Self Portrait

Well I sketched and painted 5 self-portraits in 5 days.  I learned a lot about watercolor paints and mixing colors.  I think I improved greatly.  Now on with my project.  John Marin will be my March artist.

My first attempt

I used a grid

Free hand sketch, learning about shading

Oops the eyebrows are a little dark and big.  I learned that you can't take the paint off.



I don't know, I think I got the colors right, but it doesn't really look like me, does it?



Fun with pencils

I am busy today sketching my family.  I hear that practice with faces will help me develop the skills needed to capture the likeness in a face, so I am practicing drawing faces. 

I played with my watercolors today, mixing colors to see what I can come up with.  I have 8 colors lemon yellow, cadmium red, alizarin crimson, ultramarine, cerulean blue, viridien green, yellow ochre and burnt sienna.  I can mix yellow ochre and cadmium red to make my skin tone and then add a little viridian (very little) to make shadows.  Ultramarine and burnt sienna make my gray/black tone.

 I need to find a skull to sketch from.  Halloween stuff here I come.  I have my anatomy book out and have started looking at how our body is attached to our skulls.  There is alot to this drawing people thing. 

The books make it sound so easy, but it is not.  Fun but not easy.

Too much watercolor

So I did another self portrait.  I liked the sketch.  Everything was going well until a drip of paint went in the wrong place.  I went to fix it and then the shading went wrong.  I went to fix that and the whole mouth was wrong.  Watercolor seems to have a personality of its own.  I am just getting to know it.  I think I like this watercolor personality, there is a fluidity to it. 

Should I put up a picture of my funny shaded self-portrait?

Black and White

Today's self portrait is not in color.  I watched a video on how to mix black watercolors so I decided to do my portrait painting in black.  I also tried using the grid method for sketching so I could see the proportions better.  I enjoy the painting more than the sketching. 

Today I got stuck in a snowbank and sketched Lucien's sippy cup while I waited for my neighborhood hero to come with his truck and pull me out of the snow.  Lucien napped the whole time.  I feel truly blessed.  

I am reading about blocking in & layout, value and value scales and using negative space.
I am having fun with my new learning. 

Looking at the whole face

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Today I learned about looking at the whole face instead of its parts.  The shadows of the face make it recognizable.  I don't think I have it down just yet but I am learning.  I did do some painting.  I attemped to fix up one of my sketches and then painted it.  It was quite fun.  I think I will do one each day for the rest of the month and see if I get any better. 

I need to learn more about mixing colors, shape, form, shadows, and many many other things.



'44N 69W: Radius Belfast'

 Åarhus Gallery, Friday March 4th, 5-8pm for the third annual '44N 69W: Radius Belfast' opening reception.  My art is there and will be in the show.

Sketch 1st

OK I sketched myself.  What I learned is that it is hard to make a realistic drawing of yourself.  The mirror is better than the photo for self study, but both are hard.  I seem to draw myself with a masculine look.  If anyone has suggestions please help me.

Tomorrow I will paint.  We will see if I then sketch again.

Wish me luck.

Looking at yourself

I am older than I was the last time I looked at myself closely.  My face is lop-sided and I have wrinkles.  This self-portrait project is getting scarier. 

First painting completed

Circus, this is the painting that started me on this adventure.  I am submitting it to the gallery down town.  I had such fun through the whole process that I decided to start this blog and be an artist.  I did find that there is a point where you have to just stop painting.  I kept painting then it would be done, but then I would see something that needed more work, then I was done, but then it would happen again and again, so I decided that I would take a picture of the painting and post it as Done. Completed. Finished.

Fun is important when painting but there is so much to learn about.  I went to the library today and got a couple books, six actually.  I am going to begin with watercolors, that is what most of my grandfathers paintings are.  I learned about brushes and some of the techniques today.  I am feeling a little timid about my self-portrait.  I did take a picture of myself and got a book called "Portrait Painting in Watercolor" by Charles Reid, so I am well on my way.

Now I just need the baby to take a nap so I can begin my self-portrait.

Busy Busy Busy

Well today has been busy.  I am searching for my first artist to work with.   John Marin was my grandfathers inspiration.  I really like his work. I am also looking at women artists.  Frida Kahlo did not have professional training so I am interested in her work, also she has an incredible life story.  Georgia O'Keefe is a wonderful artist, I know the work but not much about her and her life.  There is my grandmother Jerry Day Mason who I could interview she has a show in March at the Chocolate Church in Bath, Maine. 

I now have a tabletop easel.  Oil paints, acrylic paints and watercolor paints are now in my hands along with some new brushes and canvases.

My oldest, who is 13 years old and my daughter who is 9 are both very excited about my project.  They are also painting.

I have decided that I want to do a self portrait, a still life and a landscape.  It seems to be what most artists (painters) do, so I will be working on those.  I will begin with a self-portrait.   This will be my beginning self
portrait and after a year of learning I will do another and see how different they are.

Did I mention that I am going to begin with painters and then see where it goes from there.

Artists I Like

Henri Matisse, Vincent van Gogh, Georges Seutat, Paul Cezanne, Georges Rouault, Wassily Kandinsky, Pablo Picasso, Max Beckman, Joseph Stella, Piet Mondrian, Marcel Duchamp, Marc Chagull, Paul Klee, Max Ernst, Hans Arp, Jackson Pollock, Paul Jenkins, Salvador Dali, Victor Vasarely, etc...

Who to start with?

So here I go.  There are so many artists.  Who should I start with?  Maybe Jackson Pollock? Pablo Picasso? Vincent van Gogh? or should I go with someone else?  Decisions decisions...

Introduction

I come from a family of creative people.  I have always considered myself a creative dabbler.  Now the time has come for me to make it a full time job.  I am going to be researching artists and attempting to create a piece of art in their style.  I will choose a new artist monthly and post what I am learning.  At the end of the month, I will post my final piece of art.

I recently gave birth to my third child whose namesake was a great artist (my grandfather, Lucien Day).  Baby Lucien is 9 years younger than his closest sibling.  I feel like I am starting over.  I don't want to go back to work outside the home and I want to do something different that makes me happy and maybe others too.  So here I go, finding my art.