Lauren's Mona Lisa smile
8x10 oil
This is my Lauren. I thought I'd try a BW painting from a pic I took of her. I need to do one of Morgan now!
Day 90
I have a deep sence of success. I did it. I painted 90 paintings + in 90 days. Today we painted 2 paintings. This one we hunted in the sun and painted in the snow. The color of the water in the sun was fabulous!! In clouds? eh
Day 88
I took this pic when I stopped by Danny's mom's house...I loved the way the light hit the barn doors and the shadows that it created.
Day 87
I thought this is nancy's road...but Nancy said she doesn't have yellow lines on her road. hmmmm. I know it's in her neck of the woods though....My part of Ohio doesn't have these wonderful hills. I was drawn to the shadows on the road.
Day 86
I had taken this photo on my visit to Nancy's last fall. This barn is on Route 7 close to her house. It was just before a quick storm...I love the way the dark sky pushes the light down.
Day 85
I had taken this photo on the way to the amish farm...in fact this farm is just across the road where we painted yesterday. I had to crop and edit a little bit, but this is how it looked and felt. I love the speed limit sign beside the buggy....I also painted the horses hoves so they look like they are moving...
Day 84
We drove to New Willmington, PA to another amish farm. I really wanted to paint something that said "amish farm" I liked the orange buggy and the blue door color contrast. Of course I had to paint the 2 chickens....the amish farmer said there were more chickens but the hawks carried them away...and well hawks are protected....I stood in front of their greenhouse...so when I got cold I just stepped in and warmed up!! I got to meet the whole family....really sweet people.
Day 79
I met Doug in Celina and we painted this street scene.
Day 78
Jody came to paint with me today!! wee hoo. We went downtown Botkins and painted at Provico...the feed grainery. I love the muted greyed colors.
We only had to dodge one train...iThankfully Sundays are slow train transport days.
Day 77
This is a photo I had taken in Bolder, Co while visiting my friend Elenie. Cindy and I prowled through the farmer's market armed with our cameras.I still need to add more flowers and implied stuff, but the painting is too wet right now.....so I'm going to revisit this painting in a couple of days.
Day 76
Have you ever had a day that painting was the last thing you wanted to do....taking a nap was the number one activity on the list. Then to top it off, the painting you did the day before was IT...I guess what I'm learning with daily painting is how to push through all of the obsticles. At the end of the day I can say I painted.
Day 75
Today is St Patrick's Day and I didn't wear green....so I painted green. Anyone who knows me and how I paint, knows that I am now wearing green :)
Day 74
It was beautiful today so outside I went. This is a view of Botkins....I pulled off alongside the road on Lock-Two Road. I think it is neat how you can tell you are coming up on a town in Ohio by the water towers and church steeples.
Day 73
I had taken this pic at the Art at the Arnold. I really like the strength of the man's legs and the subtle line of the woman's feet.
Day 72
This is the DPW challenge. You had to pick something white and sit it on a pattered fabric. I found that painting a patterned fabric isn't that difficult....a bunny's rear end? That is difficult.
Day 71
I redid yesterday's plein air piece in the studio. It was a bit of a challenge because I kept trying to paint from memory and ignore my photo. I'd like to try this again.
Day 70
I went to the OPAS annual meeting with Barb and Jody. It was great watching Chris Leeper's demo. We did bolt after lunch to paint in the German Village. It is so much easier painting from photos but it is so much more rewarding to paint from life!
Day 69
I had taken this photo of a home in downtown Botkins....I loved how the snow sat on the tree branches.
Day 68
I painted this still life with Barb today...now I'm making soup!! I used birch primed with a thin solution of shelak/turp. I hope i still have a painting tomorrow!
Day 66
I went to Fort Wayne to visit my parents today. It was beautiful outside. My mother and I went to a variety of fun places...Salvation Army to buy still life stuff, camera store, art gallery, lunch and gracery to buy exotic vegies to paint. Somehow I painted my brush washer....I liked the color. Vegies tomorrow
Day 63
This is the piece that I entered at the Art at the Arnold competition in Columbus, Oh. I had taken pictures of the senior ballroom dacncers the night before. I love movement in this painting. I also got Arnold S's signature on the thumbnail that I had done for the painting. I felt like one the dancers when I got to shake his hand.
Day 61
Jody took this pic.
Day 60
This is another Sidney street scene.
