Careful What You Wish For

"Mooove Back!" (pastel, 16x8 inches)

Our times have changed so dramatically in such a short time. Just two months ago I was sketching portraits for my 25th year at the San Antonio Rodeo, surrounded by hoards of people (well, on Saturdays at least!) Then I woke up one day in March and it seemed as if my entire calendar for the foreseeable future was wiped clean.

For the first couple days of cancellations, I was frankly shocked and a little depressed, wondering where my income would come from. But at heart I've always been one to take life as it comes and follow the opportunities that life presents to me. An idea from another artist prompted me to have a Studio Sale, which has been quite successful thanks to my wonderfully supportive clients! (You know who you are, and Thank You!)

In week 2 and 3 of these strange isolated days, the new reality has begun to settle in, and I've been seeing this as a golden opportunity to handle those critical actions that have constantly been pushed to the bottom of the to-do list since 2016... namely CLEAN UP THE COMPUTER, and the surrounding office! 😂 (and next.... the Master Closet!?)

But humming just beneath the surface of all this domestic activity is the strong, pervasive desire that has been plucking at my mind for months, digging it's way through the frustrations of juggling several businesses and scheduling conflicts. That little voice is telling me "I just want to be a Daily Painter!" In the tradition of Julian Merrow-Smith, Dwayne Kaiser and Carol Marine.......... Drop the events, the craft shows, the festivals... I just want to paint, and post, and see where that leads.

(I've been half-heartedly attempting to paint daily since 2011, but my average has dropped off. Sure, the unwritten "rules" of Daily Painting are not as firmly followed as in the early years of the movement. Even the big names don't paint/post EVERY day any more. But most of them did - for years!)

So the little voice is saying "..What are you waiting for? We've cleared your schedule... "

I'm filled with sadness and regret that it has taken a global pandemic to finally bring this little voice to the forefront. But that just firms my resolve to make this opportunity worth the effort. I'll be taking this adventure one day at a time, and we'll see how far it goes.

I sincerely hope you have not had any friends or loved ones severely affected by this virus. How have the forced stay-at-home rules and the changed situations affected your daily life and your future goals?

Today is Day 1 of April. I invite you to follow along with my journey and I'd love to hear from you!

Follow my Daily Paintings

Barbara Jaenicke demo

This weekend I'm fortunate to be taking a workshop from artist Barbara Jaenicke, at the Coppini Academy of Art in San Antonio. I absolutely LOVE her landscapes! Click on her name to visit her website!
She first does a thumbnail sketch from her photo, to nail down the basic value patterns, then does an underpainting with pastel washed in with isopropyl alcohol.

These are just a very few of the photos that I took. but she worked so sparingly that most of the pics I took didn't seem to show much progress, but somehow, magically, the painting got finished!

These are the colors she used for the underpainting...

She washed in the underpainting with  isopropyl alcohol.

She tested what colors she would likely use in the painting, and then got right to it!

My painting for today was from a photo taken at my home town Landa Park, and it looks pretty good in my camera, and others in the workshop liked it, but I don't feel like it's done so I'm not going to show it yet. Maybe tomorrow.

3 Marla Baggetta Workshop Demos at IAPS 2015

Sunday June 7, the final day of the IAPS pastel convention, I had Marla Baggetta's one-day workshop. I had seen a painting of her's at the 2011 IAPS pastel exhibit and wanted to learn from her ever since! Marla is well known for her series of 100 variations of the same landscape (done on a dare, she says!)  Well, what an incredible learning tool that is! In her workshop she demoed another landscape done with three different preparations. The first one was direct on a solid ground (paper). The other two had quite different underpaintings.

 She starts her paintings with simple thumbnail breakdowns of the basic shapes and values. Then chooses the size and shape she wants for the scene. (These thumbnails were for a different painting, but you get the idea..)

Demo #1 (on Art Spectrum Colorfix paper I think..)

 This second demo had a "notan" underpainting of graphite washed in with alcohol.

Demo #2

 Demo #3 started with a vivid watercolor underpainting. (#2 and #3 are on Wallis Professional paper - yes, the old good stuff! Marla very graciously had some sheets that she offered to the workshop students for their paintings that day if they wished..)

Demo #3

It was amazing to see how very different the three paintings came out. But she was using the same reference photo for all three!

Here are some of her handy teaching tools; color scheme charts and tiny sample landscapes painted only with the colors shown on the swatches...

Lastly, a glimpse of the back table and some of the paintings she had for sale!

I bought one of her smaller paintings. This one's about 9x5 inches. Dreamy!