30 Paintings - Day 26!

All month I have been managing to paint a few days ahead of my posting. This is good in one way: I haven't had to worry about not getting a painting done each day.  However, I  don't always remember what steps I went through to create some of the pieces.

#1091 - Golden Sunset - 5.5 x 8 acrylic on watercolour paper

I think that this piece was the other half of yesterday's painting "Rays" although it now bears no resemblance to what it was before. I know I used a lot of gesso to really create texture, then some pretty thick paint to cover any of the previous paint still showing. Using a palette knife I added the final touches. I don't know why, but when using the knife I often end up with a scene of trees and rocks - I have to get out of this rut!

Check Leslie's Blog to see some great art!

Thanks for visiting  - it is great to hear from you!

30 Paintings - Day 25!

One of the advantages of painting on paper is that you can always cut away the bad part and just end up with a smaller painting. That is what happened with today's piece.

#1090 - Rays - 5 x 7 acrylic on watercolour paper matted to 8 x 10

I used a palette knife to pat on some texture with gesso and let it dry before I started painting. I hoped that the paint would sink into the texture and really make it pop. That didn't happen so I added more gesso - bigger is better, right? Well, not so much! I ended up with a big mess and that is the part I cut off and set aside. A little of touch-up work on the part I kept and I was happy with my work. This piece does have some texture but it is pretty subtle which suits me just fine.

Don't forget to take some time to check out the art on Leslie's Blog

Thanks for visiting!

30 Paintings - Day 23!

While struggling to do abstracts on watercolour paper, I have tried a number of different approaches: watercolour style background, palette knife background, and brush background. I have used gesso to create both a different base and to create some texture. Today's painting has a smooth gesso undercoat and a palette knife background.

#1088 - Autumn Icicles - 7 x 10 acrylic on watercolour paper

The deep tones of the quinacridone paints really make this pop nicely in person.

Only 7 more days in the challenge so take time to check out the other artists on Leslie's Blog

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30 Paintings - Day 22

I am still attempting to create abstracts on watercolour paper. Often, when my perception of a piece is 'that's interesting', I find my friends seem to really like that painting. Let's see what you think!

#1087 - Antennas - 7 x 10 acrylic on watercolour paper

This painting was, once again, intended to be quite different from the finished product. It just kept changing on me! The photo is upside-down from the way the piece was painted but this is the orientation I liked best.

Don't forget to check out more of the art in this challenge - Leslie's Blog

I would really like to hear what you think so please leave a comment!

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30 Paintings - Day 19!

Some times a painting just comes together and some times you have to fight it: today's painting was the former!

#1084 - Golden Glow - 11 x 14 acrylic on gallery wrap canvas

This piece went so smoothly and I couldn't be more pleased. Is it abstract, impressionistic or representational? Who cares? - lol!

Over the years I have found a few artists to follow thanks to the 30/30 challenges. You might enjoy seeing their work too! - Wild About Painting, LamujoArt, Watercolors By Joan 2), and Sheila's Corner Studio.

Of course you can always find them and many others on Leslie's Blog.

Thanks for visiting!

 

30 Paintings - Day 13!

Today's painting is sort of a companion piece to one I did the other day.

#1078 - Devil Fire #2 - 10 x 16 diptych acrylic on canvas

While the surface of the first of these was serendipitous, this one was planned. The first was done on Masonite and this is on canvas. I found this piece a lot harder to do as the canvases have a different texture and they kept moving too. It has been a while since I did one of these split paintings and I forgot how much trouble they can be - lol.

Stop by Leslie's Blog to see what the other artists are up to. Many of the photos have links to blogs and you can see the paintings larger and read a bit about them too.

It is always nice to hear from visitors so please leave a comment.

30 Paintings - Day 7!

I am really, really happy with today's painting, AND I have a new favorite colour combination!

#1072 - Devil Fire - 8.5 x 20.5 acrylic on Masonite

This piece came together so smoothly it was as if it was just waiting for me on the Masonite. The board was an old one that I used last year for a trial piece that didn't work out. Instead of sanding it down, I just painted over the textureed swirls and globs of paint. I like it so much that I am going to try for a companion piece.

See you tomorrow but, meanwhile,  don't forget to check out the rest of the art on Leslie's Blog