I just purchased a couple new ink pens because like any good artist I’m a bit obsessed with supplies. These new pens are Hybrid Technica by Pentel. I needed a couple for my upcoming trip because I expect that drawing with a pen will be my main source of art for the next three weeks so I better get something that I like.
Keepsake
Elephant Trinket Session 1
Start of a longer painting, I have only had enough motivation to paint for 30 minutes each night but I feel a need to make better paintings so I will work on this one for multiple sessions.
Session #580, Work #531
I must say, that I’m glad I’m done with this painting. It has taken me much longer than I wanted, partly due to some nights of only working a half hour. But, I’m very happy with the outcome.
Session #579, Work #531
Session six tonight and I only spent a half hour, my head wasn’t in it tonight.
Session #577, Work #531
Session 4 tonight, I didn’t get home till late so I only worked for a half hour.
Session #576, Work #531
This is the third session on this painting. Hopefully sometime this week my days will not be so busy that I can work more than 1 hour a night.
Session #574, Work #531
Death lies on her, like an untimely frost
Upon the sweetest flower of all the field.Romeo and Juliet, Act IV, scene 5, line 28.
Session #424, Work #404
I went through all of my artwork from the past year or more and made a scorecard for all the works that I liked. The scorecard consisted of things like; Drawn well, Focus on value, High contrast, Composed etc… As I went through all my work and picked out pieces that I liked I would mark any attribute of the scorecard that the piece pertained to and I ended up with a definite indication of what I’m most interested in.
Session #406, Work #386
Some days a painting just goes terrible, and this was one of them. I struggled with this painting for an hour before giving up on it.
Session #394, Work #376
I realized that I didn’t take any setup pictures of my still life tonight, so your just going to have to deal with nothing but text.
Session #393, Work #357
This painting as sat for a while now, close to two weeks before I touched it again. I wanted to get focused tonight and work slowly, with a focus on separating the texture of the foreground elements and the background.
Session #380, Work #357
Tonight in painting class Jamie had work on mixing color. Specifically our challenge was to take our brightest yellow and find the best mixture to get a yellow that extended from the highest value on a scale to the lowest value, which would be very close to black.
Session #373, Work #360
I guess I kinda take it as a challenge when I fail at something in art. Lots of people say I’m too hard on myself but what they don’t understand is that failure doesn’t weaken my resolve, but hardens it like tempered steel. One of the best things that I have heard Jamie Bollenback say was, “To get better, you need to make a whole hell of a lot more bad paintings”.
Session #372, Work #359
I’m in a rare mood on this one. I guess I must be tired. I’m not sure why this painting turned out bad, I felt like I was really focused but it just stinks.
Session #371, Work #357
The idea for tonight was to create a since of air in the painting, or begin to create it. The first thing I did was put a dark glaze over the entire painting and really push all the values down a few notches and soften up some edges.
Session #370, Work #357
Opposite to popular belief making art is not always fun, or easy. Sometimes its like a freaking job, and almost all of the time its hard work. Unless of course your happy with mediocrity and have no need to improve, then it can get pretty fun and easy. But that is not my goal.
Session #369, Work #357
So the focus on this painting now is to continue to work in black and white while at the same time correcting drawing, increasing detail, and dialing in the values so their relative nature matches the still life while at the same time working with the mood of the painting.
Session #366, Work #357
I had a truck load of stuff that I brought to the painting class today. I basically had to bring my entire painting setup plus objects for a still life and lamps. But it payed off, I was able to have a lot of items to choose from and because I was so prepared I spent a lot of extra time setting up my still life. I really wanted to get this composition fantastic and interesting to paint. I plan on spending a long time on it so I want it to keep the excitement throughout.
Session #331, Work #325
I could have done a lot better with the values on this one and after showing the drawing to my wife she commented that it looks like he is riding a platypus and not a manatee. As soon as she said that I realized that the snout of the manatee was too long and I didn’t quite capture the roundness of it.
