45. Tree on Alta Vista

Tree on Alta Vista
Acrylic on Gessoed Board 6"x6"

Ding Ding Ding ... This is the first original. 44 paintings prior to this have all been in some way shape or form a copy of someone else's painting. But this one is from a photo that I took of a tree on Alta Vista Road in White Salmon earlier in the summer. I manipulated the photo in photoshop elements to make it easier to see the variation in color and value. Below are two images that I kept in front of me. The one on the right uses a dry brush filter that makes it much easier to see the shapes.

Click on the small image to see it enlarged to see how helpful that filter makes it.

44. Tree

Tree
Acrylic on Gessoed Board 6"x6"

43. Purple Sky

Purple Sky
Acrylic on Gessoed Board 6"x6"

Yikes. This one needs a lot of fixing, or else just call it a throw-away. That purple and yellow in the sky are way too messy and wierd. And the water brush strokes are messy too. Yikes is all I can say. But if you squint your eyes, it works. The values, the colors. It's just the messiness that is terrible.

42. Rocky Creek

Rocky Creek
Acrylic on Gessoed Board 6"x6"

41. Wave III

Wave III
Acrylic on Gessoed Board 6"x6"

40. Wave II

Wave II
Acrylic on Gessoed Board 6"x6"

39. Wave

Wave
Acrylic on Canvas Board 8"x8"

38. Cumulus Clouds at the Beach

Cumulus Clouds at the Beach
Acrylic on Canvas Board 8"x8"

Yesterday's beach scene inspired me to give it another go. This one took only 51 minutes, which is by far the fastest I've painted a daily painting (not that speed is something I'm shooting for ... I'm just sayin'.) I only used 4 colors beside black and white. I'm pleased with this. I'm excited to be returning to Florida soon, where I can paint beach scenes every day of the week. I was thinking... if I were to add some vague buildings in the distance, it could "suggest" the view of Clearwater Beach from the Dunedin Causeway.

Lessons:
1. This is the most limited palette I've used so far ... only 4 colors beside black and white.
2. ...first attempt at painting clouds, so I learned a lot about how they're really shaped by looking closely at the reference.
3. I'm glad to be working from a realistic reference. I'm learning that it helps so much to first understand how to paint a thing realistically before attempting (the more advanced skill) of diverging from reality to paint loosely and blythely. Yes, I still aspire to eventually paint loosely, but for today, reality really helps.

37. The Wave

The Wave
Acrylic on Canvas Board 8"x8"

36. Yellow Striped Awning

Yellow Striped Awning
Acrylic on Canvas Board 8"x8"

35. Breezy Day for Laundry

Breezy Day for Laundry
Acrylic on Canvas Board 8"x8"

34. Red Tile Roof and Blue Shutters

Red Tile Roof and Blue Shutters
Acrylic on Canvas Board 8"x8"

33. Turn Left at the Lamppost

Turn Left at the Lamppost
Acrylic on Canvas Board 6"x6"

32. Cottage for Rent

Cottage for Rent
Acrylic on Canvas Board 6"x6"

31. Italian Underpass

Italian Underpass
Acrylic on Canvas Board 6"x6"

30. Arched Blue Shutters

Arched Blue Shutters
Acrylic on Canvas Board 6"x6"

29. Vacation Rental with Parking

Vacation Rental with Parking
Acrylic on Canvas Board 6"x6"

28. Follow the Lamplight Home

Follow the Lamplight Home
Acrylic on Canvas Board 6"x6"

27. Single White Daisy seeking Companionship

Single White Daisy Seeking Companionship
Acrylic on Canvas Board 6"x6"

26. Brown Eyed Susans

Brown Eyed Susans
Acrylic on Canvas Board 6"x6"

25. Droopy Sunflower

Droopy Sunflower
Acrylic on Canvas Board 6"x6"

24. Blue Door

Blue Door
Acrylic on Canvas Board 6"x6"

23. Front Yard in France

Front Yard in France
Acrylic on Canvas Board 6"x6"

22. Green Striped Awning

Green Striped Awning
Acrylic on Canvas Board 6"x6"

