Week 26 Don't Overreact

It's Week 26 and that means WE'RE HALFWAY THERE!

Can you believe that we are now at the halfway mark through 2021? I hope your year has been great so far. It sure has been nice to be able to be out and about without masks on, but I might be in the minority when I say that I'm not sure going back to "normal" is that comforting. Reflecting on my experience of the last year, I think I learned a lot by slowing down, enjoying our home and our neighborhood again, and rethinking priorities. I'm hoping this is the new normal. Being busy and exhausted does not equal success.

Week 26 challenges us to not overreact when we read or hear comments that are negative about our work. It also challenges us to rethink saying negative things about others work as well. Take a deep breathe, and take it with a grin of salt.

Here is your free worksheet ready to download.

Week 25 Don't Dwell On It

I was on vacation last week so I'm playing catch up this week with the Week 25 post. 

Week 25's challenge is DON'T DWELL ON IT. I find that when I get disappointed when something doesn't go my way, writing down how I feel helps me to move on. This week's challenge will encourage you to do the same.  The worksheet is below. For those of you who have a workbook, we are on page 53.

Congratulations graduates!

Julia and Lois

10" x 10"

Oil with palette knives on cradled board

Denise asked if I would create a painting of her daughter Julia, and her best friend, Lois to celebrate their graduation from Trinity University in San Antonio TX. She wanted to give it to Lois as a thank you for her and her family's generous hospitality when Julia was unable to make it all the way home to Massachusetts for holidays.

Here are a couple of process shots I took along the way.

Week 24 Remove Energy Drains

Week 24 of the Jumpstart Your Art weekly challenge for artists is to Remove Energy Drains. Listing out 5 things that are taking up your time, causing stress, or making you feel bad and making a plan to remove at least one of them.

Here is your free worksheet ready to download.

Signs of the Red Inn

Signs of The Red Inn

12" x 12"

Oil with palette knives on board

SOLD

I used a technique on this painting in order to do the lettering on all of the signs. I painted the background color of the lettering in acrylic first (with a brush). Then I painted the color of the sign over that in oil. Using my wipe-out tool, I then lifted up the oil color to reveal the acrylic color underneath. To show you what I mean, here are a few process shots that I took along the way.

Week 23 Don't Put Yourself Down

Week 23's challenge is to not put yourself down. Sounds like common sense but if you start to take notice of how often you apologize or make excuses when someone compliments you, you'll see how this can reflects how you feel about yourself. Let's start looking at little words that can change that.

Here is your free worksheet.

Commercial Street II

Commercial Street II (from Standish to Freeman)

12" x 36"

Oil with palette knives on Ampersand Gessobord

SOLD

Commercial Street in Provincetown has so many fun shops and restaurants. This is the others side of the street from my previous painting that went from Freeman to Standish. 

My inspiration for these was this painting by Norman Rockwell of Stockbridge Massachusetts at Christmastime:

I took this photo before I painted in the sky:

And here is a close up on one of the buildings so you can see the detail better:

Week 22 Keep Out!

We start a new theme this week! It's called REMOVING NEGATIVITY and Week 22's challenge is KEEP OUT. Removing negativity from our daily lives can be difficult. But taking a closer look at all we are exposed to on a daily basis can be eye opening.

Here is your free worksheet ready to download.

Black Lab

Black Lab

6" x 6"

Oil with palette knives on board

SOLD

Look at that cute face! No wonder black labs are a favorite breed among dog lovers. The black tones were quite a challenge to paint, so I decided to paint a more colorful background on this one to balance the darkness of the fur.

Golden Retriever

Golden

6" x 8"

Oil with palette knives on board

Available 

Next up in my flurry of furry friends is the Golden Retriever. Like the fox, I loved the profile of this cute face. The red bandana is a nice touch too and adds a splash of color to frame his/her face.

White kitty

White Kitty

6" x 6"

Oil with palette knives on board

SOLD 

This cute kitty was a challenge to paint. Although he is white, his face was in shadows, so I had to look closely to decide which colors to use.

Week 21 Create a Purpose

This week, as you begin a new piece of art, ask yourself "Why am I creating this?" "What drew me to this subject matter?" Then when you finish, that should be what shines.

Here is your free worksheet to help you define the Why.

Foxy

Foxy

6" x 6"

Oil with palette knives on board

SOLD

Next up in my flurry of furry friends is a fox. I loved the profile view in this shot. And the fur was a perfect subject for palette knife painting.

Flurry of furry friends

Camouflaged

6" x 6"

Oil with palette knives on board

Available 

I recently found some great images of animals on Unsplash.com, a site that has copyright free images that are available to use for free. It's a great resource for artists. I chose several images to paint that I knew would be fun to paint with palette knives and painted several of them over the last couple of weeks.

So get ready for a flurry of animals this week on my blog.

This is the first, a beautiful owl camouflaged by his/her surroundings. 

Cape Cod Cottage

Little Yellow Cottage

12" x 16"

Oil with palette knives on cradled board

SOLD

Last month, I was asked to do a palette knife painting demo for the Foxboro Art Association. They hold their meetings outdoors at Gillette Stadium which was convenient for me since it's where the Artist's Studio and Gallery is located. 

I've always loved this little cottage on Commercial Street in Provincetown and have been wanting to paint it, so I decided this would be my subject. Besides, summer is coming right? So why not get us all in the mood for a little Cade Cod getaway.

Here are a few snaps from the demo. It was a little windy, but my plein air easel held strong and I persevered! We even saw a couple of bald eagles fly over the stadium. Pretty cool.

Here is how far I got after the meeting was over. I finished it up the next day at the gallery.

Week 20 Experiment Outside Your Comfort Zone

I love this week's challenge. We often get caught in to our own little world and forget to try new things. So, break some rules, cross over to the other side of the street, and see what fun you can have.

Here is the free worksheet:

Friends at the winery

Jerry, Deb, and Cathy

8" x 10"

Oil with palette knives on board

This was a fun commission of 3 pals enjoying some wine on a glorious day with a beautiful winery as the backdrop.

Below are a couple of progress shots I look along the way. I always start with the faces first, then move on the background after the people have been painted in.

Week 19 Copy The Masters

As we continue to hone our skills, Week 19 calls for us to COPY THE MASTERS. You can be sure that I will be creating some more mini masters. The one shown above is one of my favorites, Van Gogh's Irises, and it was only about 3" x 4”.

Here is your free worksheet.

Off to Provincetown!

Entering Provincetown

18" x 18"

Oil with knives on cradled board

SOLD

It's that time of year again when Polo and I create a body of new work to send up to The Red Inn in Provincetown. This year we decided to stay a few days and enjoy the beautiful scenery and get inspired all over again. Here is a video showing the paintings that are now for sale at the inn.

In case the video doesn't play for you, here is my line up "on deck" for the red inn.

And here are a few photos from our 3 wonderful days enjoying the scenery. There was a full moon, and I even fit in a little colored pencil postcard.

Workshop painting 4: people

A Mother's Touch

8" x 10"

Oil with palette knives on board

SOLD

Happy Mother's Day! 

In our 4th and final week of my palette knife painting workshop, we graduated to painting people. I found the reference image for this painting on the website Unsplash.com. You can find some wonderful photos on this site that are free to use as you wish-a great source for artists.