Session #330, Work #324
There were so many ornaments on the tree to choose from that it was very hard picking one. I like Pinocchio because he is made of a bunch of simple shapes. I remember at one point during the drawing he fell over, luckily I was far enough into the drawing that it didn’t destroy my chances of getting his shape accurate.
Session #308, Work #302
We had a great day today at the Wildlife Safari in Winston Oregon but the drive back took longer that expected and we didn’t get back home till 11pm. So, I was tired and ready for bed so I only did a quick 30 minute drawing of an ornament that was painted by one of the Elephants at the wildlife safari.
Session #299, Work #294
Still inspired by Andrew Wyeth I was searching the apartment for anything that I owned that was dear to me. I quickly became surprised that I couldn’t find anything. It seems that I have no keepsakes, no meaningful trinkets lying about my home, whereas my wife has a ton of keepsakes around the home and each and every one has a special meaning to her.
Session #298, Work #293
Not much to say about this one. I had a lot going on tonight and I didn’t want to spend more than thirty minutes drawing.
Session #295, Work #290
I wish this painting would have turned out better. I’m sure all it needed was more time, but I can’t seem to paint for more than an hour a night. Also I figured out very quickly that sequins are very hard to paint.
Session #294, Work #289
Its a very cute teapot but I only picked it for its bright colors. It was a nice contrast against the gray background I have setup.
Session #290, Work #285
It is no secret that I have been struggling with subject matter for weeks. Every night seems to be a struggle to find something of interest to paint. It’s late by the time I start a painting so my subject matter is reduced to what I have close at hand, so I arrange it under the light and go through the motions.
Session #289, Work #284
In an attempt to bolster longevity with my work I continued another hour with the dolphin keepsake, refining the drawing, values and color. I could have spent much longer but, alas, I can only seem to muster 1 hour of motivation a night currently.
Session #288, Work #284
I have been doing a lot of thinking about my paintings lately. I’m having trouble with focus as well as longevity and I think its directly related to my motivation with the subject i’m choosing.
Session #287, Work #283
I continued with this painting trying to improve the drawing still working monochromatically.
Session #285, Work #282
So I’m having some drawing trouble with oils lately. I figured that if I drew the same subject in charcoal and payed close attention to how I use charcoal and figure out why I can draw so much better with charcoal rather than oil paint then I could apply the same methods from charcoal to oils with similar results.
Session #284, Work #281
I took my time here and tried to focus hard on getting the drawing correct, I even removed color and went for a monochromatic approach.
Session #282, Work #279
Third painting of this same trinket and this is the second attempt at the front side. My drawing is getting worse.
Session #281, Work #278
I’m having a lot of drawing issues with paint so I figured I would start today with the beginning of several paintings of the same subject working directly on manipulating the paint for better drawing.
Session #280, Work #277
Not much to say about this session. I’m happy with the painting and I used a new gray Gesso ground that really absorbed the oil. I’m not sure how much I like the Gesso absorption but it did cut down on the glare quite a bit.
Session #279, Work #276
I really pushed myself tonight to put the paint on thick and tried to be as expressive with the strokes as possible while keeping the drawing fairly accurate. It turned out very messy.
Session #274, Work #271
I didn’t worry too much with detail here, I just wanted to capture the general shape of the angle and its values.
Session #265, Work #261
I really liked this elephant candle holder keepsake. The wood is a very deep red and I wanted to try and capture the color well. I think I was able to capture the color, but you could never tell because of the glare off the painting. That is the trouble will oil paint, if you paint dark you ultimately get a ton of glare when you take a picture of your work.
Session #259, Work #255
My wife an I argued about this one. I asked her what I should paint the other day and she suggested the peacock feather. I was so afraid of all the strands that I said no, and she indicated that if I wasn’t going to take her suggestions then I shouldn’t ask her.
Session #254, Work #250
I love asking my wife to pick something for me to paint because I know she will pick something random that I would never pick, and almost always end in me being challenged by the subject matter.Tonight was no different, she picked a wonderful gift given to her by a friend in Washington D.C. If I felt like spending longer on this painting I would have dove deep into describing the texture of the stocking, but I settled for focus on drawing, value and color.
