It is complete!

Sorry for the lack of posting this last week. Mark and I found out we are getting a house in a week! There is A LOT of stuff to do for this process, and it is time consuming as well as energy draining. Add to that some early allergies, and I have been plopping on the couch and falling asleep super early.

The painting is done! Well, it needs a varnish...but the pretty part is done. Generally I am happy with it. For not painting for a while, I think it turned out pretty well. There are some technical issues I can see I need more practice on, but it came out a little better than I expected. I'm just happy I completed something! That's the best part. It's going to my mom's store on Friday, so I'll let you know how it was received.

Wow, what to work on next? I think there may be a sweater desperate for completion in our future....

Have a good night!

P.J.

Paint hour five....

Well, here we are, six hours invested now (including the hour I spent on it before I started the blog)....It's finally coming together. I think I see the end in sight! Tomorrow I might get to work on the swirlies for the bench (finally!). I'm not wild about the shadows on the sidewalk in the foreground, but what are you gonna do? I'll try to touch them up tomorrow. I'm enjoying painting, but I will be happy when it's over. A lot of anxiety has gone into this piece because it will be hanging somewhere other than in my closet. Plus, I have MANY other painting/drawing/craft ideas that I have been jotting down for future projects, and I am excited to start them all! I am definitely a "starter". I'm very optimistic and energized at the thought of a project, then as reality sets in (and I have to do WORK) I tend to lose interest and dread said project. I'm hoping this blog will help me correct that. We shall see.....

Have a good night, all! See you tomorrow!

P.J.

Painting hour four....

I think I am finally getting to the details/ending phase of this painting. BTW, sorry for the long absence. On Friday night, Mark and I unexpectedly had to say farewell to a good friend who is moving across the country. Needless to say, we were out a bit too late to get any art done (or sleep, for that matter). Good luck, JB. I hope you find what you seek.

I take it everyone had an exciting Super Bowl weekend? I can't say that I give a hoot about football, but I like me some beer and numerous dips. Mmmm...dips.

My weekend wasn't a complete loss on the creativity end of things, however. I pulled out a sweater I have officially been crocheting for a year now! Ugh, where does the time go? I ended up spending way more time working on it than I should have...There was lots of frogging involved. But that project is for another post....

Here is the latest version of the painting. The biggest change is that I began to add in the shadows on the building, and on the walkway (although I used the building shadow color for the walkway...that will need to be covered). I think I need to tweak the color slightly, but I think I have a solid foundation to build from. I am starting to make more sense of the bench and street lamp as well. The sign needs toned down, and the walkway could use some more definition. The store window needs to be "three-dimensional-ized" also.  But honestly, I think I may be done in the next day or two.

I have to say, I don't think I am wild about the acrylics I am using. I bought them at work because they were new and supposedly Winsor and Newton's answer to Golden Acrylics. I don't know if you are familiar with either brand, but Winsor and Newton Artist Acrylics just do not compare to Golden in terms of vibrancy and laying down. I started painting with Winsor and Newton's student brand "Galeria", and for the money they aren't bad. They are a definite step up from Liquitex Basics. Suffice it to say that I am going to have to slowly pick up a good mixing set of Golden. I wish I was professional enough to give the correct terms in describing Golden to you, but alas, all I can say is that they "glide" off your brush, and they amount of color you can lay down in one swipe of the brush...well, it's enough to make you drool. Plus, the infamous acrylic color shift is much more subtle, if there at all. That's one problem I am having with this painting. It's not a big deal for the most part, but the dark colors are shifting WAY darker than I am mixing them on the palette.

All I am trying to say is, if you are interested in painting with acrylics, I would recommend you try a couple of brands because you will see, as with any products made by many manufacturers, they are all different. And what I like about one brand, you may dislike, and vice versa.

Woo, that was more of a rant than I had intended this evening. Well, good night all! Talk to you tomorrow!

P.J.

A break from the painting...

I was all ready to get my paintin' on this evening, and then it struck. I needed Mexican food. And margaritas. And believe me when I say it was DELICIOUS. It was not, however, great for productivity. That combined with TV night on NBC killed the evening really fast. The night was not a complete creative loss, though, as I bought myself a little treat at work today....

