This is acrylic on Strathmore Aquarius paper.  This painting took lots more time than it should have!  Some days are like that!  Many layers of corrections. But then again, that's what makes a deeper layered painting.   I realize today that I've been working without a value design for most of these paintings!  I truly believe in value studies with only 2 values.  So, tomorrow, that will change and the painting will go much more smoothly, I guarantee.  BTW, I've been asked many times about future workshops. If you are interested in my home studio workshops in the summer months at Eden Prairie, MN, email at karen@karenknutson.com  I only advertise through email and they usually fill on the first day!

Day 4: "30 Paintings in 30 Days"

"Boys will be Boys"           11" x 11"              $145

This painting was started just like yesterday's painting, using acrylic paint. It's pictured below.  (See Day 3 for detailed explanation.)  By the way, Carole Barnes was the instructor who taught me how to start with a wild underpainting, and she also was the one who influenced me to use Aquarius Strathmore paper when I do acrylic paintings.  I highly recommend her as an abstract acrylic instructor!  My goal when I started this challenge was to add figures to abstract background and to try to stay loose.  I kind of forgot that last goal today.  Some habits are hard to break. :)  But I was really pleased with the colors!   I named this painting due to the two boys pushing each other.  Yes, boys will be boys!