Session #248, Work #244
At the beginning of this painting the cat Smoky decided that he wanted to lay behind the horse on top of the black t-shirt. He was so funny that my mother in-law was laughing hysterically for a while. It was great, and if he would have stayed there still for a while I would have added him to the painting, maybe it would have turned out better.
Session #242, Work #238
Not until after painting these sunflowers and driving to Washington DC did I pick up a book on Van Gogh two days later did I realize that Van Gogh had actually painted a very similar still life of sunflowers with a background color almost exactly the same as the color of the walls here.
Session #240, Work #236
The beautiful blue ball of glass that is the focus of this painting is such an intense blue that I had to pull out my tube of pthalo blue in order to capture it. Ellie informed me that the glass ball was from Italy and handmade.
Session #235, Work #231
I had drawn this keepsake once before and it proved to be much easier. At some point I need to focus on masses of leaves, trees, and grasses so I can get better at rendering masses of random shapes accurately.
Session #231, Work #227
I am becoming less concerned with absolute detail and I’m mainly focusing on getting the shapes correct for drawing the values as close as possible and the color similar. One day I will have enough time throughout the week or I will get the motivation on the weekend to begin a larger painting but for now I will just stick to daily small works. Besides I haven’t really focused in on my main subject matter yet, but I’m thinking about it every day.
Session #214, Work #211
I picked up this rock years ago to remind me of something… I have forgotten what it was supposed to remind me of.
Same Still Life
I revisited the same still life as yesterday this time on better paper, but lack of energy kept my drawing session short.
Drawing of a Keepsake
Another drawing of a keepsake tonight, but I discovered quick that I hate this paper.
Drawing Finished
It only took another hour for me to finish up this drawing. I have to say I’m very happy with the result.
Fairy Still Life
I worked on the fairy still life again today. Working hard to keep it simple yet true.
Inspired by Euan Uglow
I began working on the drawing I started a few days ago of this fairy still life. Inspired by Euan Uglow, I began by simplifying the statue and being very meticulous.
Charcoal Drawing Frustration
It would be nice to have a good drawing soon, I’m getting really frustrated. I keep trying to remind myself to be patient and keep working on it but…
David Kassan Inspiration
Inspired by a David Kassan drawing tutorial I went to Blick and purchased a few supplies which included some “Ingres” pastel paper that I thought would work wonderfully, but I was very wrong.
New Still Life Tower
After working all day on my new awesome studio setup, I was able to utilize my new still life tower to do another site size drawing.
Focus On Legs
For this drawing I focused on the legs of this fairy statue. Even though they seem simplistic, the drawing turned out to be more difficult that I expected.
Two Drawings
A combination of two drawings after my life drawing class on the 17th along with more charcoal testing and another fairy drawing and a french studio approach.
One Good Drawing
I did one good drawing tonight but the rest were rushed and really didn’t feel right. I was frustrated through all of them so I pulled out a box and started drawing it.
Female Fairy Figure Drawing
I chose a different keepsake off the massive shelves of my wife’s keepsakes. I wanted to draw a figure, I wanted to draw larger, so I picked a female fairy and used the larger pad of newsprint.
Determined After Poor Performance
After yesterdays poor performance I was determined to really make a good effort today, so I started back into the castle, but after an hour I was loosing interest.
Drawing After Hike
Not a great day for art today. I went to a couple places but really wasn’t in the mood for painting. I ended up doing a very short drawing session at home. I’m glad I accomplished something, I was close to not completing my daily.
Drawing Still Life Again
Drawing again tonight. I had to revisit this still life and correct all my previous errors. Not a long session tonight, I want to get back to the site design and get that working well. I’m going to be doing a lot more charcoal drawing though, I love the medium.
Color Testing
Today I did lots of color testing and figured my new awesome palette. Then I did a drawing in charcoal of my current still life. Overall it was a great day, and I feel like I have learned a lot.
