MORE DRAWING AND PAINTING TREES

   Thank you to all who have commented in the last few weeks. I really do appreciate you encouragement. The class with Deborah Paris is still keeping me busy and I'll be getting back to paying more attention here after this coming week.

Here are a couple of monochromatic  underpaintings that I did in the last week.

 oil painting 11x14 inches

 

oil painting 14x11 inches

I've been concentrating on the local trees.  I was able to get outside this last week as the sun shined for a few days and temps were in the 50's F.    The deciduous trees are just starting to show some leaves, there was a dandelion in the yard and the slugs are back, so our spring is here, though now it is raining hard again.

MORE TREES

Here are a couple of tree drawings I did this last week for my online  class with Deborah Paris. The first one is done with charcoal as seen from my window. I drew the second one on the one dry day from my car.  I've had to resort to photos or coping masters for the others.     There is a lot of reading assignments and I've been searching the internet for more information and images.  I've fallen in love with works by Russian artist Ivan Shishkin.

For the remaining two weeks, we will be painting.  And the weather is suppose to get better.... into the 50s.

SIX INCHES OF SNOW

This is what it looked like this morning out of my kitchen window.   I'm really getting tired of winter.

DRAWING TREES

 pencil drawing 9 x 11 inches

For the last week, I've been drawing trees everyday for the Drawing and Painting Trees class that I'm taking on line, and I'm loving it.  The class is taught by Deborah Paris who is a tonalist painter.  Deborah's way of painting with oil is different than the a la prima approach that I've been working on.  We will start working with painting towards the end of the one month class.

All my drawings, so far, have been with pencil, a media I haven't used for a finished drawing in ages and I had forgotten how much I enjoy it.    

Spring still isn't here.  Though it was sunny for a few days and warm enough to sit outside and draw on Saturday, we've had snow and rain for the last few days, so I'm drawing trees that I see from my windows, and, despite the rain,  I've been walking in the woods everyday, seeing trees in a new way.

 

THE 30 DAYS ARE DONE

The challenge that I made for myself to paint 30 oil paintings in 30 days ended yesterday. I ended up with 25 paintings that I didn't wipe out or burn.  I can't seem to find them all on this computer (they must be on my other one), so this collage only has 16 of them.   

So, looking back on the last 30 days.  Compared to the 30 days in January when I painting watercolor, this hasn't been as enjoyable.  I was in my comfort zone then and was for the most part happy with what I was producing.  With this challenge,  not so pleased with what I did, but know that I have made improvement. 

I am getting more use to painting at an easel.  I've always drawn and painted (my watercolors and gouache) on a table.  I am left handed and write overhanded and usually paint that way too..... at least the small areas and detail.   I rarely use a flat brush with watercolor, almost always rounds.  However with the oils, I'm using flats for most of the paint.   I probably need some new brushes.  I've accumulated a few brushes, mostly bristles which leaves too much brush stroke showing on the gessoed mat board that I was using most of the time.  They did work better on the canvas.   My favorite brush is a softer brush that I got at a garage sale and the label is worn off..... not as soft as the old kolinsky watercolor flats and rounds that I've also used.  I will order some new ones.  It would be good to be able to see some in a store.  I've been studying them in catalogs and on line and trying to narrow my order down to just a few.... hope they are the right ones.

I probably should do some larger pieces.  I found myself getting out the small brushes and overworking with details too much.

As for color mixing.... it got a lot easier once I switched from the water mixable to the regular oil paints.  Maybe with a better brand of paint, the mixing would be easier.

So, where do I go from here?  I do want to keep on with the oils.  I am tired of painting apples and  painting from photos. I want to get outside and paint nature from life.   I have signed up for an online class with Deborah Paris called Drawing and Painting Trees.   She is a tonalist painter and paints in an indirect way that I'm interested in pursuing.  The class starts on Friday and will last a month.  I am already starting on reading assignments.   Here's hoping that spring will get here soon so I can get out side and draw.  I will continue painting inside though and probably a few more apples.

I want to thank the bloggers who have commented and given encouragement this past month.  I couldn't have done it without you.

DAY 28

 oil painting 6 x 6 inches

I was surprised and delighted to see tulips for sale in the grocery store yesterday.  I've been wishing for  fresh flowers to paint for months.

DAY 27

 oil painting 6 x 6 inches

This was painted from a photo I took while out walking last month.  We call the mountain Rink's Knob.  Up there on top in summer is spectacular.   Its quite a hike and beyond my ability to climb now, so I just enjoy its beauty from below.

The color is really off on this photo.... the foregound is too pink.

DAY 25, YET MORE APPLES

I got a late start today and decided to do Carol Marine's challenge (not the first time) to paint several  apples, each. in 10 minutes.  I spent a bit longer on each of these, but not by much.   I am wonderfully surprised at how differently the oils are handling compared to the wmo's.

DAY 24, MORE TREES

oil painting 6 x 6 inches

I am so glad I switched to regular oil paints.  The things I noticed yesterday are so true.  I am so easily mixing the colors I want.  They are the same pigments I use with watercolor, but the wmo paints never gave me the color I expected.  The oil paints do.  

 This is from a photo I took last week.  Its on a path, a short cut through our woods where I walk quite often.... I walked there today between snow showers and there was a lot more snow, though since I took the picture, the snow had almost disappeared.  Anyway,  I painted it on a piece of watercolor paper with black gesso.  I liked the way some of the black shows through on the bottom where the snow meets the moss.

DAY 23, REAL OIL PAINTS

oil painting 8 x 8 inches

Yes, I skipped a day.  I spent two days on this.   It was the first time I've used Gessobord and I wiped out a few times.    The painting is of the road to our beach, from a photo taken one evening in summer as the sun was setting.

Yesterday, I ran out of water mixable oil (WMO) white paint so decided that it was time to switch to real oils.  I was planning to do so when the weather got better and I could open a window or go out side to paint.  I'm using odorless turpentine and there is no odor, but  I'm sure I'm breathing something that's bad for me.  But I think I'll continue with them inside anyway because I'm finding I like them better.  It's considerably easier to mix the colors I'm looking for.... maybe that's partly because I've been mixing paint for three weeks; maybe I'm just getting the hang of it.  It definitely takes less paint with the oils to mix with white, so the WMOs must have some filler in them.  And the real oils are of a better consistency..... buttery and just easier to mix.   Some of the WMOs are really stiff and very hard to mix.  The brand I've been using is Winsor and Newton which I read are not the best.