15 Paintings in 15 Days (Round 2) - A Recap

Finished! 15 paintings in, well, 18 days, but finished nonetheless.

Eight houses, four and a half snow scenes, one little dog, a lake, a stream and an ocean, five people walking up a mountain, one crowd on a beach. If I was really good I would do some sort of twelve days of Christmas type comment on the paintings. Maybe next time. :)

I really enjoyed each one of these. Several might grow up into large works. Thanks for taking a look!

15 Paintings in 15 Days (Round 2) - Day Fifteen

Winter Light on Trabue's Tavern

On Old Buckingham Road, Midlothian, VA

6x8, oil

 The last painting of the 15 Paintings in 15 Days Challenge! It might have turned into 15 paintings in 18 days... but I'm not upset. The challenge served its purpose in giving me a jumpstart to the year, building some painting inventory and giving me some ideas for larger paintings in the near future.

Above is a painting of Trabue's Tavern, deemed a historic landmark in 1975. The Historic Marker's inscription reads as follows: 

This was the home of Lt. John Trabue, Revolutionary War soldier and patriot, and of his descendants well into the 20th century. Trabue witnessed the surrender of the British forces at Yorktown in 1781 and later became an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati in Virginia. The Trabues were among the principal coal-mine proprietors in the Midlothian area and here maintained a tavern that was patronized both by travelers and by workers from mines in the vicinity.

(Source) 

15 Paintings in 15 Days (Round 2) - Thirteen and Fourteen

A Window to the Past

6x8
Midlothian, VA

Bygone

6x8, oil

Midlothian, VA

15 Paintings in 15 Days (Round 2) - Day Twelve

Winter Willow

6x8, oil
Japanese garden at Maymont Park.

Below is what happens when I don't plan out the composition of a painting in my sketchbook before beginning -- shapes painted and then completely changed. As you can see the willow tree grew and the background trees shrunk quite a bit.

 (click to enlarge)

 Lesson learned. Next time I'll sketch it out beforehand and save a little time.

15 Paintings in 15 Days (Round 2) - Day Eleven

Roadside

6x12, oil

15 Paintings in 15 Days (Round 2) - Day Ten

Mill House

6x8, oil on birch

Around 1950 the Lea Company built a sawmill near the location of this house, on Winterfield Lane in Midlothian. One of my books on the history of Midlothian said the home in this painting was probably build by the company to house mill workers.

15 Paintings in 15 Days (Round 2) - Day Nine

A Winter Dream

6x8, oil

15 Paintings in 15 Days (Round 2) - Day Eight

Carter Mountain Trail

4x4, oil

This little piece captures the best of all worlds: 

Beautiful expanse, blue mountains, distinct shadows, a bit of architecture and the fall foliage.

15 Paintings in 15 Days (Round 2) - Day Seven

"Harmony"

6x8, oil

A good snow scene is in order! I started this one yesterday and took a few step by step pictures:

I started the underpainting with yellow instead of my typical burnt umber with alizerin or burnt sienna.

 

One of the most beautiful things about snowy mornings is those gorgeous blue shadows on the snow.

 

I wanted to emphasize the three primary colors in the color wheel in this piece -- red, yellow and blue.

 

Sometimes I reach a point where there is too much paint "sloshing" around on the surface and reach a point that I wipe quite a bit off. 

 

 

I gave this piece a break over night (put it out in the below-freezing temps on the back porch) and started in on it again this afternoon.

And a few unphotographed phases later:

Finished for now.

15 Paintings in 15 Days (Round 2) - Day Six

It is indeed true that I've fallen behind. If this turns into a fifteen in 16 or fifteen in 17 it'll be ok. Or that's what I keep telling myself. Getting caught up would be nice too. :)

Here's a painting from yesterday. The light was gone when I finished (actually there wasn't much light all day!) and my photograph under artificial light was too poor to post.

Retreating Light

6x6, oil

A quick color sketch from some photos I took before hiking to Humpback Rock on the Blue Ridge.

15 Paintings in 15 Days (Round 2) - Day Five

"The Mint House"

6x8, oil on linen

I really rushed with this one. There were quite a few distractions while painting it. I want to revisit this these elements in a painting -- the road, the mint house, the combination of trees and the sun setting behind the trees. I didn't capture that dusky blue I was aiming for in the patches of grass. Lesson learned again (and again): you aren't always going to be happy with a painting. I did, however, enjoy attempting an a-typical composition... with that pretty mint colored house almost in the center of the painting, but not quite. It gives you this feeling of "stop" while moving along that road. Hope that makes sense.

Day Five complete. I wonder what I'll paint on day six....

15 Paintings in 15 Days (Round 2) - Day Four

For Day Four I'm posting a commissioned painting that I started a few days before the 15 in 15 began, but the majority of the work was completed during the last 3 days, so it'll have to count for one of my 15 paintings. 

 "Gunny's Lookout"

9x12, oil

(It's not 100% finished -- still need to work on the lettering of the sign on the side of the house.)

As I mentioned this was a commissioned work, so here's an opportunity to explain my process for creating a painting for a client. 

5x7" study of "Gunny's Lookout"

1. After discussing the concept or location the client wishes to capture I paint a loose study of the scene and ask for feedback. We settled on this vertical orientation to capture his puppy, Gunny, standing with front paws on the railing, looking out over the beach.

2. Next a size is chosen and the underpainting is begun. In this case I spent a lot of time getting those architectural angles correct and adequate spacing of the railings to "let" Gunny peak through.

3. I don't usually paint one section to completion before adding color to the rest of the canvas, but I did in this case because of the amount of detail necessary in such a small almost 1" squared area.

