Day 31, Remember These?

30 Paintings in 30 Days      All 6x6 Oil on Panels

So my big question to myself is, What did I get out of the last thirty days of painting?

Well besides selling five of them, hating four of them, loving six of them and learning something useful from 21 of them...

1) Landscapes have long mystified me and bored me. I have a better understanding of them now and may actually enjoy them.  It has certainly made me more aware of my surroundings.

2) I got some practice painting with lighter backgrounds.  I practiced "blocking in," and I think I am beginning to see shapes and values better.  -Nerdy art stuff.

3) I can now paint small, quickly, and confidently.  I know what brushes to use, I know what color to bring.  Kind of liberating.

4) I tried a few colors that I haven't tried in years.  I have a better understanding what I like and don't like now.  I brought a new color into my pallet - black.  I was mixing my darks before with Ultra Blue and Raw Umber, or similar variations.  I like black better.

5) I built a field easel a few years ago but have only used it a few times.  I used it for about 25 or so paintings this month.  Definitely feel more comfortable with it now.  I can't wait to take it camping or on other excursions.

6) For the last 20 paintings, I used three brushes.  Half inch flat, quarter inch flat, and a pointed one.  The larger flat on a six inch painting is like using a three inch brush on my larger paintings.  That's a big brush.  I can't wait to try it.

7) I definitely got some practice posting blogs, sharing on Facebook, and photographing art.  I'll have to keep this practice up.

8) I tried painting with a pallet knife.  This is new to me. I'll need to keep trying to incorporate this tool into my paintings.  I am just beginning to see the pros of it.

9) I have wanted to get back to figure painting but have been a bit nervous about it.  The few I did has helped me overcome the nervousness.

That's a fair trade for a weeks worth of time invested (40-ish hours).   I definitely have some new ideas to work on and I am excited to continue.  I think this exercise has a similar post feeling  as driving from California to New York and back again.  After you complete a drive like that, a couple hours drive to the beach is nothing.

Hope everyone has enjoyed this months worth of work.  To make sure you don't miss out on future blogs, you should enter your email address up top - to the right.  Then you don't need to worry about missing a Facebook post.

Take care,

Larry