Here we are, more than a week into the challenge! This first day was probably a stretch of the prompt, but aside from sitting outside and painting a literal structural, I tried to think of things that were structural. To me, origami always has a very structured quality about it. So I made some buffalo and painted them. The best thing about painting a paper subject is that it is really easy. This has to be my quickest painting so far.
For whatever reason, I really struggled with the metallic prompt. I had several metallic objects that I sketched out, but none of them were working for me. Finally, I found a paint tube with a metallic end and just went for it. I used my worthless zinc yellow color, so don’t worry about wasted paint. I know for a fact that I wasn’t going to use this paint again for actual painting. At least I’m still getting some use out of it.
My mom brought this large dead monarch butterfly she found in her yard to my daughter. My daughter didn’t care too much about it, but I was very excited to use it as a painting prop. I’m going to have to figure something out to keep it safe in the long run, especially since just picking it up I knocked off an antenna.
For day 7, I took a little trip outside my studio and into my chicken run. I found a downy under feather and had to tack it to my surface to keep it from blowing away in the a/c blast. I think I really like this painting. It is a lot more reserved in colors than I usually paint. I’ve been using a lot of burnt umber and Paynes gray mixed and I love the warm grey results.
The prompt today was blue, but it’s also blue on another day so I decided to torture myself. I like to think I can do flowers, especially after the last Strada challenge, but it turns out I still suck at them. I love how other people paint them, but mine never live up to my expectations. Tomorrow is another day, another painting.
I had a really hard time settling on a subject for this painting. I eventually went for a shot of hard alcohol. On top of the subject, I’m still really struggling with my mediums. Normally, I’m able to paint thin to thick and it all layers really nicely, but I can’t seem to figure out how to do that anymore. Right now I’m using Gamblin Solvent Free Gel on Speedball panels. This is my first time using these panels because the Ampersand panels went way up in price. I think my problem might be that the Speedball panels are extra smooth too. Tomorrow I’m going to try a different medium and sand/prime my panel and hope for better results.
The last painting in this post is definitely dark. I have some young chicks in my studio right now that are dropping like flies for whatever reason. As I was wondering what to paint for muted, I checked on them and saw another one had died. In that moment I decided it was very fitting. The chick in question had been struggling for a few days. Last night I saw it taking a turn for the worse and suspected I would find it deceased in the morning. Unfortunately, I was right.
I gessoed my panel for this day and the whole thing went so much better! I used the same medium, but with just the smallest bit of grip to the painting surface, I was able to breeze through this painting. You can bet I’ll be gessoing all of my panels from now on.
See you all next week!