Painting a Day 65

More clouds today.  Trying to improve my understanding of how they form and blend and all that stuff.  Late posting today as I was out for a while.

Fluffy Clouds, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

Painting a Day 64

Clouds are today's subject.  Just clouds, no horizons, or landscapes or seascapes, just clouds.  I think I need to look up some more about cloud painting techniques.  I'm finding that I don't have confidence in my process.  I'm never sure how it's going to look or how (or if) it's going to get to where I want it to go.  Another step in the journey.

Storm clouds, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

Painting a Day 63

Well, it's been a truly lazy Sunday.  I slept in AND had a late afternoon nap.  I didn't paint until after 1:00 in the afternoon. While I am painting I often think of witty or interesting things to type along with the painting, but usually by the time I come to post they've gone right out of my head.  However today I didn't really think of anything witty as I was feeling singularly uninspired to paint.  On the upside I am happy with the way the clouds came out and I think I will spend more time painting clouds.

Landscape 2, acrylic on canvas board, 9" x 12"

Painting a Day 62

Today I officially enter my third month of painting.  We got up this morning very groggy after a few late nights and some not sleeping very well and almost decided to put off painting till later in the day as we had to leave the house with all the kids by 7:30 am.  It felt really weird to not paint first thing in the morning and I said as much to Geof.  Luckily Geof is a very foresightful man who prompted me to at least start one even if I had to finish it later in the day.  So this is what I got done in forty minutes or so.  at the time I didn't consider it finished.  However upon looking at it further when we got home and I considered adding to it, it seemed enough to convey the mood and the idea I was looking for.  I will explore this idea further one day on a much larger scale.

Curly Tree, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

Painting a Day 61

Last night at our church we watched Courageous, the movie.  It was fantastic!  Silly me had a cup of coffee after the movie and consequently I didn't get to sleep until after 2am, so I'm a little groggy this morning.  Today's painting actually looks a bit better than what it shows up as here.  The scanner didn't get a true representation of the colour, there is actually more of a range of orangey reds and red together but in the scanned image it just looks plain red.  I also painted it in a different orientation.  Working from a photograph, I had it rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise, but on reflection both the painting and the photo look better this way up!  Too funny!

Up the Maple, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

Painting a Day 60

Well, it's been smashing morning!  At least for one of our Corning Ware serving dishes ... but accidents will happen and in 5 years it won't matter, so no point sweating it.  Today I'm working on water.  While it may be an interesting product at the end I do no consider today's painting a success.  Maybe if I look at it a little longer, but I think I'll need to work on this particular skill more and maybe seek instruction from someone more skilled in that area.

Water, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

Painting a Day 59

I was feeling slightly whimsical this morning.  We woke the kids up today and had breakfast to the sounds of They Might Be Giants singing "Fish Heads" and "The Mesopotamians"  Gotta get some history in there for the homeschoolers!  So anyway, still feeling inspired by the pictures from Mars.  I don't know if they (the NASA people) colourize the images themselves or if the colours we see in the pictures is the way it actually looks from orbit around Mars, but I was also thinking of painting a picture of flowing jungle vines.  I decided to combine the concepts, 'cause who knows, maybe one day there will be jungles on Mars.

Jungle Vines on Mars, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

Painting a Day 58

It's amazing really the unexpected places that inspiration can come from.  Today's painting was inspired by looking at photos on the NASA website, taken from the Mars Reconnaissance  Orbiter.  There are all sorts of images that are just cool to look at even though you can't really make out exactly what they are.  And apparently scientists can look at them and see evidence of water!  Frankly I think we need to get our own house in order before we spend the money and resources to go and pollute some other planet, but that's just common sense, no one expects scientists to understand that when they've got all that intellectual megalomania going on.

Water on Mars, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 57

Some mornings I wake up and can't wait to paint because I have so many ideas.  Other days I look at the number of days left ahead in the year and wonder how I will fill them all.  Then I have days where I have an idea but it doesn't work out the way I wanted it to and I wonder if I can legitimately use another day to repaint the same idea and try to execute it better.  Today is a combination of the first thought and the last thought.  I wish I had an idea of how to paint the concept of a year's worth of empty canvases stretching out ahead of me without it just being mostly blank!

