Day 11 of 30 One last look

Oils,  5" X 7", titled "One Last Look"  

What has this 30 day challenge proven to me?  

1.  I need to keep doing this to get disciplined in painting every day.

2. No need to rush a painting or you get something like the above and I hate it.

3. Do not push out a painting just to push out a painting for a challenge.

4. Paint slow...quality, not quantity.  

5. Start painting earlier in the day.

6. Don't paint when tired. 

NFS, I hate this one and will trash it.  Would have been better without the people in it.  

oh, and number 7...

I'm learning, with every stroke I'm learning.  

Day 10 of 30 day challenge! Quiet Place

Awhile back, I started this painting of clouds and wanted to have the clouds touch the horizon melting into the ocean.  I didn't know quite how to do it but I studied clouds, really looked at them and how they hang over water.  Below is the first picture under that is the end result.

I call this "Quiet Place".  It is an oil painting which is 16" X 20".  

$50

I enjoyed painting this so much, I plan to do more of these so I learn and learn and learn.  

When you stop learning you begin to fade.

Down Under (Painting 9 of 30)

When I was in Australia, my husband and I went to the Great Barrier Reef where he snorkeled.   I was having problems breathing right, so I didn't do it.  However on the large platform boat they have an observation deck where those who choose not to snorkel or scuba dive, can view the ones who are, along with the fish or as in the case the day we were there, jellyfish!  (Actually it was pitiful the amount of fish for it being the Great Barrier Reef!  Perhaps because this place is used over and over again?  Who knows?  

This is a pastel painting, 9" X 12".  $25. 

This is the original painting I worked from.  One must remember that a photograph captures more light than you can depict in a pastel painting.  I do plan on doing this either in oils or acrylics...as I really like this one, it's so unique.  Oh, by the way, when I went to print out the photograph to work from, it immediately chopped off the other diver and other full flipper on the right, so I did what I saw.  The clarity of digital photography will also compete with the nature of working with pastels, a rather dull painting medium on the whole.  

Day 8 of 30 days of painting!

Just driving by...

While my husband was driving on the island of Oahu, I snapped this unique tree for a photo to later paint.  Needless to say the photo was blurry, but it still looked so pretty.  I just had to paint it!  

Day 7 of painting every day!

Day 7 of my 30 day painting challenge proves I can paint every day, however, when working with speed, less quality appears and I personally don't like that.  I was so rushed to push out a painting today, I decided to do something extremely quick so I thought of doing a small watercolor.  

I hate working in watercolor!  

I hated it in school, and still do.  Anyone want to buy some quality watercolor supplies?  I have Arches Blocks and Arches large sheets (I believe they're 140 lb. weight).  I'm serious...I'm through with it.  One thing I learned in school was to ALWAYS purchase quality art supplies to give yourself the advantage if nothing else.  During my school years I saw kids who couldn't afford the best supplies and it showed in the work they did, and they struggled too with the poor quality of paints and brushes, no matter the medium.  

While teaching for years (which you'd never know looking at this painting), I saw students struggle with buying the cheapest available.  Most times not because they had to but because they didn't believe me.  (I used to own an art supply store.)  There were a lot of retired women taking up art for the first time, just like their husbands were enjoying golf for the first time, but the husbands bought the quality clubs, bag, shoes, clothes, etc...paid high greens fees, you name it...a golf cart...the whole kit and caboodle...yet, when their wives wanted a new brush, it was like pulling teeth.  

There were days I'd let the women use my supplies and the women went and bought new brushes once they tried the good things, and the husbands had a fit.  

How did the women combat this?  Well, they would buy it cash and put it in their bags, or they'd charge it and the husband wouldn't find out anyway because SHE would be the one to do the bills...or she'd write a check, sometimes all three because as I learned from these smart ladies, cash leaves no trail, credit cards show up a month later, and checks show up at the end of the month...and they taught me, the men never put it together.  Never, ever try to outsmart a woman!  

In this particular case of me painting this painting, I learned once again, I do not like watercolors, no matter how good the supplies!  I learned not to waste my time doing something I don't enjoy.  

I've painted a painting every day this week and I'm due for a lesser quality one.  I'm proving to myself I need to paint SLOW.  This once a day painting exercise/challenge is teaching me that I need to get in the studio once a day...and spend TIME there.  

Now I have to go take clothes out of the dryer.  See where my priorities lie?

Renee's Footprints

My friend Renee suggested I paint some footprints in the sand...so Renee, this is for you.  

It is a pastel painting 13" X 19".  

I created it from a photograph I took while on Oahu, in Honolulu vacationing at the J.W. Marriott.  They have the three cutest little circular inlets for their customers to enjoy.  I looked down at where the water hit the sand and I had to record it!  

Lahaina, Maui (STEP-BY-STEP)!!!

Here is the final painting. 

I wanted to show how I created this, so while painting it in pastels, 

I took as many paintings as I could every step of the way.

I am hoping this helps others as they need it to!

First of all, this was the painting from which I worked. 

This is the view from Front Street in the town of Lahaina on Maui.  

(That's pronounced LA-HIGH-NA).

My husband took me there for Christmas and New Year's 2011-2012.

First I study the painting and look at my pastel collection and try to figure out what colors would work. I know in advance, I probably have the color, but unlike oils and acrylics, pastels truly vary in color variety.  (Which is GREAT!)  But...it's not like you can go in a store and ask for a particular color, as MOST art supply stores don't sell them that way the way they did years ago.  My guess is they didn't sell as much Kaput Mordum as they did Prussian Blue, if you know what I mean.  Kaput is a deep brown but most wouldn't know it by name.  That's a problem with pastels, you go by guessing which color to use.  (For those artists who say they know every color pastel they have, I am here to tell you they either have an extreme limited palette of colors, or they're full of it.  I believe the latter.)

