North Dakota Traffic Jam WIP

I love painting with watercolors. Historically it's such an under-appreciated medium - never being taken as seriously as oil and acrylic. Today it still sells for less, although that is partially because modern tastes prefer to not have glass separating them from their artwork. And I get that. Unless you get the super-expensive, high-quality museum glass, there are annoying glares and reflections with glass. But watercolor is so much lighter. It's got soul. And it is so much more fun to paint with! That said, ever year or so I decide I should try to get back into acrylics and buy some canvases on sale and then forget that I did that and so a year later, I buy some more. I have a collection! Since I'm going to have to frame 10+ paintings, which includes mats, glass, and frames when it comes to watercolors, I was trying to figure out a way to save a little money. Long story short (too late), using up some of those canvases that don't even need to be framed would do the trick. If only I knew how to paint with acrylics...

And yet, I am just that ambitious, cheap, and overly-confident that I'll give it a try despite being on a tight deadline. Not the smartest move when I don't have any time for flops but here goes! This is what I've got so far:

Day 1: The Sky

Day 2: The Background

Day 3: Filling in

It's a scene from the North Dakota Badlands in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which is basically down the road from us. My 3-year old daughter thinks it's "boodiful." My son just wants to know why there aren't any buffalo yet. I love my critique group!

My First Miniature

It's all done but the signature! Which, speaking of, is it okay to just sign it with a pen? I don't have a brush small enough. I tried. But it's only a 5 x 5 canvas, and I don't exactly want you to look at it and have my name be what stands out. So it needs to be small. I think, though after a late night of working on it last night, I'm happy. I had to re-work the hand on the right a gazillion times because it was too small and I kept not fixing it enough. And I got bold with the reflective light on the face, which was a little scary as I didn't want it to be confusing which was the pumpkin, but I think it works. My daughter was very disappointed I didn't add the flower print that was all over the hoodie in the photo, but I wanted to keep it simple. Limit it mainly to those two complimentary colors.

So just to sign it and name it. "Just My Size?" "Found One My Size?" "The Perfect Size?" "The Perfect Pumpkin?"
Oh, and this wrapped canvas thing was a new experience for me. I've never painted one of these before but here it is at an angle. Tad tricky for sure but oddly satisfying. Next time I'll continue on to the edges at the same time I paint the front. That way I won't have to remix paint to match later. You'd think I'd think of these things.