Forest Path, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 56

I don't know what the inspiration for todays painting is.  Just something out of my head.  I had something intelligent I was going to say, but it's gone now.

Untitled, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 55

My computer isn't talking to me so this has to be quick!  Here's today's painting.

Jungle Flowers, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 54

We seem to be on a track of losing things lately, but maybe it's starting to turn around and we can get on a finding track.  Our camera is missing as is the final disc to the Lord of the Rings trilogy (GRRRR).  Then we lost the stylus for Geof's iPad and my brand new MAC lipstick.  This morning I found the stylus while looking for the lipstick, (both of those losses being easily attributable to my 3 year old) and then I eventually found the lipstick (lucky 3 year old).  However we're still waiting on the other two items to surface from the depths of wherever they are.

Calm Blue, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 53

If you look out our front door you can see how close we are to farm country in Alliston.  While there is another row of houses between us and the potato fields, that's all there is between us and the potato fields.  Quite a difference from where I grew up in the East End of Toronto.  So while today's painting is not a perfectly accurate view out our front door, it's pretty close to what you see if you ignore the last row of houses.  I'm afraid I didn't quite catch the clouds and the quality of the light this morning very accurately, but it was a little difficult to keep running between the front door and the easel in the kitchen and keep it all in my head, and seeing as our camera is missing at the moment (Please St. Anthony help us find it) accuracy was curtailed.

Today's Sunrise, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 52

There are days when I feel like I have it all together.  Today is not really one of those days, but it's getting better as the day goes.  The whole homeschooling journey is definitely showing where I want to grow as a person.  Discipline of self is  a big one.  As our first year of full homeschooling I had an idea that it would be a challenge to get going again after the holidays, but really, I had no idea!  Whew, the whole darkness in the morning and the coziness of the bedcovers and the coldness of the air all adds up to a very tempting combination.  Must Resist Temptation!  Anyway, here's a taste of summer to make me feel more like rising.

Hydrangea, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 51

Today is a dreary rainy winter day, however I will take the rain over snow, I don't need to worry about shovelling it.  Not thatI'd be shovelling anyway, the kids would do that, but I'd still need to drive in it!  today's painting just grew sort of organically from playing with the colours and seeing what happened.

Smokestacks, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 50

Good Monday Morning!  That is not normally the way I greet Monday mornings, but I'm trying it on for size.  I'm afraid I've been letting my rising time get gradually later, so I need to nip that  in the bud and get back on track.  It's amazing how you can lose progress on a good habit by allowing yourself to slide for a short time!  Anyway, here is today's painting, again inspired by the Group of Seven

Untitled. acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 49

I'm working on waves today.  Trying to get more fluidity and movement.  Getting there gradually.

Beach Waves at Sunset, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 48

I'm actually getting quite a bit of material from a trip we took about 11 year ago to England and Ireland.  We had a great time and managed to capture a lot of it in pictures, back in the day of actual film!  Now I'm getting the chance to immortalize those moments further by painting them.  In this image it wasn't evident that while on the grounds of Oxford, the grass actually always has those lines of the fresh-cut lawn-mower look, because they apparently cut the lawns EVERY day just to make those lines!

Gardens at Oxford, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 47

Today's painting is purely a reaction to the process I went through yesterday and consequently probably the quickest one I've done yet.  It was also my first experience of painting purely with a palette knife instead of brushes.  It's quite enjoyable and a technique that I would like to experiment with more when I have a later canvas as it feels like there isn't a lot of room to move with the palette knife in a 9 x 12 canvas.

Stormy, acrylic on canvas, 9" x 12"

P.A.D. Day 46

Whew!  I don't think I'll do another one like this in a long time, at least not while I'm in the painting a day phase!  This one took me close to 6 hours, which while I have very forgiving kids I don't think is really feasible on a daily basis while homeschooling.  Consequently the execution of this one got a little strained towards the end, and not necessarily what I had pictured in my head, but the general idea is there.  Anyway, I've got the rest of my day to get on with quickly now!

