Monday, January 26, 2015

Day 25 and Day 26 in the "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge

Yesterday, Sunday January 25th, was a long, wonderful day with 2 Fresno Community Concert Band concerts. We left home at 11 AM and got home about 10 PM. Consequently, I didn't do yesterday's painting. I took a sketchpad and planned to do a hand-drawn and painted map to use as a template for a new art hop map but it didn't work out. I scanned the hand done image just fine and added some digital photos to it as well as some drawings but it just didn't reproduce well enough to use. Maybe I'll work on it more later, but, since it wasn't really appropriate for the challenge anyway, I scrapped it for now.

This morning was spent sleeping in (important!) and creating the Art Hop flyer and a map to accompany it. So I didn't start painting till 3:45 this afternoon. Knowing I had to do a minimum of 2 paintings to just "catch up", I challenged myself to see if I could do 6 in 2 hours--20 minutes a painting. They were small, so it was possible. They might not be my best work of the series, but sometimes you do what you've gotta do. And one nice outcome of doing all these Sanger paintings is that now I can almost paint them with my eyes closed, so to speak, and I don't have to think very long about what to include in them.

So, at 5:45, I had 6 paintings drying--well, actually 5 because I threw one away. I rushed it too much and it was just a muddy mess. And if you know me, I HATE "mud". The others aren't great, they are pretty small, but they are finished. I let them dry and added a few touches, signed them, photographed 2 of them and posted them on the challenge blog. Woo Hoo!

Yesterday's painting--5" X 7", watercolor and pen--an abstract of the Sanger area. Fresh and fun, but not the greatest compositionally. But I'm thinking that right now, done is more important than fabulous since I'm agonizing a tiny bit about getting to work on my state sales taxes which are due on February 2nd. Getting a little close to put it off much longer!


Today's painting-- 7" X 5"--and the same description applies to this one as to #25. :)
Which one do YOU prefer, of these 2?


4 comments:

  1. Hi Kathleen!!!! I didn't know that you were doing Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30! So good to see your artwork again. Love your work! It's been quite a few years since my workshop in San Diego.

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  2. Hi, Karen! Yes, I did it this year and I've loved it! If I didn't have state sales tax due in a week, I would be enjoying EVERY minute of every painting but I'm getting a little worried about not working on them yet. I did pretty well most days but I had a few teeny tiny efforts like day 27's. LOL Oh, well. . . . it was VERY productive and fun and I will plan on doing it again next year. I love your series--every day I wait to see what great piece you've come up with. I loved the wire drawing of the profile of a woman a couple of days ago especially well. But I've loved every one you did. I got so much out of your workshop that year in San Diego--I still love doing the metallics that you taught us about. I wish I understood the wire drawing process better because that appeals to me also. You know I own a tiny studio/gallery/classroom in Sanger CA --in my retirement! But I have to say I'm finally living my dream. Thanks so much for your comment! It's nice to talk to you. :)

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  3. I prefer the top one, it is less cramped - and you have my sympathy about the taxes - ours are due in end Jan :(

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    1. Thank you, Rolina. And it's been a whole YEAR since that last "30 Paintings in 30 Days" project!

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