21. Italian Underpass

Italian Underpass
Acrylic on Canvas Board 6"x6"

20. Wide Windowsill

Wide Windowsill
6x6 Acrylic on Canvas Board

19. Wonderfully White and Wispy

Wonderfully White and Wispy
6x6 Acrylic on Canvas Board

18. Bluely Shuttered and Beautiful

Bluely Shuttered and Beautiful
6x6 Acrylic on Canvas Board

17. Dancing Daisies and Polka Dots

Dancing Daisies and Polka Dots
6x6 Acrylic on Canvas Board

16. Pretty in Pink

Pretty in Pink
6x6 Acrylic on Canvas Board

... thoughts...
1. I set the alarm for 1 hour, then at the 1:20 point, then gave up and just kept painting.
2. Background ok.
3. Daisies ok but more overworked than earlier attempts, but they also have more varied shadows of blue, gray and yellow than the daisies I've done previously.
4. Maybe "overworked" is the wrong word. How can the step-by-step instructions in the books involve 16 steps and lots of layers, yet that isn't called "overworking". The skill, I guess, is having it not LOOK overworked ... that's what divides the amateurs from the pros.
5. I hated the flowers while I was in the study, but now, a little later, and at a distance I say the one on the right is ok. The left not so bad either. I don't now what I'd do to fix them anyway, if I decided to go in and fix.
6. Pitcher is ok, except it isn't level.
7. I eliminated a flower in the upper right. I couldn't make it work.
8. I've been hitting the limit on these cheap acrylic paints. Some of them absolutely will not flow. I'd be better off with wall paint. Pink is horrid (I tossed it). Lavender too. Yellow. Maybe I could use the navajo white wall paint I have as a base and tint the darkest acrylics.
9. I'm hitting the limits of the lessons to be gleaned from copying Dreama's wild suggestions. It's time to go into real life so I can really SEE what the thing really looks like, the thing Dreama masks with her wild (and wonderful) camoflage.
10. At some point, I want to switch to oil! But I hate the idea of the mess, and that I can't paint here in my office studio, I'd have to move somewhere else, and I would not longer have this 22 inch monitor I'm using in the office.
11. Solution ideas: Can paint outside in nice weather. Can use ASUS tablet or old laptop if it works for reference photos.
12. Trying to reverse engineer Dreama's paintings is like painting charades. She gives a vague hint and the viewer needs to figure it out.
13. Fix to Left flower: Add a couple more pale pint petals to make it more like the right.
14. Instead of tossing bad paint, I could mix colors together plus white to make a gray or brown.

15. A Rose by Any Other Name

A Rose by Any Other Name
6x6 Acrylic on Canvas Board

14. The Answer is Blowin' in the Wind

The Answer is Blowin' in the Wind
6x6 Acrylic on Canvas Board

13. Stripes of Blue Joy

Stripes of Blue Joy
6x6 Acrylic on Canvas Board

12. Along the Garden Path

Along the Garden Path
6x6 Acrylic on Canvas Board

11. Waterfront Property

Waterfront Property
6x6 Acrylic on Canvas Board

10. Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home
6x6 Acrylic on Canvas Board

9. Red Striped Awning

Red Striped Awning
6x6 Acrylic on canvas panel

8. Rosy Outlook

Rosy Outlook
6x6 acrylic on canvas panel

7. Just Another Day at the Beach

Just Another Day at the Beach
6x6 acrylic on canvas panel

6. Don't Worry Be Happy

Don't Worry Be Happy
6x6 acrylic on canvas board

5. Cutest Cafe Just Around the Corner

Cutest Cafe Just Around the Corner
6x6 acrylic on canvas board

4. Window Sitters

Window Sitters
6x6 acrylic on canvas board

3. Cheerful Start to the Morning

Cheerful Start to the Morning
6x6 acrylic on canvas board

2. A Jar Full of Sunshine

A Jar Full of Sunshine
6x6 acrylic on canvas board

1. Happiest Wallflower in Provence

Happiest Wallflower in Provence
6x6 acrylic on canvas board

Today is the first day of the challenge to paint 30 paintings in 30 days. I set up an outdoor studio on a table in the driveway.