The Schmid Painting Process
The Schmid painting process is super fun, and I finally picked the brand of paint that I will be using from until whenever. Tonight I have found the buttery Rembrandt paint to be superior, in my opinion, to the others I have tried.
Schmid Style
Lots of ideas going through my head while painting this still life, but my focus was “Schmid Style”.
Making Only Final Strokes
Today I did a very ugly painting where all I did was focus on using only final strokes, no preparation, just going for it.
Elephant Book End Painting
An elephant book end painting tonight. And upon review I figure out that drawing, value, edges and composition still does not encompass most of what art is.
Improvement After 60 Painting Sessions
After what I thought was 60 painting sessions I went back to my first subject two months ago to see how I have improved. I’m very pleased with how this painting turned out.
Comic-Con Hat Still Life
Back in the apartment/studio. Pattie purchased this little comic-con hat. It has clips on it and is very cute on her head. She picked it for a painting and I added the shoe. That is her shoe also.
Session #035, Work #025
Painting failure tonight. And I focus on trying to figure out what exactly went wrong.
Session #034, Work #025
More drawing today and I did some gesso tests with some inconclusive results. Not much to say about this painting now, this is my third session with it.
Session #033, Work #025
Tonight, more drawing, and a Gesso test. I broke the drawing session today into two parts, and took a small break in between.
Session #032, Work #025
Great focus on drawing today, but I was only able to last for 1.5 hours before my focus began to drift and I felt like it was time to stop. Tomorrow I will continue and I expect this drawing to be perfect.
Session #031, Work #024
Over an hour of drawing and nothing to show for it. I’m demanding perfection from myself, and if I don’t give it, start over.
Session #030, Work #022
Thirty days of painting and I have seen a lot of improvement, but I still have a long way to go before I reach my goal.
Session #029, Work #022
Working on drawing and following Anthony Ryder’s book still. The “envelope” and the “block-in” are progressing very naturally, I’m liking this process more and more.
Session #028, Work #023
Thanks to Anthony Ryder and his book “The artist’s complete guide to figure drawing” I had a great time drawing today and I was happy with the end result.
Session #027, Work #023
More detailed drawing today. I was confident and wanted to take the drawing further.
Session #025, Work #022
Two drawings tonight. Didn’t get much sleep so I couldn’t focus too long on the drawings cause I was so tired.
Session #024, Work #021
Finished one drawing tonight and started another. Although I have already wiped that second one out. Drawing, drawing, drawing, I can’t do enough of it.
Session #023, Work #021
Tired after a wonderful hike today, I just focused on the very basics of drawing. I will plan to continue this tomorrow.
Session #022, Work #020
Like I said last painting, I’m going to do nothing but draw for the next few painting. This one was awful again.
Session #020, Work #018
I had my wife pick the subject again. I must say, if she picked a different article every day on her shelf of keepsakes I would paint something different for several months. The best thing about her picking the subject is that I do not influence here decision in any way.
Session #015, Work #014
I painted the Taiper for a second time. I split up my canvas and did the Taiper 4 times.
Session #014, Work #013
After getting home late from dinner I asked Pattie to pick another item from her wall of collectibles.
Session #013, Work #012
I painted the Beluga statue for the second time. This time I zoomed into the statue much further and focused on drawing and major shapes.
Session #012, Work #011
Pattie’s favorite animal in all the world is the Beluga whale and today I painted a figurine of hers that features this majestic creature.
Session #011, Work #010
I finished up yesterday’s dolphin painting and did a second simple painting of an apple. Lots of fun today.
Session #009, Work #008
After a great day hiking I was really excited to begin another painting, but my energy for this painting began to dwindle early on.
Session #007, Work #006
Double Oh Seven painting. I think this is the best one yet, but far from where I want to be.
Session #005, Work #005
So I did several things different for this painting beside painting something different.
Session #004, Work #004
Fourth painting. This painting was going so well, then it fell apart close to the end.
Session #002, Work #002
So, after the first painting I tried to learn from my mistakes and take my time drawing and working on the value.
First painting in five years
This may be one of the biggest steps I’ve ever taken in all my life. A true commitment to art making daily.