Getting Ready for the Big Three-Oh!

16 of my daily oil paintings from this year.

Unfortunately I don't mean a landmark upcoming birthday. No I'm taking about the upcoming 30 in 30 daily painting challenge which starts on September 1. Challenge hostess Leslie Saeta suggests choosing a theme for the month.

I think this is smart because I feel some limits and boundaries actually encourage more artistic and creative freedom. Plus an art challenge like this (or one you assign yourself) keeps you motivated as well as strengthen your personal style.

So what's my 30 in 30 theme? You'll have to check back to on Sept. 1 (You won’t be too surprised given my blog name.) In the meantime here are 30 painting ideas or art themes that I considered. Even if you don't want to paint for 30 days you could just give yourself a weekly or "every Friday" challenge or whatever works best for you! Cheers from Colorado and happy painting!

1.    Pets (ask friends, relatives, local shelter to send you pics.)
2.    Your hometown (or things associated with it)
3.    Weather or climate (stormy, rainy, sunny, tropical, etc.)
4.    Your favorite foods/beverages (hot cocoa for me)
5.    Alphabet (from A to Z) or all one letter (apple, antiques, aloe, etc.)
6.    Still life in natural (outdoor) light
7.    Your hobbies other than art (cooking, gardening, music, sailing, hiking,etc.)
8.    Things associated with your state/state symbols
9.    Ode to a season or month (October things)
10.    Same time of day: All morning, all night, etc.
11.    Things found on a farm or in a garden
12.    Toys, games, etc.
13.    Phobias (that would be insects for me!)
14.    Things from the farmer’s market or grocery store
15.    Shiny or reflective objects
16.    Lucky (or unlucky) items/symbols
17.    Beachy (lighthouse, shells, waves, seagulls, flip flops, etc.)
18.    Trees (there over 700 types in North America)
19.    White and black objects (which of course are rarely all white or black)
20.    Things you use in the studio/workshop
21.    Something you’ve never painted before (or were afraid to—i.e. a selfie)
22.    Textures—fur, metal, wood, rust, etc.
23.    All plein air in your backyard or neighborhood (to save time)
24.    Things with wheels (trucks, tractors, bicycles, etc.)
25.    Specific painting technique: All pointillism, expressionism, etc.
26.    Stuff from your closet or junk drawer(especially the not so neat one)
27.    Things with letters or writing in them (signage, mugs, etc.)
28.    Something in motion or moving (the still life opposite)
29.    Different painting tool each day so palette knife, big round brush, small flat brush, etc.
30.    Rock your boat. It's a challenge after all! Paint upside down, with your left hand, glasses off, etc.

Horsing Around: Soukup Demo

Art Jill Soukup demonstrates her approach to painting a buffalo in oil.

Thankfully, I’m back in the studio and feeling fantastic after some travel and being quite under the weather from said travel.  I always miss being away from my easel (it’s my anchor) jumping back in to studio work can be like diving into icy pond. 

This past weekend though I got an almost instant energy and inspiration boost from attending a demo by one of my all-time favorite painters.

If you’re lucky during your art life you discover other “aspiration artists.” These artists can really help keep you motivated. You just know this will be an artist you’ll happily follow for years to come. You can’t wait to see their next show and what they’re working on.

For me that artist is Denver representational oil painter Jill Soukup known for her fantastic equine paintings as well as her buffalos and urban scenes.  (I’ve been lucky enough to take a few classes with Jill and she’s also a talented and insightful instructor.)

Jill Soukup Equine Painting

Over this past weekend, I attended Jill’s demo at Saks Gallery in Denver where she currently has a nearly sold out one woman show.  (As nice as the paintings look on camera, they are even more impressive in person.)

Her demos are always fascinating--She often layers the paint (for example an earthy yellow green over a warm dull orange red) using a variety of tools including hefty well-worn brushes, large hardware style putty knives, etc. 

Jill "drags" a cooler cool blue over a warmer area with a putty knife.

Jill's brushes (many large or with very long handles) and other painting tools.

Interestingly, as you can see, Jill uses a variety of references for her paintings: A photo with more detail in the lights, one for the darks, a black/white value photo and sometimes several small color thumbnails where she tries different color options. In this case, she had decided to push the greens in the background of this wonderful buffalo portrait.

Detail of buffalo side of head--note the large textural planes of oil paint.

Jill Soukup oil painting palette--When asked she said her favorite color is that yellow green.

Finally, I'll be back soon with some abstracts I've been working on for Leslie's 30 in 30 January Challenge. Yes, I know only 7 days to go but better late than never!

