Day 59

Today I made a painting of Savannah. This is from a photograph that I took of her that has "that look" she gives frequently. I found this portrait to be very challenging but exciting to make.

Day 58

Today I made a painting of Jerry sleeping with baby Dominic. It is always so hard to paint people that you actually know but overall I am happy with how this turned out. Getting ready for the Arnold and dusting off those old art skills takes a lot of work but it feels nice to stretch my art legs.

Day 57

Todays art was created as a gift for my veterinarian. I had my best friend Luka euthanized on Thursday and the vet did an amazing job with us. She showed us such compassion and respect that I just had to thank her in a way that I know best. So I found this image, no it is not mine, and was struck by how it made me feel. Sometimes we just want to hold on to our pets and never let them go. The most courageous part of my day today was when I actually gave it to the people at the vet office. I gave it to the receptionist and bolted before any  more tears could fall. That is so me.

Day 56

Today I did a pretend side by side with Michelle of a German village photograph. I love German village. Around every turn and corner something beautiful is happening. I need to get out more into the other neighborhoods of Columbus and find more of these kind of places because I think they exist. I liked the shadows on the ground in this picture. And I really like the color of the trees in the distance. I have been trying to formulate the right color for this for quite sometime and I think that I am almost there.

Day 55

Painted some simple flowers today. Enjoyed doing something simple and from life. Started off the night with a complicated street scene then asked myself why I wanted to torture myself. So, here are some lovely flowers that make day 55 complete!

Day 54

Painted a Puerto Rican beach scene today. Interesting.

Day 53

Today I painted from another photograph of Emily's Puerto Rico trip. I had limited time to paint today (as will happen on this 90 day adventure) so I made a fast painting. I really tried to have fun with the pastel layering and not be too concerned with blending. The overall feeling is more wispy which I happen to like. Bravo, day 53 complete. 37 to go!

Day 52

Today I painted from a photograph that Emily took in Puerto Rico. I seemed to get lost in the photograph as I looked at it so it seemed like a nice fit.

Day 51

Painting from a photograph that Michelle took yesterday at the paintout. It is of Jon a fellow painter. Had fun with this and I tried to keep it fresh which I find hard to do when I work so small. Had 20 x 24 paper and I made a 8 x 10 portrait in the middle. Now that is quite ridiculous and a waste of paper. May revisit later and make it larger.

Day 50

Had a plein air paintout today in downtown Columbus. Found this interesting street scene that had such neat shadows on the ground with the bonus power lines. Had fun and enjoyed being outside painting again.

Day 49

Painted beets at midnight. I love how simple yet complicated these are.

Day 48

Well day 48 sure was interesting. I had to do "real people" stuff today after work and I had to wait to paint all night. Naturally I developed this terrible panicky attitude about what I was going to paint. So I stormed my way into my studio, turned on the Shine soundtrack, and searched for inspiration. And there on my table was this photograph of Jack. He looked exactly like I felt so I went with it. I only had about 35 minutes of art in me before I ran out of steam. Thought this was fun, silly, and so unexpected. Moving on!

Day 47

Now this portrait was fun to make. I did it from a black and white photograph from way back in undergrad. I always thought Brian Paisley was silly for packing his guitar on a backpacking excursion but I sure am glad he did that day. I remember it clearly. We had hiked all day in the snow and the snow was deep. Everyone was exhausted and we set up camp. Brian finds a nice spot in the snow and plops down to play some tunes. I was just glad I had the energy to pick up my camera. Priceless.

Day 46

This portrait was done from a photograph that Emily had. It is of Emma holding Dominic while he lived in the NICU. Jumping head first back into portraiture sure will make your head spin but the time has come.

Day 45

This painting is from a photograph courtesy of Michelle. I saw this picture while I was visiting her amazing studio and felt inspired to give it a try. I tried to have fun with the painting and not take it too seriously because I could not understand several parts of the photograph. I enjoyed making the painting even though there are pieces of it that are just plain hard to read. Did I mention that it is day 45 more importantly? Forget today's painting! Its day 45 which means I am half way there (wherever there may be). Ta-dah!

Day 44

Well Day 44 sure was interesting. I went to visit Michelle in Wapokeneta to see all the beautiful things in that area. We drove around for what seemed like forever and finally stopped in this park which did not look interesting at first. But my art legs needed to be stretched so we walked around. Lo and behold we found this old dilapidated building to paint. I am like a moth to a bulb when it comes to old and dilapidated so this is what we painted. Michelle had the genius plan to switch mediums for the day so she used my gear while I used hers. I found it interesting to paint on such a tiny canvas with tiny brushes but it felt too cramped for me. Back to the bigger open spaces for me from now on.