Mark found this little gem at Christmastime as a gift for our sister-in-law. The title says it all: the book is full of drawing prompts and divided pages upon which to draw. Here is an example of a prompt:

I fell in love with this sketchbook. I think it would be a great idea generator and artist's block cure. The prompts are just vague enough that the sketches you produce could say a lot about your artistic style. Take the prompt above as an example. The gravestone could be new, old, yours, grandma's, Fido's, a stone, a statue of an angel or gargoyle, and the list goes on. The prompts are just that spark that we all need from time to time. Plus, drawing in it reminds me of activity books as a kid (but with higher quality paper that ink doesn't bleed through). So there is that nice nostalgic connection as well.  Tonight, I used Staedtler Triplus Fineliners, Faber-Castell Pitt Pens Big Brush, and Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolor Pencils (no water though).

Below are a few drawings I finished in about an hour.

The prompt: a kiss

The prompt: mittens

The prompt: icicles

 I chose subjects reflecting the season and impending Valentines Day. The bottom picture is of icicles. I have to say that I have never honestly seen any in person, so that was the best I could do off the top of my head.

Taking photos of your work is definitely a useful resource. The drawings look so different to me in photo form. I can see the mistakes a lot better. It's also easier to tell if the composition is successful.

642 Things To Draw is published by Chronicle Books, if you are interested. And after reading this, how could you not be? I believe even non "arteests" could enjoy this book.

The painting will return tomorrow!

Have a good night!

P.J.

Hour number three..

Happy February! Can you believe it's February? Wasn't Christmas, like, last week? Sigh...

Anyway, here is what the painting looks like after the third session. I worked mostly on the greenery, and I really like what's happening with it. I also learned that my favorite brush (when painting with acrylics) is the bright. It can do so many things: make straight lines, taper off, make leaves, blend. I have more control over it than a flat, and I think I have picked up a round only once or twice for this whole painting. I LOVE rounds for watercolor and gouache, but they don't do much for me with acrylics. It's probably because I don't know how to use one LOL.

Hmm...looking at this photo, I think the black is too dark. It's not even black really. I mixed green and red to get it (can't remember which ones are in my palette...must be gettin' old!).

I could have worked on this more tonight, I found a groove finally. But there is a "New Girl" and "Tosh.0" I missed yesterday! Yay!

Have a good night!

P.J.

PS: That ground hog BETTER see its shadow tomorrow....if it knows what's good for it....

PPS: "True Grit" was AWESOME! I recommend it if you haven't seen it. AND I found out it was a book first ::adds to never-ending books-to-read list::

Hour number two...

Ugh, I am a little disappointed in myself over how little I achieved in one hour today. I am stuck in painting limbo. It feels so laborious, yet it doesn't look like it's ever going to come together. But it will. I'll tell you what, I COMPLETELY understand the importance of color studies now. I am spending a lot of time trying to mix the right colors, only to have them turn out too this or that. Also, I am all about the pretty details, therefore I am DYING to paint the swirlies on the bench and all the fine lines and accents. It is taking all I have to work from the back to the front this time.

Tomorrow I want to start laying in some of the tree shadows on the building and the fence details. I tried to start them with the archway, but the color in waaaaay too dark. And brown.

Well, that's all for now. I am off to watch "True Grit"!

Goodnight!

P.J.

The First Hour

The first project that I am tackling during Arts and Crafts hour is one that I actually started two weeks ago and haven't touched since. It is an acrylic painting of my mom's former boutique. It's meant to hang in her new building. I am working from these photographs:

So, as you can see, they are not the best reference photos. I needed them both in order to put in as much of the side of the building as possible, since the front and the right side contain most of the character of the store. Then I still have to include the sign in the yard.

This is all I had completed before craft hour. I probably spent an hour on it.

I had really only laid some parts in. The greens were all wrong. Being the heavy-handed individual I am (grace in NOT a word that comes to mind when I think of my attributes), I am really dreading the whole right side, where there is a picket fence, as well as the swirly details on the bench. A really important feature of the painting is the street lamp, which I did not properly mark in. The whole sidewalk needed adjusted. I really lost interest in this piece quickly.

But thanks to this new blog, I am forced to face all of the sad little partially completed projects I have begun. It's like the island of misfit creations up in here.

So, accompanied by my weapons of choice...

I set a timer and went to work. For a whole HOUR. This is the result:

I just laughed a little because it doesn't look like I did much. I spent the most amount of time adjusting the color and moving the sidewalk over. The colors still aren't perfect, but they are getting there. I like the improvements to the sky. 

I feel good knowing I spent a little time creating instead of vegging out and Facebook lurking (don't judge, you do it too). 

I am actually looking forward to what will happen tomorrow night. 

See you tomorrow!

P.J.