Day 58
Now I wanted to try using the challenge on a portrait. I had taken this pic at a workshop that I took in 2009 in Canada with Ian Roberts.
Day 57
Didn't have much time today so I decided to try the challeng again. I had to go south to see Morgan then North to see Lauren.
Day 56
I have found with this adventure that Sundays are my worse paint day. So I found a weekly art challenge on the internet..now I don't have to think I just have to do. The challange was to use as few brush strokes as possible.
Day 55
Today was so busy...We went to see Chelsea's paintings at an art show in Bowling Green then we went out to dinner with Cindy and her family. I had a 2 hour window to paint and get ready to go out to eat. I had taken this photo on my cell phone in Daytona Beach last summer....I had an extended vacation with Morgan..neither one of us wanted to go home so we took our time coming up the east coast. Great memories.
Day 54
Jody and I bussed around German Village taking pics after the Urban Blight event. She drove and I shot!! It was a Saturday so there was a lot of activity and a lot of sun!
Day 53
I took this pic on my cell phone. Lauren was helping Morgan with her dance for the Botkins pageant.
Day 54
Wanted to try something different. I wanted to see if I could get the alligator to blend yet stand out from the surroundings...it was fun to do! My friend Becky gave me the photo she took in Florida.
Day 50
In preparation of the Arnold competition, I decided to try to paint someone...I picked a photo I took yesterday that had a stron light/shadow. I'm not a portrait painter and I'm limited on skin tones and how to apply them so i am going to stay in my comfort zone of implied detail. I really like how you can recognize Jon but there is limited brushwork in his face.
Day 48
I went to Jody's house...we started on our paintings at 11 pm!! I told Jody that I wish I had a long format panel and she had one left over from college!!! This painting literally painted itself...I just had to stay out of it's way.
Day 47
I had a wonderful day with the Muses but when I got home I was so adgitated that I hadn't painted yet that...well this is what happened. Took the pic in Chicago last spring....It's a tarp not a sail :)
Day 46
I met Cindy in Armagh, Ireland in August 2009 for a 10 day travel, paint and hang out trip. Elenie and were walking through an allwy when, as my friend Barb would say, I saw this little piece of heaven.
Day 45
It was beautiful out today so I went back to the Cemetery on Fryburg Rd and did a palette knife painting.
Day 44
This is painted from a pic I took when I visited Nancy last fall. I went to visit and tag along on her plein air class. We were running a bit late (too many photos) so we were saying prayers that we would make to loaction before it rained and before the other students :) I really enjoy painting implied Americana.
Day 42
I took this pic late last fall in downtown Sidney, Oh. I love how the traffic signs paint in different directions.
Day 39
I love the colors in the apples. I had so much applying what I learned in my workshop with Chuck. Playing with color within a value....
Day 37
I am so grateful for Jody's photo adventures around Columbus. I love the power pole and the steeple and the array of power lines.
Day 35a
I painted this from a pic Morgan had taken on her trip to Chicago last summer. I used cool lights and hot lights to direct the eye along the city scape. I love to do implied detail!
Day 35
I couldn't resist going out again today...I did stand under the cover of my studio porch...too much snow. I didn't clean my palette from yesterday so I had some great mixes for a palette knife painting...Who needs spring?!
Day 34
The hardest part about painting outside during the winter is the cold..which I suppose is an understatement..but it is the urgent feeling to paint and get a good painting that can be a major artistic block. So today I decided to go outside and paint 4 small paintings. I didn't worry about getting a "good" painting...I tried different styles and paint mixes. It was a non-committal art day....a free flow of energy.
Day 32
My friend Becky sent this to me from Florida...I couldn't resist the whites. It was difficult trying to make the bird stand out from the water...I actually scraped the background, in fact I almost scraped the bird too but caught myself just in time. A little warm brights and cools and ta-da water...
Day 31
Jody had taken this little gem of a pic. I love the way the evening light kisses the side of the barns. This setting is so Ohio.
Day 29
Back to the ditch. Bigger canvas and more color.
Day 27
I've been so busy this week that I thought I would do somethng "easy" which is a bit funny because value studies are not easy for me :)
Day 26
I decided to try a monochromatic painting. I only used burnt umber mixed with black for the darks and white for the lights. I want to try to repaint this study with color
Day 25
I had to go back to German Village and try again! I think I was more cautios this time....so I believe I'll go back to the Village tomorrow!!
