30 Paintings - Day 24!

One advantage of painting with acrylics is that you can always paint over your mistakes. Also, if you catch it before the paint dries you can wash off your mistakes the same way you might with watercolour. Today's painting was subjected to the second option.

#1089 - Red Rock, Blue Water - 10 x 14 acrylic on watercolour paper

I was very tempted to just throw this piece away but one of my students said 'Oh, I really like that!' This is painted on hot press paper - another experiment - and then washed off when I figured it was a horrible mess. The resulting stains reminded me of water rushing down a rocky bank so I added a bit of detail to strengthen that impression. I won't throw this away but I don't think I will frame it yet either.

I was asked if I am finding these abstracts easier to do now that I have done a bunch. I think it is easier to do pieces that are similar to those I have done before but it is harder to come up with a different look for new paintings. That will be my challenge as I go forward!

Have a look at Leslie's Blog to see a wide variety of art from almost 200 artists from around the world.

Thanks for visiting!

Day 15 - Half-way there!

It is so strange! Yesterday I really enjoyed painting and was very happy with the finished product. I had a good night's sleep and should have been raring to go today. BUT, I had to force myself to sit down and paint. I chose my subject, got the paper and paints ready, and then just sat there. I got up and went into the kitchen looking for something that had to be done, cursed, went back to the studio and started painting.

Waterfall & Pine Trees

I tried to use the various strokes suggested in "Chinese Landscape Painting for Beginners" - bent-ribbon veins, axe-cut veins, moss dots, bone strokes to name a few. In some cases using the proper stroke was very difficult because my hand wanted to paint in my normal style and I had to keep correcting myself. I used color again instead of black and gray and am reasonably happy with today's painting but it was an effort.

Check out the art submitted to the challenge at - http://lesliesaeta.blogspot.ca/ and then go and vote at http://paintamasterpiece.blogspot.ca/. Remember, you can vote for 3 paintings and you can go back and vote on the days you might have missed too.

Different Strokes

Unless one is trying to forge a painting, all artists' work will look different although some will follow techniques so closely that you can often tell whose style they are working in. A number of years ago I took a workshop with Joyce Kamakura (I think the spelling is right) and during the critiquing she commented to one of the students that she 'needed to find her own voice' instead of adhering to the style of Zoltan Szabo. We all look at things differently and we apply paint differently - we live by different strokes.

My student, Annie, finished her painting of the waterfall and sent me a photo. Here are our finished paintings together.

My painting

Annie's Painting

 I did my painting on 140lb watercolor paper and Annie used a stretched canvas which makes some difference to applying paint but very little to the end product. Although both paintings include the same elements and are obviously of the same scene, they reflect a different style. My middle ground is less detailed than Annie's and my foreground larger although still somewhat loose. Annie's evergreens have a very distinct flavor while I have to watch that mine are not like a groomed 'Christmas tree". My colors are a bit brighter and not as true to the reference photo as Annie's colors are. The bottom line? Both of us are pleased with our own painting - actually I am pleased with Annie's too because at one point she talked about painting it over - I'm so glad she didn't

BTW - have a look at the frame on Annie's painting. Her husband made it out of a tree (branch or trunk) so it is rounded and still has the bark on it. A perfect compliment to the painting.

Finishing one and Starting another

My student joined me today for a private lesson. It is nice - fewer distractions and more time. Annie still has a bit more to do on her painting of the waterfall but I think mine is finished.

Waterfall in Oregon

It is not really too much different than my last post as I was happy to just add a few touches and to clean up the leaf-less trees.


When I give private lessons I try to work on whatever my student needs most like trees, mist, perspective or foregrounds. Most of the time the student supplies a photo of our subject which is great because it expands my world with sights I have not seen before.



Today we started on our next piece - a photo from Australia.

Big Rock

On the left is the photo and on the right my 'start'. Annie wanted to see how I started a painting while she took notes. She was somewhat dismayed that I didn't take time to draw the subject before I started to paint. It depends on the subject but I don't usually draw my subjects anymore when painting in acrylics. Annie is going to try it my way on this one. It will be fun to see how it goes.

Figuring things out

As I am very close to being a Luddite, I find making this blog very difficult. If my husband, Bob, wasn't so computer adept I would have given up  - actually I probably wouldn't have started. I have managed to write a bio of sorts for an 'About Me' page and I have a start on my 'Gallery' page. In my art I have a couple of projects going:

This painted fabric is going to be a wall-hanging. Not sure exactly where I am going with it but I have a few ideas.

This painting, which I am calling "Waterfall in Oregon", is acrylic on paper. I am giving a few classes to a fellow Art Club member and it is always easier to demonstrate on my own painting. I try very hard not to put my brush on another person's painting. It is interesting to see the differences between artists doing the same picture. I hope I can remember to take a photo of Annie's painting when we are done.