With this study, I tried very hard not to get caught up in every little leaf on the trees, but to simplify, simplify, simplify. For that reason alone, I’m happy with it! And hey, who DOESN’T love a bright blue summer sky?
View from a Highway
Author: emmapittson
Lac Stukeley at Sunset
This was my second lunchtime landscape sketch, and already, you can tell that I was feeling more comfortable with the tools. The reference photo was taken while we were camping at Parc National du Mont Orford. I really feel that not allowing myself to use a gradient gave a better result for the water!
Back in the saddle!
So it’s been… what? A few years since my last blog post? I know, I know.. it’s absolutely shameful.
In my defense, I WAS returning to work after a 10 year absence, so I had a lot to prove. For a long while, there just wasn’t any time or head space at the end of the day for art-making.
But so far, my career has got itself (mostly) back on track (knock on wood), the kids are doing ok, and my house isn’t falling apart – win!
There’s also something about September that makes me think “time for another ’30 Paintings in 30 Days’ challenge”, but since Leslie Saeta isn’t doing that this year, I decided it was time for a little self-motivation!
The Challenge:
Spend as many of my lunch hours as possible doing landscape studies in Photoshop.
The Rules:
Onwards!
Painting for January 23: Where did the time go?
I think we can dispense with all pretense that I’m in any way keeping up with the “30 Paintings in 30 Days” challenge. So now that that’s out of the way, let me just say that this is my favourite “hair painting” so far. Not only did I let myself get carried away with details (so much for “daily” painting), but bonus! I also took the reference photo myself, so, FINALLY, I can claim to have created an original painting. Many thanks to my lovely and patient model, S-A, who’s probably convinced by now that she works with weirdos.
Two linearts and a WIP
Well, I certainly have fallen behind on the “30 Paintings in 30 Days” challenge, haven’t I?
The thing is, I can’t blame it all on my 9 to 5 job (or rather, my 8 to 5 job). Yes, I’m tired when I get home from work, and then there’s supper and getting the kids ready for bed, etc, but I when I do muster the energy to paint, I always manage to get into a flow.
The main problem is WHAT I’m painting. In comparison with the face studies from the previous challenge, paintings of the back of women’s heads has the ineffable quality that I think has always been missing from work – but seeing as I never really do anything truly original, this is hardly surprising. At the end of the day, though, they’re still studies. I’m in a state of constant practice and preparation, but I never get any closer to my goal, which is to produce original work (such a scary concept!!). And I have to change that. Time to learn by doing.
Bu-u-u-u-t… maybe I’ll just finish these last 3 paintings first.
By the way, of these 3 wips, one of them is actually based on a photo I took of the receptionist at work. She’s the first person I’ve ever asked to pose for me, and she was so nice about it, too!
WIP for January 18
I truly intended to paint tonight, but… I’m tired, and this lineart is all I can manage. G’night!
Painting for January 12: This painting is cooler than me
I regret that I made it all the way through my teens and twenties without ever getting an undershave, gutless wimp that I was (am). This painting is about as close as I’ll ever come to having that hairstyle myself…
Painting for January 10: my new bff
Have you met my new best friend? It’s Liquitex’s Airbrush Medium, and by gum, this just might be the answer to my prayers: a medium that makes acrylics just slick and blendable enough to make your life easier while still drying within a reasonable amount of time.
Painting for January 7: Technique is overrated
Ok, so I’ve fallen off the wagon a bit (a lot) for this “30 Paintings in 30 Days” challenge, but in my defense, I did say that I might not be able to keep up the pace all the way through. (The village was already burning when I got here, Ma’am. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it).
And what strange paintings these are! First of all, painting hair is totally different from painting faces because hair is essentially a shape, or collection of shapes. Consequently, they’re coming out a lot rougher and more slap-dash than the portrait studies from the last challenge.
I *think* I like them, even if they weren’t at all what I expected.