Challenge Day 15: The Half Time Report

"YUPO Feathers" 9x12 watercolors on YUPO (collection artist)

Happy Sunday everyone--How’s your challenge painting going? Whew, today’s the half-way point. 15 days down, 15 to go…

Briefly, today’s painting is a study of feathers in YUPO. It’s a photo I took in the park this summer and have been thinking about for a while. Maybe for a larger abstract. So I thought it would be interesting to do a color study in the YUPO. (FYI, came across some helpful YUPO tips from the Beautiful Hello blog for those of you who want to "Do on it on YUPO.")

I’m not a runner but I imagine if you’re a long distance runner at the half way mark in a marathon it’s a mix of emotions. Elation that you’ve made it this far yet at the same time disheartened to that you’ve still got a long ways to go…

I was thinking today too even though it’s the weekend why is it sometimes so difficult to focus on something we actually enjoy? Is it guilt? Is it changing priorities? Is it fear of success? I love painting so it's not the desire that lacking. I think most artists I know would love to paint for hours upon hours with no life interventions...Music on, colors flying, lost in creative bliss...

But like any other creative passion, it’s finding that balance that I think is the tricky part. For example, if I start painting like crazy, I tend to need a long break at some point. Nothing wrong with that approach per se.

But I often wonder if I’d be more productive over the long run if I just maintained my creative energy inside of “sprinting” too hard and too soon.  So if an artistic life is like a marathon that you plan to run your whole life what’s the best strategy for success? Can’t say I have an answer for that right now. But I do think I’ll have a better idea at the end of the month…And thanks again everyone for cheering me on along the way. Because cheerleaders do make a difference!

Challenge Day 14: YUPO at the Beach

"YUPO Gull" watercolor on YUPO 8x8  (collection artist)

In watercolor, the experienced know that seeming chaos is usually the precursor to a strong painting... (Hilary Page)

I have to admit I’m really enjoying my “watercolor vacation” this week.  If you ever feel like you need a creative break (and who doesn’t?) you might want to try a different medium. It’s unbelievably liberating and refreshing!

Don’t get me wrong. I’m dedicated to improving my oil painting skills but for my previous challenge painting, I had such a good time cavorting with the YUPO and watercolor that I just had to try another. I bought a whole pad after all…

I took this gull pic last January when I was in Marco Island Florida. I liked the speckles on his head and the bright yellow eyes.

I wanted more texture in this YUPO painting, so I added some paint splatter (tapping brush) and salt (with a salt grinder). Both work great for beaches.  Also, I lifted some of the lights in this with a damp Q-tip as well as a stiffer brush (such as an inexpensive acrylic round).  You can also spray the YUPO surface with alcohol or fine water spray for additional spots of light and suggested texture.

Are we there yet??  Kudos and sincere thanks to all the fellow 30 in 30 challengers who’ve stopped by, took time to write a comment, etc.  Painting is certainly a joyous part of my life, but it’s not always easy. In fact a sign in my studio says: Make time for your art. It’s important. So on that note, happy weekend painting all! 

Challenge Day 12: Visiting an Old Friend...

"YUPO Chickadee" Transparent WC on YUPO 9x12 (collection artist)

Hmm..You may notice a gap between um Challenge Day 5 and today. OK. About a week. The good news is that one reason I got a little behind in the challenge (in addition to out of town guests) is that I've been planning my new November workshop which will be bird themed and feature painting on YUPO--one of my all time favorite painting surfaces. (Sorry for the all caps that's just how YUPO is.)

Briefly, YUPO is a synthetic waterproof "paper." It's super smooth, clean bright white, and you can much more easily make value corrections such as lifting out your lights. It can feel a little strange at first and like any other new art technique take some adjustment, but now I just love it.

A few years ago when I became more of a "daily painter" I moved away from watermedia to oils. But I've always had a special place in my heart for watercolor and fluid acrylics. So you can imagine my delight when I was asked to teach a workshop that featured watercolors and YUPO and birds. Honestly, I can't think of a more exciting combination.

There was only one tiny problem. I had to confess I hadn't painted with YUPO recently but even as I was saying this I was heading toward the garage so I could run up to the Guiry's art store by my studio and buy a pad. (YUPO comes in pads and large sheets--online at Dick Blick.)

So today's painting is a watercolor and YUPO study of a chickadee in my backyard aspen trees. One quick YUPO tip: Use just 3 primaries (red,yellow, blue) because this takes a while to dry and it will run around on you. The 3 primaries will create wonderful harmonious mixes on their own.