Rainbow Tornado, acrylic on canvas board, 9" x 12"

P.A.D. Day 45

Today's painting is inspired by Group of Seven artist Fred Varley.  I've also been looking at a number of works by Canadian artist Chili Thom who has some crazy beautiful stuff, also done in acrylics which reassures me that yes it is a real medium to work in.  I don't know if it's only in my own head or where it came from but I think I've picked up a bit of art snobbery that views painting in oils as "real" painting and other media as not so much, but I think I can let it go.

Inspired by Fred Varley, acrylic on canvas board, 9" x 12"

P.A.D. Day 44

So today everyone was up early because the older kids are going skiing and in fact are probably on the hill as we speak, well type anyway. So they were all up and watching me paint which is not the norm.  Consequently I have decided to name today's painting based on an inspiration from Gavin who said what he thought it looked like.

Peacock Convention, acrylic on canvas board, 9" x 12"

P.A.D. Day 43

Day 43 and it's back to school after the holiday.  For us that means everyone has to be up and dressed and breakfasted, but luckily it doesn't mean we all have to be out the door at a certain time today.  As it is it's 8:45am and many of us are still in pyjamas!

It's been drawn to my attention that some people have had trouble posting comments to this blog.  When you have to go through the process select "Name/URL" as the easiest option and you don't have to actually put in a URL, just leave that part blank, and then type in the word that proves you're a human, not a computer pretending to be human.  For those who've had trouble, my sincere apologies!

Today's painting is not in my normal preferred colour range, but I thought I would try something different and a little out of my comfort zone.  Also I didn't want those colours in my paintbox to feel neglected.

Farm Fields at Sunset, acrylic on canvas board, 9" x 12"

P.A.D. Day 42

I feel like I''m getting better at this whole painting thing, which is good because it's been 42 days now and if there was no progress visible, I'd feel pretty discouraged.  The problem is that as I get better I was hoping that it would get quicker to paint.  In fact it's taking longer because as I get better I want to do more and realize that when there are points in the painting process where I feel like it's a total washout, it's just that I have more to do and I need to have patience with the time it takes to achieve the desired results.  I think s the end of this process I will still try to paint everyday, but I will certainly not be completing a canvas each time, they will most likely be bigger canvasses!

Homage to Monet, acrylic on canvas board, 9" x 12"

P.A.D. Day 41

Today a real portrait!  Not a perfect likeness, but one of my kids recognized it for who it was so I'll take that as a success.  REally gotta work on recognizing the skin tones and learning how to mix them and then blend them on the canvas smoothly.  The hardest part is turning off your brain and letting your eyes tell you what they see in terms of colour.  

Aileen age 2 1/2, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 40

Today I ventured to paint a hypothetical face of a woman, so one not taken from any kind of picture.  Definitiely another step on the painting journey.  I don't know why faces are so difficult to paint, or if that's a difficulty that's particular to me.  Nevertheless, while I wouldn't say that I have the hang of it, I'm definitely getting closer to it.

Into the Wind, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 39

Here we go:

Dusty Old Books, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 38

Here we are for day 38. No commentary really today.  Just - here it is!

Purple Aloe, acrylic on canvas board, 9" x 12"

P.A.D. Day 37

I slept in today which just shows how a delay of two hours at the beginning can translate into an 8 hour delay in the result.  It's very difficult to be uninterrupted while in a household of seven children!  So here we are finally, completed and dry enough to put on the scanner.

Lanscape, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"

P.A.D. Day 36

Feeling much more rested today after a whole seven hours of sleep!  Now that the major portions of the holiday schedule are over we can relax a bit and enjoy the rest of the time off before schooling starts up again next week.  Here is today's painting.  I'm really itching to get into larger scale but the practicality of that is limited.  There's just no way to commit to a large canvas every day.

Rosy Rose, acrylic on canvas board, 5" x 7"

P.A.D. Day 35

I''m feeling a little swirly in the brain today, a result of the cumulative effects of a holiday schedule.  However I had a great nap between 3:30 and 7:10 this morning!  So I'm up and at 'em, off to New Year's day/Mary Mother of God/Sunday mass.  So anyway the swirls are showing!

Untitled, acrylic on canvas board, 8" x 10"