Working on sunsets tonight

I feel like I'm on fire for painting again!
I will be working on a lot of new paintings over the next few weeks. I'm even going to try figures and faces.
Tonight it was sunsets.

Here's something new!

I've decided to paint a whole series of "studies", in 8 x 10.
It's amazing to me how different this is from painting something "big".
I'm having a great time, and I think I'm learning something important about composition.

I haven't given up!

I know it's been more than a year since I've posted.
I've had major house remodeling projects,
and some serious health issues that concerned several members of my family.
My granddaughter is now two, almost three, and she has a little brother.
But I have painted about a dozen times this year.
Lately I've been experimenting with paper that can be painted on with oils.
It's a challenge.
The paint doesn't go on the same.
But it's been fun, and the paintings don't take up as much space when I store them.
I'm excited about my painting, and I have time to paint again, so be prepared to see some new work.
I hope I will hear from many of you who are learning to paint like I am.

Here's what I did today:

It's been a year.

Wow.
This has been the greatest year of my life.
I've loved it all.
I always wanted to be an oil painter, now I am.
And a year from now, I'll be so much better, today's painting will look like kindergarten finger painting.
This past month has been a little difficult. We've been helping our kids, visiting with family, and doing family vacation.
Then I had a mini stroke, and I've been visiting doctors and doing the HORRIBLE MRI thing.
But I keep painting.
And I'll paint again soon.
I want to enter something into the State Fair. I really need to get busy to do that.
I'm also going to be taking my easel out and trying some Plein Aire Painting experiences.
I've just got to let the weather cool off a little first.
Stay tuned.

In the meantime, here's a seascape I tried today.
I really need to work at this. It's harder for me than I thought it would be.

I’ve reached a plateau.

It’s not that there’s any trouble or anything.

I’m just not seeing the huge improvement that I used to see each time I painted.
But that’s okay. I knew I would reach a plateau. The trick is not to stop. I have to keep painting.
I still love it with all my heart.
They say that we can’t see improvement in our lives until time passes, and we stop and look back on what we have done.
I hope that’s true for my painting.
So, I’ve now painted 50 canvases.  I think I’m succeeding at being regular and diligent with my practice.
I also recently turned 50.
One of my goals is to become a really competent painter during my 50^th year.
I hope I’m accomplishing that.
So, here’s a couple of my latest paintings. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
I’ll keep going.
In fact, I have to scenes that I’m painting tomorrow.
Maybe one will be a miracle.

 

 

 

 

 

Somebody took one of my paintings!

Actually I’ve placed five.

The first two went at the same time. And who took those first two paintings?

Art connoisseurs? Dealers? Wealthy people?

Nope.

My mom and my sister. I gave each of them a painting for a Christmas present. I was very touched that they actually requested a painting as a gift. The support I’ve received in my family has been very inspirational.

Then my dad had a neighbor notice their new painting and say really nice things about it. Dad said that he was sure that I would give him a painting as well, and he asked for two! One for his office, one for the lobby of his office.

How about that?

The fifth went to a dear friend, Guillermo Zelaya. Guillermo works for a bank, and I actually called him and asked if he would hang a painting in his office. He was delighted! We had a great lunch together that day. So this whole thing about placing paintings hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be.

I think I expected family and friends to mock and laugh at me when I first started painting. No one has. Everyone has seemed very sincere when they’ve made a fuss over my latest painting. So I’m happy that those two paintings have found homes. That’s what I want. I want my paintings to wind up somewhere where they’ll be loved.

I also need to get rid of them so that they don’t pile up and take over my house. I guess they’re kind of like puppies in that sense.

So I’m going to be a little bit assertive about finding places to hang my artwork. This will be a little challenging for me, because being timid is one of my most annoying faults.

Oh, and here's my lasted painting:

I’m going through changes

My set up for painting has been cumbersome up till now. I’ve been using a ceramic tile covered in wax paper for a palette. I’ve been laying out a big piece of board on the kitchen table where I arrange all my tools.

Now I’ve gone out and purchased an actual, Plexiglas, artist’s palette. It’s made a change immediately. I like using the palette, but I will admit that I have lifted my palette vertically a couple of times and stained my shirt with paint.

I bought a folding table at the Desert Industries thrift shop. I can organize my paints, supplies and tools in a more compact manner. The result so far has been that I have achieved a new concentration on my work.

One of the reasons that I’m so happy with my changes is that I understand that it’s important that I avoid getting too deeply entrenched in bad habits.

I don’t even want bad habits in my style of painting. No ruts.

That’s one of the reasons that I’m taking different kinds of instruction, and trying to fix paintings after I have finish and when I’m not satisfied with the final result.

Below is one if the paintings I fixed.

I loved it after I finished it. Great story: I called my good friend Memo after I finished this one, and I asked him if he would like to have it. He said he would love to have it, and so I took it to him and had a lovely lunch with him.

That’s what my painting is all about. That’s why I’m doing this. I want to see what new directions painting will bring to my life.