Day 43

Today I went out and painted with Carol, one of my OPAS painting friends. The sky was very interesting around 400 when we started painting. However I found myself chasing it during the entire painting. It felt nice to get out and paint plein air and stretch my painting legs a bit.

Day 42

Today's painting is from a photograph that Michelle took. It was fun to paint but I found the grass on the left a little confusing. Cant figure out what it is but I kind of get lost in there and don't know what to do about that. Someday I will miss making all of these winter paintings and will be using my green pastels all the time. I like this passage from my Impressionists in Winter book. The author talks about how winter is beautiful to an artistic eye because the artist can capture subtle grays and blues instead of the obvious colors of summer. Or something like that.

Day 41

Day 41 feels fine but in reality it is difficult. I feel artistic but want to do anything BUT paint. So I painted this photograph from Michelle despite my urge to skip a day (just one day right?). I am glad that I painted this scene because I think it feels very fresh and spontaneous. Day 41- check!

Day 40

After work yesterday the light was amazing. I could not handle taking the regular highway route home so I took a scenic detour through the western edge of Pickaway county. Around every turn there was another amazing farm with this fantastic glow. This farm in particular looked so charming and simple as it casually rested in this snow valley. I was so distracted by everything that I managed to get lost and actually had to use my GPS to get home.

Day 39

Today started around 5 am when I got the phone call that we had a 2 hour delay. Perfect. Time to paint before work for a change. So I dug out this simple picture and gave it a try bright and early. I enjoy the loose structure with the background and simplicity of the sky. The snow shadows are stealing the show from my tree but I can live with that.

Day 38

Today I decided to paint a beautiful bouquet of flowers from baby Dominic. The flowers are huge and bursting with color and fragrance. How could I not paint them? I knew it would be a challenge to paint them because there is so much going on in each flower and leaf. I also wanted to spend a significant amount of time painting these because I have been attempting to slow down as I paint and notice the small things. Over three hours later this is the result. I think that is the longest I have ever spent on a painting since abstract work in undergrad.

Day 37

This morning I decided to do a painting from a photograph that I took at Lakeside, Ohio two years ago. I stumbled upon this view and found it very interesting but so confusing.The docks and the water looked so jumbled together that I could not make sense of it. So I decided to give this image a whirl today and see what would happen. Well, as you can see I have a confused painting to go along with that confused photograph. But hey, at least I posted it right. Throughout this painting journey one should expect to make a few days of progress with a day of rest or setback so here is what I would call "a day of rest."

Day 36

Here are five brown eggs. I have been thinking about painting brown eggs since I stayed at Nancy's house several weeks ago for the Butler paint in. She had them in a still life and I thought they were really cool looking. So I decided to give it a try. I think that the fabric in this one kind of stole the show from the eggs but overall I enjoy this painting.

Day 35

This painting is from a photograph that I took while on a Boston trip several years ago. Jamal and I spent the New England vacation scouring the coast for interesting tiny towns and freezing beaches. This was one of the beaches that we found that was empty, pristine, and bitter cold (it was February after all). In this painting I tried to convey how the light is playfully splashed across both the rocks and water.

Day 34

Well today it was a barn photograph that caught my eye. I am still amazed how many awesome photographs that I got from the car in 45 minutes the other day, this being one of them. The sky was a challenge because of its spherical shape which I am not used to. I have seen others teach this technique but had not opened my eyes to see this in nature until now. Overall I enjoy this painting because of the warm fading sky and the simple silhouette of the dilapidated barn.

Day 33

So today I decided to do a still life. I wanted to take a day away from doing snow, trees and barns for once. So I set off to Kroger to find some interesting produce. Apples always catch my eyes because of the fancy supermarket lighting so I selected a few. Although I find them quite hard to paint because they are hardly ever one color and tend to have so much going on. Alas, here is my three apples and champagne bottle still life. 

This painting was made on day 32. It is from a photograph of Morgan and I really felt inspired from the image. The way that she is gently twisting her hair between her fingers gives a perfect feeling to this image. Definitely more figures to follow soon.

Day 32

Day 32 was really nice! Had a snow day due to the ice storm and so a day of relaxation and art has been officially commenced. I made this painting from a photograph that I took the other day. Michelle and I painted the same photograph today as a play on painting side by side. Of course both of ours looks totally different but I am happy with the results. I think that this is the first "pink" painting that I have ever made but for some reason pink seems ok today.