Day 24
I decided to put my new found skills to use on this pic Jody had taken at German Village in Columbus, Oh. I love the way the snow looks!!!
Day 23
I spent the day with Chuck Marshall to improve my skills as an artist. We painted the Little Miami River. My brain is swimming with new stuff!!
Day 21
The Ohio Plein Air Society went to the Dayton Art Institute for a paint "in". I chose a Robert Brackman because of the way he painted skin tones. This is a small detail from Life About Me.
Day 19
I was told today to try something different. I'm up for different!! It is a gestural painting using thinned oil paint. The view is of my backyard when the sun goes down behind the trees. I'm not sure which is worse the leaves in the fall or the squirrells eating our house!!
Day 17
This is an archway in Armagh, Ireland. I had taken the picture when I visited in August 2009 with Cindy. I love the shadow play! and the strong shapes of the shadows!!
Day 16
This is the view from Nancy's studio windows. I love to go and visit Nancy and her sister. We paint, eat and drink homemade hot chocolate mochas.
Day 15
I spent the night at Nancy's house after the paint-in at the Butler. Jody and I stayed up till 5:15am talking...my body is just now recovering. How did we manage when we were younger? The next day we went to a wonderful park near Columbiana, Oh and painted thes scene by a creek. The funniest thing was when some man showed up out of nowhere, in total disbelief, yelling...I can't believe you are painting outside!!!
Day 14
After the Butler museum painting event, we went back to Nancy's studio and painted a still life until 11:30 pm. Nancy had a hand beater that drove me crazy..so I left it out of my painting :) I used a 1" brush to paint this painting..
Day 13
I wanted to try to paint with thicker paint and try to get closer to the subtle white values in the raddishes. Not a fun day but neccessary in growing as an artist.
Day 12
I took this picture at the Bolder, Co farmer's market last November...I followed my friend Cindy (who is an excellent photographer) around the market and took a picture of everything she photographed. We had a similar incident in Ireland...she still complains that I "left her in the van" to get the perfect shots of the sheep. Which didn't happen because of her yelling "Let me out of the van Michelle"
Day 11
I wanted to paint a "white" painting today...today was the perfect day to drive about getting pics. The sky and ground were so close in value and color. The most difficult part of this painting was taking a picture of the painting! I can't get the blue-ness in the photo that I have on canvas. So close your eyes and imagine cold thoughts :)
Day 9
The sun was out today so I went out to play! I am so intrigued with the shadows in the snow.
Day 8
This is what happens when you let your non-artist husband set up your still life :)
Day 7
I woke this morning not feeling well so I decided to try to studio paint a scene (from a pic that Jody took) that had the same pallette and feel as yesterday's painting. I wanted to experiment with the different colors in the snow and in the trees.
Day 6
I spent all day quilting with my Japanese friends so I only had about an hour to paint today...I really liked the muted light on the fields and the color of the sky so I drove to the next cemetery on north on my road.....I'm a bit chicken today and I didn't want to stand in the cold so i did the next best thing....a plastic lined car interior and a cup of hot mocha!!!
Day 5
I thought the front orange was way past it's due date....until I cut it open. It was so juicy that I had a hard time using it as my subject!
Day 4
I went to my friend Barb's studio to paint today. We set up this still life... the challenge is how do you make an orange not look like an apple or some "indiscriminate" fruit. We googled Cezanne to look at his oranges...hmmmm the only way to tell they are oranges is by the color!
Day 3
Today was deceivingly sunny and beautiful. However, I had to sit beside my car to block the wind! Goodness is it cold! We live on Cemetery Rd so of course there are a number of cemeteries on our road. I sat in one of them to get a good view of these barns.
Day 2
I'm taking this opportunity to paint snow shadows. I've been out twice with Jody and haven't been able to paint snow shadows!!..why? snowing, chased off Clifton Mills "property", frozen fingers, and the sun disappeared just as we set up to paint!!
Day 1
Wee hoo. I'm doing it! Here is my first painting. If it wasn't for this personal challenge, this painting would not exsist...Both Morgan and Lauren went back to school today. We had to drive to Dayton and drop Morgan off at Wright State. There is such a bitter sweet feeling for me as a mom to leave my little girl...oh dear I'm going to cry. I better get my paints out and get going with the next day.
oil painting, plein air, landscape artist, portraits, barns, fruit, watercolor, pochade, oil painter, color, value, daily painter, daily paintings
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