The Bold and The Beautiful

Tried something a little different here. I usually leave those white lines between my different color-shapes and had been wondering what it would look like if I filled them in with marker instead of just outlining with my thin-tipped pen. It's definitely bold, and very graphic. It wouldn't be the best choice for every picture but I do like it. New possibilities!

Not Big Enough for the Two of Us

Since that went well the other day, I grabbed another old photo that was lying around. This one though I already had plans to paint bigger - in my series of 16x20 aquabord panels. So this was basically just a warm-up to see how it would go. I'll probably bring the horizon line either up or down as it's pretty squarely in the middle right now. It's just so hard to decide which! I love having plenty of sky to work with, but the reflection is a huge part of what makes this interesting... Sky or reflection? Which should be the star?

Dusting Off Old Inspiration

I have a large, holey plastic bag overflowing with old photos that I occasionally flip through for inspiration (I have an even larger number of unprinted photos on the computer that supposedly I'll someday get around to painting). So I pulled one out at random and went for it. The photo shows so little detail that I've never been sure if I could pull it off, which makes it perfect for a simple, small-scale sketch. The design made by the strong contrasts have always called to me. I left the birds out this time as that would have kept me from painting quickly. Kinda love it. Might have to get brave and try it big! What do you think though? Birds or no birds?

Every painting deserves a 2nd chance...

Okay so I don't actually believe that. Some are just bad and should be learned from and forgotten. Or started completely over if you don't resent the subject by then ;) But I pulled this one out of a forgotten pile (I posted the finished product January 11th) and tried to implement some constructive criticism my critique group had given me plus some of my own ideas. And I think it worked! 

"Life finds a way"

I was dying to get painting today. Of course it didn't actually happen until this evening but I kept thinking about doing it! It's just that I first helped my oldest get going on a sewing project, did some laundry, read to the three littles so that they got good mom time before I tried to get them to play without me while I painted, got tiny down for her nap and then cleaned the kitchen because it was killing me. Unfortunately while doing so I watched this great video about needing to take care of yourself so you can be more creative. He was very persuasive. So I made lunch for us all with real food instead of throwing together an array of snacks like usual. And one thing lead to another lead to a softball game in the unseasonably cold weather, led to me not starting until late. Such is life. But I did paint in the end and I'm really pleased with how it's going. 

My landscapes usually take considerable more stress and planning and long pauses where I stare at them without doing a thing. This one is just flowing almost effortlessly. Feels so weird it's almost wrong. Is it the clay board surface instead of paper? Or the preliminary sketches I did, which I don't usually do? Or my new attitude about not having to follow "the rules?" I don't know. But I'll take it!

Finally some time to paint!

As we were driving home from our recent camping trip we kept getting a quick view of this amazing rock. It just went straight up outta nowhere, like somebody had pulled it up out of the ground like taffy. It really was so cool. And as the sun filtered through the trees and the river ran through it all...love it. So inspiring. I could've sat there all day and watched how the gradually moving sun changed the shadows in the trees. But I had 5 kids in the car who were tired of mommy getting out to take pictures of pretty scenes, so I jumped back in of course and we drove off. But I've been thinking of painting it for days now and finally sat down this evening when we didn't have a softball game to be it in what feels like the first time in forever. So I took advantage of the free time. And my husband even made dinner so I could get to painting sooner, meaning I possibly won't even stay up too late!

It started out going very quickly, almost alarmingly so. I think having had the image in my head for days helped me plan all sorts of composition decisions ahead of time and I was just ready to get going. It's not on paper though, it's on Ampersand clayboard. I have never done a painting on it before. Totally new experience here. I can't do wet-into-wet like I usually do because the water doesn't spread and the paint just sits there. But the color is bright and it lifts off like magic whether you want it to or not. Ha. Can't wait to do more.

View of Rainier

So my husband and I got away for a rare escape last weekend! And by rare I mean only the second time since our eldest was born nearly eleven years ago. So we joked that we get one weekend a decade and rather accidentally put incredible pressure on my sister and her husband, who were hosting us in their home in Seattle. They didn't disappoint. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed perfect weather that allowed us to do things like take this splendid Sunday morning hike. When I got home and sat down to start a new painting, I wanted a fresh subject, something applicable to my life and so I settled on this photo my husband had taken. Because it made me happy. And that's kinda the point, isn't it?

And I could be wrong, but I'm thinking those trees and bushes sorta reflect that. Don't they look a tad bit playful to you?