If you have any questions about my SAT., November 16 YUPO workshop please email me. I'll have a link for it soon as well. Happy Challenge Painting everyone--we're almost half way there!

Challenge Day 4: Giving Thanks with A Rose

"Leslie's Rose" 5x7 oil on panel

Challenge Day 4. Keeping today’s post short and sweet so I can get back to the easel.

First, I want to thank Leslie again for hosting the challenge thus my painting title today. I know many of you also enjoy the AHA show as I do.  And if you do, you know Leslie and her co-hosts are always promoting giving back to the art community.

So in the spirit of AHA, I’m going to give away this rose (does that sound like something they say on The Bachelor??) to an artist who posts today in the challenge. (At the end of the day, I’ll go to random.org and draw a number.) I'll announce the winner tomorrow!

My quick tip today:  I think pinks (like some greens) can be a tricky color range. I like to try to look for and really push the whole range from  warms and cools—so from almost peachy into the cooler lavenders. Find this can help whatever the subject read pinkish, but not too pink.

So good luck, post your painting today join the challenge (it’s not too late) and enjoy your painting time today!

Keeping the Light in the Light: Challenge Day 3

"Broken Light" 10x10 study in progress oil on panel

The sky is the source of light in Nature and it governs everything. (John Constable)

OK. Challenge Day 3. Only 27 to go….Whew, even when you love painting it can be a challenge to complete a painting every day. Big kudos to all of you in the 30in30 challenge!

Since it’s OK to post a painting in progress (thank goodness) I got a pretty good start on this 10x10 oil tree/landscape study this morning. As with most of my recent paintings, I painted this from my iPad. I saw this beautiful old cottonwood along the Bear Creek Trail in Lakewood, CO late last spring. My three painting goals today: 

1. Good value organization before getting too wrapped p in the color. 
2. Paint each value group at the same time--So darks, then mediums, then lights. 
3. Keep the lights in the light and the darks in the darks.

If you’re interested in strengthening your compositions through value simplification check out this excellent post by Michigan artist Sharon Tarr regarding notans—or the placement of your darks and lights.

From Comfort Zone to Twilight Zone: Challenge Day 2

"The After Hours" 8x10 oil on panel
Click Here to Bid--Thank You!

Happy Labor Day everyone! Before I talk about today’s challenge painting, I wanted to announce that I’ll be teaching a fun and exciting November painting workshop in the Denver area.  I'm super excited about the workshop (it's one of my favorite subject themes!). As soon as I have more details I’ll share them here.

In the meantime, for today’s Challenge Day 2 I wanted to paint a subject a little out of my let's say out of my nature subject "comfort zone." My first thought was a figure which used to paint frequently but rarely now. Then I remembered a photo reference I took earlier in the year...

One of my “guilty pleasure” classic TV shows that I sometimes catch late at night is the original black and white Twilight Zone. And one of my favorite TZ episodes is The After Hours. 

This is the episode where a young woman name Marsha, who’s shopping  in a creepy department store for a last minute gift, slowly comes to realize (spoiler alert) that she’s really a mannequin.

Edgar Degas--The Millinery Shop (Art Institute of Chicago)

I was reminded of this episode when I saw this “party ready” mannequin in a closed boutique late night in my neighborhood. The color palette also reminded me a little of one of my favorite paintings, Degas’ The Millinery Shop—also a “boutique” painting.  Hmm..Coincidence?

Happy Challenge Painting everyone and thanks for stopping by!

The Passion Sandwich

Autumn Oil Paining Commission in Progress (30x40)

One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested. (E. M. Forster) 

While I continue to paint this large autumn leaf inspired oil painting (in progress for a client) yesterday morning I was listening to the Artists Helping Artists interview with award-winning California plein air artist Ken Auster.

Ken offered many helpful insights but one really struck a chord. And that’s the importance of the “passion sandwich.”  In a nutshell, it’s the benefit of separating the intellectual aspect of painting with that pure joy and passion stage.  Perhaps summed up in a simpler 3 word motto (which I quickly taped up by my easel):

Think

Create with Passion & Joy!

Think

Or Plan. Paint. Fine Tune. You get the idea. This makes sense and should be relatively easy. But what I witness often for painters of all levels (myself included) is the tendency to rush to the painting process too quickly with little or no forethought or understanding.

Now, I’m all for unbridled enthusiasm in the studio. But what happens when we paint without some planning? And all the passion, excitement, and creative may come to a grinding halt.

