Challenge Day 2!

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I started off with the ambitious proposal to myself of 3 paintings today. I did 2. One was not worthy of posting, the other I am happy with. Maybe tomorrow I will get 3 that work well. I am fearful that in order to keep up with this challenge I will have to stockpile!

This piece is resourced from my Animals: 1419 Copyright-free illustrations of Mammals, Birds, Fish, Insects etc as well as images that I found on google. It is a cross between an American and European Avocet (which may be the same, I don’t know). Regardless, I think that they are elegant!

Medium is watercolor ground with salt and graphite over top.

30 Paintings in 30 Days

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It’s a challenge! It really will be. I will have to double or triple up on some days in order to meet the quota for this. But, it will motivate for sure! What a great idea. Here is the link to the challenge if you are interested: 30 Paintings in 30 Days

I don’t really think of myself as a “painter” so that had me a little worried.  But, looking at the work that some are uploading it looks like there is quite the variety. I am going to keep my pieces on the painterly side with some drawing thrown in.

Day one: Angel fish on casein ground with water-soluble graphite. Challenging to work on the casein as it remains workable when you use any water over top. I think this needs a little paint spatter…I might add that.

Happy New Year everyone, hope 2016 is a super great one. Paint and Draw!!

Oh, almost forgot, I jumped off the edge and created my own website. Scary…but it’s done! Check it out. AnneMarie Welsh Fine Art

Style Departure

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The goal for this painting was just to try out the oil bar paint on paper, but with a gesso ground. When I use just the paper, of course some oil seeps through over time. While the feel is different on the gesso ground I think it is a better choice for longevity of the work. For the drawing and subject I just wanted to do something simple…so I chose the pelican in a very graphic depiction. And, I had a lot of fun doing it!

It’s a total style departure. Fun to do something totally different.

Studies

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small study: oil bar, 5" x 6"

small study: oil bar, 5″ x 6″

It’s so interesting to me that sometimes the studies that I do to warm up for a “finished” painting turn out better than the final. Maybe it is the carefree attitude. I suppose I could try to trick myself into doing larger “studies”! No doubt the more I do, the better I will get at being less worried when faced with canvas or large substrates. It’s all a process.

The last few days have been spent working with the oil bars and some ink and water color projects. Ink is a lot of fun. I like going back and forth between these two mediums…they are so different. I think switching over to a different medium helps my easily distracted brain!

Trigger Fish: Ink & Watercolor, 5" x 7"

Trigger Fish: Ink & Watercolor, 5″ x 7″

Beach Clouds

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Oil Paint Sticks on paper: 10" x 8"

Oil Paint Sticks on paper: 10″ x 8″

Back to the oil paint sticks on paper. I was thinking that the simple shapes of a beach scene would be a good way to practice with the oil paint sticks. And, it is, but it’s not easy by any stretch! Beaches are difficult in their simplicity! Clouds are much harder than they seem! But, I do think that this is a good approach for me, scenes that are not too complex, and I can concentrate a bit more on how to lay down the paint…mixing on the paper and layering to achieve what I want. An artist friend gave a great suggestion that I will employ next, bring some sand color up into the clouds.

I found my friends blog post as a good resource to go back to: Edward Seago Inspiration

Painting and Sketching

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Oil Paint Sticks: 6 x 9 on paper

Oil Paint Sticks: 6 x 9 on paper

More practice with oil paint sticks on paper. I am going to try and stay within 6″ x 9″ and 8″ x 10″ sizes on paper for now. This is a good size to work on to get a piece done within a reasonable time. I think this is a good way to get my technique refined before moving over to larger work. I did get some Shiva oil paint sticks that are not student grade, the color seems to be richer. They are “hard” but that seems to be working to my advantage right now.

Practicing Faces: inspired by Modigliani

Practicing Faces: inspired by Modigliani

My other goal right now is to improve my drawing skills for faces.  I have some pieces that I want do that involve things like mermaids and they need to have nice faces! So, I am sketching faces, mostly from expressionist and impressionist painters…I don’t want to get to tied tight with them.

Like Butter!

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quick study: R&F paint sticks on paper

quick study: R&F paint sticks on paper

So, the quick small study reveals that R&F oil paint sticks are super buttery! Which, in some cases will be exactly what I want. It makes them more difficult to work with on a small scale. The next experiment will be on a larger scale…maybe 9x12ish. I need a broader range of colors in these paints–and I probably should do a little color mixing with them to see what colors I can make. These paints will work very nice using a brush I think.

Next up to try will be the Windsor Newton Oil bars!

Discovery

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Sunflower study: oil pigment sticks on paper

Sunflower study: oil pigment sticks on paper

I think that I have discovered a medium that I will stay with for awhile. I feel like I have been on a discovery project for the last couple of years…playing around with lots of different mediums and subjects. The oil paint sticks are awesome! So, my plan is to commit to them for the next 12 months and see how the work goes.

Not to say I am going to put away my pens and watercolor type mediums…I love those for sketches. Now that I have decided on the medium, I think I will be able to focus on my subject matter in a more serious and planned way. I need to get back to a sketch a day to continue to improve my drawing skills.

Feeling good about making some specific choices for the next few months!

Finished painting: oil paint stick on canvas

Finished painting: oil paint stick on canvas