4. I ended up painting almost this entire painting section by section. As I said I don't usually do this but I had my previous study by which to assess my colors and values. In the above photo I painted in the color of the house and the beach chairs/fishing rods/Adirondack chairs that would be behind the railing. I let this section dry overnight.

5. Next step was the railing & posts/pillars. For some reason getting the right gray with the correct amount of color in it was pretty difficult. I'm very happy with the result, but this portion of the painting was quite time consuming.

6. After several hours the paint was starting to get tacky so I sealed it in a large palette saver (plastic air tight box) and placed it in the "freezer" (the back porch) over night. Above is after working on it a bit more. I made a "swipe" of the sky color next to the house which really helped to asses values and hues. Wish I had done that the day before.

 

7. And then the fun dabs of color to make up the beach, bathers, tents, sea gulls, kite, sand and sea grass. The client asked for an oval OBX sign to commemorate the trip. I still need to work on the letter for the warm wood colored sign on the side of the house, but the rest is complete.

Below are a few detail shots of the painting.

 Definitely counts as another fun one! I'll update this post when the sign is added... but I had to get a painting posted before I head out to the in-laws' house tonight. Have a great weekend!

15 Paintings in 15 Days (Round 2) - Day Three

"Gingergold"

4x4, oil on board

Hey Virginians, any guesses on the location of this scene based on the title of the painting?

This one was completed quickly near the end of the day yesterday. (Getting ahead is allowed, ok? I have commissions I need to be working on too.) I chose a small board, very small -- 4x4". I think it was my first 4x4 size ever and I really enjoyed it.

One of my goals with this 15 in 15 Challenge is to explore possible compositions and subject matter for larger works. This one may "grow up" into a larger painting... but tell me, what do you think? Can you envision this one as a medium/larger size painting?

15 Paintings in 15 Days (Round 2) - Day Two

"For a Moment"

6x6, oil

So, it happened again -- snow! Beautiful snow during this 15 in 15 Challenge. I'm grateful. It melted/is melting quite rapidly, so I named this piece "For a Moment". It seemed appropriate. 

15 Paintings in 15 Days (Round 2) - Day One

"Tucked Away"

8x10, oil

Corner of Midlothian Turnpike and Winterfield Road. 

I painted this scene from a photograph taken this summer. I drive by this house all the time but this was the first time (that I remember) noticing the old car parked behind it. I have a "call in" to my father in law to help me identify it. I gave it a yellow "antique car" license plate although it, in reality, has none.

15 Paintings in 15 Days - Round 2

It's been a year since my last 15 Paintings in 15 Days Challenge. About time to try it again.

Here goes nothing.

 

Check back tonight for the finished (I hope!) painting...

15 in 15 Recap

Things I Learned 

(only somewhat serious)

1. I have to make sure I have enough rags around before I start otherwise Mark's undershirts will be sacrificed to the cause.

2. I like compositions with pathways/roads/sidewalks in them.

3. Indian Yellow is my new fav color. Not because I like it as a color alone, but it blends so well over and under and through the other colors. It gives every painting so much life.

4. I like slick painting surfaces for small pieces.

5. Josh Garrels makes me paint faster while keeping me somewhat relaxed.

6. Save the 4 mile tempo run, 50 pull ups, 100 burpees and 100 box jumps for an easy painting day. 

7. If I do this again, make sure it snows twice during the challenge. I could not have asked for more beautiful weather for these 15 days!

8. I found out I can paint fast. I can make decisions on colors and composition quickly. I don't have to paint in layers. I don't have to feel in control. I also found out I want to do this again. :)

15 Paintings in 15 Days (and one to grow on!)

On Tuesday I finished my 15 paintings in 15 days challenge. 

(Half of this challenge: 30 Paintings in 30 Days)

But it was such a pleasant, balmy day on Wednesday I had to get outside. 

Normally I'm not thrilled to paint on overcast days but Carlson's book on landscape painting has given me a fresh appreciation for even (and especially) gray days. More on that later.

Here's a step by step of the piece I painted.

This is a very different process than when I paint larger, more detailed works.

With the larger works I have a clear idea of how the painting will look when completed. With these I'm making it up as I go, seeing what the paint will let me get away with... and I have little idea how it will turn out. 

I moved some of the trees closer to the mine ruins to narrow the "frame".

I applied paint & scraped it off with my palette knife multiple time during this piece.

Gotta get that bright yellow/new wood support beam in there. (Ugh.)

Must tone down the red! 

Gray Day

12x9, oil

15 Paintings in 15 Days (day fifteen!)

It's the LAST DAY of my 15 paintings in 15 days challenge. 

(Half of this challenge: 30 Paintings in 30 Days)

I don't have much to say, except I can't believe I did it!

I learned so much from this little exercise and I think I grew in decision-making, confidence and my love for colors and shapes. There's a good chance I'll keep it up, although I do need time to work on my larger pieces. I have a 12x16, 18x24 & 36x48 waiting to be attended to.

If you live in the Richmond/Midlothian area stay tuned for info on ways to view my artwork.

1. Cafe Caturra (Midlothian location) in middle-Feb to April.

2. A two woman show with the very talented, Carter Stuart, at For Art's Sake Gallery.

Also, stay tuned to some blog posts on my process in the creation of a few of these 15/15 paintings.

Blaze

6x6, oil

sold

15 Paintings in 15 Days (day fourteen)

It's day fourteen of my 15 paintings in 15 days challenge. 

(Half of this challenge: 30 Paintings in 30 Days)

Morning Swim

6x6, oil

sold