Daily Painting Practice - Painting an Island

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Island

6"x12"

oil on masonite panel

Every now and then I paint for a week or two and end up with  nothing much more than a few canvases full of false starts.  Last week I had a few and I was headed that way again until the end of this week, then I managed to paint this small  Northwoods scene in the nick of time.

Hopefully next week I will be back on schedule and have a painting worth  showing.

Daily Painting Practice - Shells

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Shells

8"x10"

oil on masonite

I started this a while ago and only finished it this past weekend. Originally I had a third shell in the middle, but I found it was too much of a distraction to the composition. Sometimes you have to make decisions that eliminate characters that don't get along with the others. 

Daily Painting Practice - White Peony and shipping paintings

I was recently asked via email about  how I send paintings to galleries or shows. Perfect timing! I was just notified that my painting "Cowboy Dave" was just juried into the ( 2010 C.M. Russell Art Auction.) They also informed me that the painting needs to be shipped this week.  This is a first for me to ship  to a big art auction so I wanted to do it right.

The Auction suggested that we use a re-usable strong box for shipping. I decided on a lined strongbox by  (Airfloat Systems Inc.)

Here's a picture of the box....and my helper.

The plastic liner on the box top is an extra protection against a puncture. It is very easy to size and pack the painting. The foam inset is perforated in 1 " increments.

You just outline the frame and rip out the foam. Then place the painting in the box ( it is a good idea to cover the painting with plastic or paper) And  replace the top layer.

Clean simple and hassle free. Ready to tape and ship. I'll let you know how it does at the show in March.

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White Peony

8"x8"

oil on masonite

Before you go, here's the latest painting. This one is for a show at my N.J. gallery, ( the desChamps Gallery), in December. Finished it just in time.

Daily Painting Practice - Wicker Still life

It has been a long week, lots happening out of the studio. I surprised myself in getting as far as I did on this one.

This painting has already had several incarnations. I originally started it on a larger horizontal canvas, with apples and the light coming from the left. It never made me feel like it should, so I let it sit for months.  This square canvas already had a painting on it, (one of those things I wanted to forget I painted) So I covered it up with a thick coat of paint. 

After playing with the composition in a square format I felt like it started to work. My composition editor/wife suggested changing from green apples to pears....(she's gets it right every now and then).

The hardest thing about this painting is the counting...counting the blue squares, counting the white squares, counting the rows of wicker cane. I was so tired of counting but it was the only way I could keep track of the detail. It was very hard not letting it get away from me.

I liked the way the light was hitting the basket. Wanting to keep the focus on that spot of the basket I tried keeping all of the other elements  muted and soft.

I have all the pieces painted but now I need  to make it work together.

click on the painting to enlarge the image

Wicker

20"x20"

oil on canvas

Almost ready to sign it. I'll need to let it rest and look at it with fresh eyes next week.

Daily Painting Practice - Can Artists Keep a Schedule? Part 2

Last week I wrote about the new work schedule I developed with the goal of becoming more productive.  After the second week of trying to work with this new routine I have to admit a few adjustments were in order. ( no surprise there!) I thought showing my process in picture form might help explain what it is I am after... Originally, I wanted to have a new painting completed each week by Sunday afternoon. I missed that goal the first week and realised it is not a realistic target for me .
However, my goal is still to work on each of the 4 stages of development daily. Devoting a scheduled amount of time each day to each stage in order to move forward towards the goal of completing one painting a week is great motivation and does yield results.  ( my days of engineering haven't washed out of me yet , I guess). 
Here are the 4 stages:



Stage 1 - Come up with an idea. The calendar sets the priority. In other words, what is the next deadline? ( Show, gallery pieces, competition, just for fun...)


Stage 2 - Complete a transfer and under painting. Develop the previous week's idea into a composition and transfer the drawing to canvas.


Stage 3 - Complete painting to 80%. (from last week's transfer).


Stage 4 - Complete the painting. (From the previous week's 80%).

Above you can see the four stages of  development. I am cheating a bit here because the waterfall painting is still not complete.  

Here is stage one completed. My new gallery in New Jersey ( the desChamps Gallery) wants five small paintings in November for a holiday show. This would be one of them.

This is the completed ( sort of ) Stage 2 Painting.

This is supposed to be Stage 3 - the 80% complete painting. Hard to say if I made 80%....maybe 59 1/2%.

This should be a Stage 4 - Completed Painting, but oops! Again, the painting I was going to have completed last week still needs work. I thought I would be discouraged after missing my self imposed deadline. But that isn't the case, because the result of my attempting to be more productive is that I am being more productive!

 Last week I recieved a few emails and several comments  with some helpful and some humorous suggestions regarding the topic of artists and schedules. Some of you mentioned the  real goal is to be happy and not to let a schedule get in the way of  the creativity. I  agree 100% . One of my favorite emails included a quote which I will share. I don't know the author of the quote  but it is my new favorite mantra to recite when I get down on myself for not producing enough.

"God left the songs unsung The pictures unpainted the flowers unplanted so that we might enjoy the world of creation"