Cherub

4" x 6" watercolor

Something's got to change. My enthusiasm for doing this is already flagging, in a mere 10 days. It feels like drudgery, a burden. Reasons are that I am not always proud to throw something up on this screen, I want to make more changes, I haven't finished, I don't like it, etc. etc. And then I have to tell myself that the purpose is to develop discipline. Then I answer myself that I'm painting, so what's the big deal? Why post daily? Accountability, I suppose.

I went back and read over Duane Keiser's blog on painting, and noted several things of import. He used his PAD (painting-a-day) as a vehicle for sales, his adoption of the Annie Dillard philosophy of scrutinizing "pennies" (e.g., the small, overlooked things), and his comments on the sometimes perverse effects PAD efforts can have on beginner painters. I'm not trying to sell, I keep thinking each effort has to be a complete artistic thought, and I'm getting all balled up in whether what I am posting is any good.

Which brings us to the 3rd reason why I said I'd be doing this: growth. I just plain need to practice more-- more drawing, more painting, more artistic decision making. Growth. It is a fact that I have been painting more in the last 10 days than I have in several years. And seeing it up there on the screen, while still making my toes curl, does allow me some distance to edit. With this cherub, for instance, a toned wash to the left would've done a better job of emphasizing the lit side. But I like my line and paint quality just fine.

So maybe I will put in a few words here and there, addressing discipline, accountability, or growth as related to a particular post. Sorry, I'll have to use words when the images fall short....

Benched

10" x 7" watercolor

Chorded

14" x 11" Watercolor

This is an older painting which I'm posting since I didn't complete what I was working on today. I did paint, I know that I did, I just didn't get it finished and posted. So have I broken my own rule? Not sure; I'll think about it. Hope this doesn't get to be a habit....

On the Easel

12" x 8" oil on board

Still trying to get reacquainted with oils; a struggle which will not be continued until after completing a few more watercolors for the inventory. Alas, Lexi and Ann will continue in limbo!

A & L Visit the Studio (Study)

3" x 5" ink and wash

They kindly sat for a small oil study, which did not go so well. Perhaps it will be completed by the studio elves and appear as tomorrow's post.

Sweeper (Venice)

9.5" x 14" Watercolor

Val D'Orica Sketch

3" x 2" Watercolor and watersoluble pencil

A (very) little something to stay legal while I contemplate whether Sunday should be a day of rest. Or not.

What to Paint

Watercolor, 11" x 14"

Wait by the Red Door (Murano)

Watercolor, 20" x 14"

ScaryScape (OMG do i have to post this)

This is going to be a lot more difficult than I thought. My initial plan was to almost never include text here, but this one demands explanation. This was the most singularly unpleasant painting experience I can remember. I was excruciatingly bad, and the materials were worse. I used walnut oil for the first time, ostensibly as a solvent, but ended up getting it into almost every mixture and the result was a gooey mess. My brushes were cheap craft store variety because I didn’t want to cut down good brushes to fit into my new little paintbox that I set up to keep a set of paints here at home – my "no excuses" box. My support board had a slippery (plastic?) canvas surface.

So much for materials. Subject matter was even more of a struggle. I am a realistic painter, though you wouldn’t know by this posting. I roamed through the house considering and rejecting subjects as too complex or too much of a cloneof what I see in painting-a-day blogs. After a few hours (!) I set up a salt and pepper shaker still life, and then spent much time trying to make my materials behave. Utlimately my littel still life looked like the most amateur effort of a 6 year old. (That the composition sucked in the first place, we won’t mention.) So I messed it all up and the end result is probably familiar to some. I call it palette-smoosh of leftover paint.

There were ALL of the following challenges:
Unfamiliar and ill-behaved materials
Working small format
Choosing a subject which is historically not my forte
Poor composition (thought this might work itself out mid-painting- ha!)
Pressure of knowing this would be posted, no cheating by substituting
Painting every day

Lesson learned? Try not to tackle everything at once. Only the last two are important at this early stage. I really wanted my first effort here to be something that didn’t make my toes curl, but quality will just have to wait. As it is, at least I have incentive to paint tomorrow if for no other reason than to bump this one off the top of the list...