Day 14 - 21

Its been ten days since my last post and I'm sorry I didn't get to it Friday, but Ive been lucky to paint the paintings so blogging was secondary.  I even had to skip a few days and ask for grace, due to an upper respiratory infection that sent me to urgent care with a fever.  Even after the z-pack, its still taken this long for me to get my energy back.  So I am two day's behind on my paintings, which I plan to catch up in this, the final week.

This had been good for me to get the juices flowing again and to become reacquainted with my passion.  I must admit, when I opened my long neglected pallet, there was mold on two of the paints and the rest were dry as bone.  I've never had them mold before, but I have an airtight palette to keep the paints moist in between use.  I've just never gone long enough for them to MOLD!

And I've learned a few things: 1) Do not paint something that does not inspire you.  It will show in the work  2) I love to paint the figure and portrait above almost all else  3) I love architecture too and 3) a regular habit of painting keeps you motivated.  This has motivated me to continue to keep my sketchbook handy and I am going to try to work in a few paintings a week at least.

And now, on to the sketches:
These are numbered by the order, not the day anymore!

 Day 14

I did peruse my photos on Friday before the week and pulled out some inspiration.  This was a great little church in Spain I've been meaning to sketch. As I've said, I've been fortunate to have a father with wanderlust who has taken his family all over the world.  I wouldn't have ever seen and done what I have had he not made it possible.  Anyway, this was one of the many photos of churches I want to sketch.  While I would prefer to sketch on site, sometimes a photo works too!  This is quick, sloppy and wonky, but I like it!  Thanks dad!

day 15

Another photo I took years ago.  As you can see, its a beach photo.  Its been so darn cold, I felt like it might warm me up.  It didn't!  I loved how the sun hit the figures, but all I had was a grainy black and white on copy paper from another attempt.  This one is better.  

Day 16 

A  friend emailed me a picture of her daughter in this chair.  I loved the angle and the foreshortening.  I love that the leg is larger and the head is small as it recedes.  I love the yellow chair.  And I finally did sand in a way I liked.  Also a beach scene.  I somehow feel colder!  But I love the painting. 

Day 17

Also from a photo (obviously) of trumpet vine.  I love the graceful curve of the vine and the shapes of the flowers and buds.  I love the shape of the leaves, but didn't have time to include them.  Another day another painting!

Day 18

A simple pen and watercolor of some summer zinnias.  Are you seeing a theme here? ( summer-warm weather) Ha!  I'm not a fan of this but some days if you make art at all, even bad art, its still a good day!

Day 19 & 20

From a photo.  I started this before and never got in there to finish since its so detailed.  I lost interest.  I have to admit, I dont like the left page at all.  Its how it looks in the photo, but I find the green and white overhangs and the rock building much more interesting.  It was also raining so there are no shadows and light.  I counted this as two days since it took much longer and spans two pages.  

Day 21

And my last offering.  I feed the birds all year.  Among my favorites are the Junco's.  I love thier dark tops and white undersides.  They also feed on the ground, so I snapped shots against the snow.  Simple and fun. 

So, that completes 21 days.  Going to try to do 28 for all of February.  I went the the grocery and have some inspritation I can work from!  Stay tuned!