Weekly Challenge

I'm attempting my first challenge from Karin Jurick's Different Strokes from Different Folks. The challenge was a pair of work boots and I interpreted them with a fun twist - at least fun for me :)

New Art Stuff!

While I was on vacation last week (loafing around at home) I made my first purchase from www.cheapjoes.com. I've been eagerly awaiting my package and it arrived today!









I was eager to work on a smooth canvas vs the stuff I'd been buying at Michael's and trying to Gesso it up myself. Since I'm so new to the painting thing I didn't know any better - I still don't really but I'm trying.

If anybody ever actually reads my little blog - I'd love any hints and tips you feel like passing along!

I'm gonna go paint something....

Rocket Tree finished

I finished the Rocket Tree painting. I'm fairly happy with it. I wish I could do faces but I don't think they are needed for this.

The Rocket Tree

My absolute best childhood memories are from the summers spent at my grandmother's house in High Point, MS (near Louisville). We called her Maw-Maw and I miss her all the time. She passed away a couple of weeks after her 95th birthday a few years ago. She had this wonderful house out in the country. When she needed to go shopping, we literally had to "go to town". We spent most of our time either on the front porch or in the backyard.

In the backyard was the most wonderful climbing tree EVER! The branches split out low to the ground and had strong branches that split out starting low so we were all (there are 4 of us) able to climb the tree at the same time. We used to call it the Rocket Tree because we would all climb in, take our positions and pretend that we were in a space rocket flying to the moon. I think this is going to be my next painting project. Unfortunately, this is the only photo I have of the Rocket Tree and it's not super clear. But I think I'll be able to muddle through.I think I'll start on it today!

New at this painting thing

I'm so excited about painting. I just started in the spring. I took an oil painting class through Mainline School Nights and really enjoyed it. It was a 10 week class and I only finished 2 paintings. The first was a still life which I really did NOT enjoy working on and you can tell by the outcome.

It took me the first 2 hour class to lay the foundation of dark and light, then the next 2 classes to put in the color. I don't think it's horrible for a first endeavor, but clearly I'm not a "natural" at this. This was done on a 9" X 12" canvas.






The next project I worked on was from a photo. My Uncle Jim, artist extraordinaire, had painted this photo when I was a little girl. It was hanging on the wall at my grandmother's house all throughout my childhood. Unfortunately, the painting was destroyed when the city he lived in (before he died) demolished his dilapidated house without contacting my mother first. So we didn't have a chance to clean it out and we lost a lot of sentimental art and antiques. Such a shame. My interpretation of this photo - W. Eugene Smith's "Walk to Paradise Garden" - is nowhere near the beauty that my uncle was able to show. I'll probably work on it more as I get better. There are elements that I truly love and am proud of for it only being the second painting I have ever attempted (I love the little girl and the pathway) and there are elements that I can't wait to get my hands on and "fix" (the tree). This was painted on a 22" X 28" canvas.
I didn't paint anything on my own during the break from May to October - I didn't have enough courage to attempt anything on my own. So class started up again in October. I'm a little quicker now. I've finished 4 paintings in 5 classes. My first was from a poster of the legs of a dancer wearing legwarmers. I was surprised at how well I did on this one. It took me 2 classes to finish it, but I am very happy with the results. I'm very proud of how the ballet slippers came out. This was painted on 18" X 24" canvas board.

My second painting from this 2nd class is a lighthouse that I painted for my father for Christmas. It's a real lighthouse that is on a barrier island off the coast of MS (Round Island). My dad grew up in Pascagoula, MS and used to ride out to this island in his boat all the time. The lighthouse was destroyed a few years ago by a hurricane (Georges I think). I hope he likes it. I'm thinking of framing it in a frame made out of driftwood. This was painted on 18" X 24" canvas.

My teacher was getting frustrated with a couple of us "newbies" and how long we were taking to finish a painting. She challenged us to just sit and paint and not think about it and finish it quick. So on a Sunday afternoon, I took her up on her challenge. I painted something simple - cherries. I'm happy with the outcome. I realize that my photography skills need some work - so I'll post better pics later. For now, this is what I have. This was painted on 11" X 14" canvas board.

And last and possibly least is a painting where I was focused on the "values" of the colors rather than the actual colors. It's a still life of sunflowers but I only used Ultramarine Blue, Raw Sienna & White. The teacher wanted me to focus on "light & dark", "warm & cool". I tried. This was a hard one. I really struggled with the flowers and focusing on light and dark, bright and dark, etc and not worrying about the shades of yellow. This was painted on 11" X 14" canvas board.


So these are my paintings up till now. I'm anxious to really improve my work and to paint real life images rather than from photos - although I have a lot of family photos that I'd like to translate into paintings.

I follow the Daily Painters and would like to join them one day when I'm good enough to sell my work.

Until next time....