Painting a Day challenge number 8

 This is the second premier coup (means first strike) portrait of my daughter nursing her four-month old baby boy. This one is noticeably less finished than my other one-day paintings but I like how it became a sweet impression of the day. 

I was not happy with either of these paintings, day 7 or day 8 of my 30 day challenge because they are much more unfinished looking. Also I did not capture my daughter's likeness to my satisfaction.  I had in mind that I would "finish" them better in the studio later but in this class with Duane Keiser, the 30 day painting a day challenge and in the spirit of learning all that I can about the premier coup method of oil painting I realized that I should let these be as they are. 

A memory of a moment in time.

Day 8 PaD number 7

 Painting a Day challenge got off track so this is painting number 7. I posted the photos from the day here.

My daughters came over for a little retreat here with us on this bitter cold snowy February weekend.  Oldest daughter brought her four-month old baby and I did two paintings of them. First alla prima portrait with baby nursing on the left side and then another alla prima with baby nursing on the right side. Nursing is mostly what a four-month old with a healthy appetite does all day (and night). In between meals he napped, kicked his legs vigorously, and chirped, cooed, and laughed. 

It was easy to keep painting all day because my daughter and our beautiful grandson kept returning to these poses for me. Painting from life! 

Day 6

Day 6 Painting a Day challenge! This apple is a big one, really big, it's a two person snack. And the colors were so varied, pinks, oranges, and yellows. I worked for about 3 hours on this painting which makes it a satisfying alla prima, or premier coup job.

Here's a photo of my setup with a kitchen knife on a cutting board. But of course, I painted from life. The wonderful enormous apple is getting a rotten spot but I turned that to the back!

My daughter came around and remarked that she felt the paring knife was aggressive? She wondered why I would include a knife in a painting since it is a threatening object. This comment shows how much a viewer brings to the work of art. 
We talked about the objects used in European still life paintings from the 16th and 17th century.  Memento mori themes often used skulls or burned out candles to symbolize the shortness of life. Vanitas paintings were popular because they had symbolic meaning as well as a decorative beauty. Sometimes they included dead flowers, animals, and rotten fruit. Vanitas means life is short and all is transient.

Memento mori (Latin for remember that you have to die') is an artistic or symbolic reminder of the inevitability of death.

Day 5

Day 5 of the Painting a Day challenge.  I have this lovely orchid that is in its second blooming. I started a really large canvas back on January first! A New Year Day ambitious idea  (link to my earlier posts) that I still haven't finished, in fact in six weeks now I haven't made any progress on that big canvas. Instead of portraying the orchid plant and blooms in all height and glory on a 18x24" canvas,  I composed an 8x10" painting to do from life, alla prima, all in one day painting session. 

Again, it's a white on white flower, which I find very appealing. I rigged a black backdrop out of black t-shirts, need to get out to a store for a proper black fabric backdrop to hang over my still life box. Speaking of still-life, even a supposed still life doesn't stay still. The tulips I painted three days ago? They kept opening and closing throughout the day. They started the day closed into tight ovals and by late afternoon opened so wide I thought the petals would fall off. Then I noticed that the next day they did it again. Same thing occurred with these orchid blooms, some of them have lost the flare that they had when I started. 

hyacinths and poems

 Poetry is the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits. 
Carl Sandburg

I will come back to that quote because I resonate with the idea that a painting is a poem.

A small painting made from direct observation in a single day session like this one is more like a brief poem, a haiku. A capturing of a memory, a moment in time.

Day 4

Day 4 of the Painting a Day challenge. After the strenuous workout of the day before, painting yellow bananas against a blue cloth, I thought I would make it a simpler composition. White on white, I thought, that might be easier?

A white hyacinth in a glass bottle. Quiet and calm. Alla prima, one session, premier coup oil painting.

Day 3

Day Three of the 30 day painting challenge. I thought this would be a simpler arrangement but ended up working for six hours. In fact as evening came I didn’t know if I would finish in one day. I started feeling really tired, standing all day. This forced me to make faster observations and decisions about brush work and colors. Two bananas on a blue Dutch cloth. I have a good friend who was born in Holland and she gave me this cloth to wrap a loaf of bread. It was a souvenir from a visit back to Holland. I enjoyed the color play of the blue against yellow bananas. oil painting 8x10 on linen 

Here is a photo of my painting set up, I made a still life box and lighting arrangement.

Day 2

Day 2 of the Painting a Day Challenge. 

I chose a complicated arrangement, or at least it seemed that way a couple hours into it. I spent about six hours total trying to get it all in one day and struggling with wet into wet oil paint. 8x10 oil on linen board Next day, next challenge! 

Day 1

Painting a Day challenge, studying with Duane Keiser, learning oil techniques, how to see, and getting the hard work done. Day 1 plein aire from my window view. 3 hour session. 8x10 oil on linen 

Day 7

 I will never run out of ideas for things to paint for this 30 day challenge! Everywhere I look there are new views, new compositions from everyday objects.

Day 7 Painting a Day challenge was a bust, I spent the day doing housework, laundry, and welcoming guests for the weekend. My three daughters came over for dinner, two of them to stay the night and have a cozy weekend. On day 8 I painted two portraits of my older daughter nursing her four month old baby. 

I have a brand new cute little portable easel, (not as cute as the baby) the brand is Cup Easel. I brought it out to the living room to be able to paint while everyone enjoyed sitting around.

Because I didn't make any paintings today I am posting a sequence of photos of myself with my grandson. I spent as much time cuddling his chubby sweet self and kissing those fat cheeks as I did making art. Here I am holding him and he seems very interested in my painting.