Or maybe we did do some planning (like a value sketch) but while we are in the middle of the creation phase we are still "second guessing" ourselves. Each time we hit the pause button we have to ramp up again.

This “stop and go” pattern may work for some artists but I agree with Ken. I think we’ll have a more productive and pleasant painting experience if we try to protect our passion and joy by bookending our  planning and evaluation.

I can tell you I've tried to stick to the "passion sandwich" diet during this painting. And so far it’s worked really well. For example, in the first "think" step I painted an mostly transparent acrylic underpainting where I worked out some design issues before I switched to oil paint--making the create stage much easier and quicker. 

P.S. For those of you getting ready to join in Leslie's 30 in 30 challenge (see her tips for doing the challenge if this is your first time) tomorrow I want to wish you all happy and passionate month of painting!

30 Days (and Paintings) Has September

Initial color washes for abstract leaf painting. 40x30 on gallery wrap canvas.

September is one of my favorite months here in colorful Colorado—turquoise skies and glowing golden aspens.  And it's also one of my busiest. As many of you may know California oil painter Leslie Saeta (host of Artists Helping Artists podcast) is kindly hosting another 30 in 30 day painting challenge in September—which is (yikes) only a week away!

It won't be easy (I guess that's why it's called a challenge!) but I’m looking forward to participating as much as possible. As of this AM there were already over 150 artists participating! A daily painting challenge like this is tremendous way to stay motivated, improve your painting skills, and share your art with a new audience almost every day.  So be sure to join in if you can! 

One of the series of paintings that I hope to share is an autumn leaf inspired triptych (three 30x40 vertical gallery wrapped canvases) which I started this week.  This is my initial value and color undertone block in with acrylics. I like to use mostly transparent higher chroma (usually out of the tube colors) on the undertone and then "calm" down the colors and use more opaques in the next layers for more interest. 

Ready to go big?
This painting is a commission for a wonderful client I met over the summer for her new home.  I’ve always enjoyed working on larger paintings when you've been working on smaller paintings for a while can be like writing a series of short poems and then switching to a longer more complex novel.

But for those of you who already “go big” in your paintings you know that bigger isn’t necessarily more difficult. It’s just different. I find I take a few more careful steps to prepare but then I’m off and enjoying all the extra canvas space.

When you scale up you’re using a photo reference be sure it’s cropped to the exact same size ratio of your rectangle canvas or support.  For a 40x30 painting like today, I cropped my photo to the same 4x3 proportion. This way when I do my sketch in/mass in of big shapes I’m comparing apples to apples. (Of course using a square photo and and a square canvas is even easier to scale.)

At first I found this method somewhat tricky but the more I scale up this way the quicker and easier it is. My other tip is to block in and connect your darkest value masses first. I find the dark masses easier to see and judge for scaling up. Once those dark masses are in, the other shapes tend to fall into place. Here you can see how I started (that warm wash is Golden Quin. Gold):

P.S. A warm “back to school” welcome to all my new fall students—another reason I love this time of year. Now let’s all get back to our studios—we’ve got some paintin' to do!

For all the Weekend Painting Warriors

"That's So Raven" 8x8 oil on gallery wrap canvas

 SOLD--Thank you!

In January artist Leslie Saeta (who many of you may as the host of the Artitst Helping Artists) kindly featured a 30 paintings/30 day challenge on her blog.  Artists were also encouraged to have a “theme” for their postings which added even more interest to the challenge.

I know the dedication and commitment this consistency at the easel takes so I want to offer a big kudos and congrats to artists who participated. In fact one of my favorite painters in the challenge, Lisa Daria, has painted every day for over 1,000 days!

I really wanted to join the challenge but unfortunately I was traveling away from my studio in January. However, the more I read the blog the more I wished I had found a way to participate. It's really worth checking out all 30 days when you have time--there's a huge variety of painting styles and art subject matter to be inspired by (and also purchase.)

Thankfully starting this weekend Leslie has generously extended the "challenge" by allowing artists  to post paintings on her very attractive blog on weekends. I'm very happy to have this "second chance" to share what I'm working on and in turn discover new artists who are also actively painting. If you're more of a "weekend warrior" painter (and there's nothing wrong with that!) this is also a great chance to post on a regular basis.

Thanks again to Leslie for sharing your blog and helping support the online art community. Happy painting everyone from my studio to yours.

P.S. I just had to post a raven today for Super Bowl Sunday for all my raven (bird or football) fans and Baltimore friends.