Sunday, January 31, 2016

30 DAYS OF INTENSE PAINTING


               
                           15 of the 30 Paintings   All Pastels | Various sizes

The 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge is officially over, even though I will continue to paint more frequently (perhaps not every day) because of it. It is a grand way to start out the year of painting. It has been said that an artist must paint at least a thousand paintings in order to acquire the skills needed to become a master.  In years past, I've thought 30 or 40 paintings was a lot to produce, but then I was working as a full time Realtor as well! Now that I've retired from that, I've upped my game, producing 106 last year. This year, again I'm increasing my goal to 125. Doing this challenge means getting into the habit of producing daily and gives one the training of producing whether one is inspired or not; all essential skills to meeting my long term art goals. It is so obvious as I go along that these (my 3rd) 30 day challenges produce instantly recognizable progress in my skills.  

Painting Notes: While I am a confirmed pastelist, I do find myself drawn to experimenting again in oils, perhaps the water soluble ones or even acrylics which I watched Gil Dellinger use so interchangeably with pastels in a workshop years ago.  It is a hard transition when one becomes so familiar with a medium that paintings are produced almost effortlessly to then change to the slow unsatisfying use of an unfamiliar medium.  I have so much further to go with pastels and I do so love the stroke making they allow.  It is just a thought - we'll see where it leads me! Stay tuned!  

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