Harvest - have yourself some play time

 

Harvest   oil/canvas   11 x 14 x .5

Cast aside illusions of grandeur.  

Grab a smallish toned canvas....there might be a failed painting underneath.

Set up a few fruits or veggies.

Use large brushes and large piles of paint.

Spend a couple of hours making sense of the information presented to you.  (a working discipline of design elements is a huge benefit)

Focus on shapes, movement, and, perhaps, color.

Make shape and form more important than detail.

Do like the daily painters do.

Celebrate your simplicity.

Daily Painting...or painting daily?

Ginger Jar with Peaches   oil/canvas   12 x 9 x 1.25

Yes, I paint every day....or nearly.  But the current daily painter movement is comprised of artists who actually finish a painting in a day.  How DO they do it?  I linger over my coffee and my meals.  I even linger over many decisions.  And, I just love the look of paint over paint.  That can only occur when the paint has some time to dry.  I consider and reconsider.  To give myself a break from the larger painting problems in my work area, I have decided to paint a few smaller still life works that will be color-driven and a bit mindless.  The shift will accommodate attention and practice in other arenas....brushwork, the difficulty of painting flowers and design to name a few.

"Ginger Jar with Peaches" is a smaller 12 x 9 painting.  A 2-day painting.  The best I can do.

How do they do it?