Once I have a few colors, I decide my surface.  One of my favorite surfaces is a pastel paper made by Canson.  (I believe it's full name is Canson Mi-Tienes.)  This particular sheet of Canson is pinkish in color.  With pastel paper there are two sides to use, one is rougher and one is smooth.  I like to use the smooth side.  Either is fine to use...artists go half and half in what they like or depending on what they're painting, they chose one side or another.  I personally wouldn't chose the rough side for a portrait because it would make the face look like the surface of an English Muffin (or a waffle).  

Many students prefer the rough side because it allows for more pastel dust and students know they need every advantage they can get.  I try to never mix more than three colors at any time because "Mud" happens then, and things look cloudy or dirty.  Remember, nothing is stopping you from using a spare sheet of paper to "test" the colors in question.  

So I lay down a few colors.  

Most students would stop at this stage and say, "Nah, I can't do this."

But, begin to blend...and just go with it.

Notice I put a little line of blue of where the horizon line might go...but nothing definite.

Continue to blend...look how nice that sky is already forming!

The nice thing about pastels is sometimes you have what is called "happy accidents" where you begin to blend (with your fingers by the way, don't use a brush), and the blending looks way better than you could have imagined, like the way the light blue is mixing with the darkest blue of the sky...but remember, it's not done yet.

If you notice on the left hand side of this photo, what I have down for the sky isn't what the picture is showing and that is because I feel my printer's blue is different from what I recall the sky was like...so I'm going on instinct here, I can always change it later.  

See how I'm adding more light yellow here?  

Blend it in...oh, I decided to add even more pale yellow, which this pastel had a tinge of green in but that's okay in a sky because there is something called a "green flash", look it up!

Okay, I blended and blended and blended...and added a few clouds and some PURPLE in the clouds.  

You can't imagine what a mess my fingers are at this point.  I wish right about now that I had another ten fingers!  Here's a hint...I use Purell hand wash to clean my fingers in between messes.  Be sure your hands are totally dry before proceeding as you do NOT ever want to get your pastels wet.  

Blend in, add more purples...begin to lay in some color for the water.  

Those clouds need MORE definition, greater saturation of color, so I go in bolder with a deeper purplish color...most students at this point would tell me, "I would NEVER do that!"  (It's only pastel, a medium you can erase and pick up the color, so just do it!)

I feel the colors need more pronounced definition.  

Okay, I notice there's a little smidgen of land on the left, I'm not sure of the name, Molokai perhaps?  Lanai?  Molokini?  Regardless, it's there.  I add in some lighter blue in the water.

I keep referencing the photo for color changes...I'm liking what I'm doing, I'm fine with what I have down on the paper.

I begin the water.  Funny thing is, I can't make a straight line...but...as many artists will tell you, if you make it perfectly straight, it won't look real.  (Thank goodness for that.)

I add in more colors for the water, and there's a small stretch of rocks jetting out into the water.  

I decide to make the horizon darker in color for contrast.  I like it.

How do you get the space where the sky and the horizon meet?  Take a clean finger...should I spell the word clean in caps???  Take a CLEAN finger, and with ONE swipe, move your finger from one side to the other.  Do NOT pick up your finger...keep going.  

(You have to be brave, the outcome is worth it.)

It's OKAY to get your fingers dirty...trust me, it's OKAY!  

Now comes the "gutsy" part of the painting...making that almighty palm trunk stroke right through all that hard work you did for the background.  Now here's some common sense tips.  Figure out AHEAD of time where it starts and where it ends...so it doesn't come off looking really strange.  Nice thing about palm trees is they can be curvy!  Another tip is to start THIN!  Trust me, these trees could get FAT real quick...so give yourself every advantage.

Continue to lay in the other two palm trees...but please, PLEASE notice, they are not an equal distant apart...the one on the left is a greater distance away from the others.  Now, even if in real life they were exactly equally distant apart, I'd paint them otherwise because it would drive the viewers eyes right to that...and you want to make your painting interesting.  Another tip is if there were four trees there, I'd take one out.  Always work in odd numbers of things.  

Continue to put in the other two tree trunks.

Remember being brave by adding in the trunk with the first stroke?  

Now you need to get BOLDER with the color!  

Do it to all three and then add a lighter color to the left side since the sun is setting from the left side.  

It's hard to see but I added in some peachy pink as well to the palm trunks...as if the sun was bouncing off them.  Brought the painting to life!  Always look for details.

Begin to add the leaves.  Just like you must be cautious putting in the trunk, you need to do "spider" like palm fronds.  Remember not equally distant apart, and make them sway in different directions, they're not pinwheels, they're palm trees, although at this point, they may resemble pinwheels.  

I usually do green first since palm trees are green.  And I go light...just in case...

Since this was taken at sunset, the palm leaves won't be green-green, they'll be dark...so add some dark in a little at a time.  You can always build up color and fronds.  

Add in a few peachy fronds (not too many or the tree will look dead because yellowed/peachy leaves means it's dying), just enough to give it some color.  Sign it...done.  

Hope you enjoyed the journey and may all your artwork be a journey.  

Here is the original photograph I took on the left and the final painting on the right.  I changed it a bit, but I like what the end result was.  Always remember, even if you work from a reference photo, there is no need to get it just like the photo, make it your own even if you're the one who took the photo!  

This took me an hour and a half to produce, even with taking photos along the way.  If I was to do this one again since I figured out the colors and how to work it from background to foreground, it would probably take me less than an hour to complete.  

Price: $50 + shipping

Available on www.dailypaintworks.com

(Look under my name, Kathleen Kelly.)

Size 12" X 16.  

I also could make this larger, $100 + shipping.