Day 15. I’ve officially half way through this challenge. Only 15 paintings left. I’ve unfortunately hit a bit of a wall though. The last two paintings weren’t quite as good as I wanted them to be. They aren’t necessarily bad, but I can do better. With this painting specifically, I finished it but really wasn’t satisfied with it so I decided to repaint the sky. The new sky makes the painting work much better. I originally had more clouds and the whole thing felt busy. By smoothing out the sky, the eye can better rest on the focal point.
Hopefully, I’m getting into more of a groove with the new job, new puppy, and lack of sleep. I plan on prioritizing painting when I have a puppy sitter and trying to complete multiple paintings on those days. Little pups doesn’t sleep as well as I wish she would and chews on everything when she’s awake. It makes for distracted painting.
Day 16. This painting went so much better than day 15. I love painting the cactus. It just looks like little circle-ish blobs of color until the very end when I get to add the little needles with a silicone nib tool. So satisfying.
I think I may have said that it was impossible to get the right color for the rocks with my paint selection in week 1. I apparently just needed more time with these colors. I’m pretty spot on with my rock/dirt colors now. The greens are a little harder. I need a blue green for the yucca, but I haven’t been able to mix the correct color yet. I’ll keep at it. By the end of this I might finally get it figured out.
Day 17. I’ve never been very good with photoshop so I love it when I can improve on a photo through a painting. I’ve always loved this photo, but the sky was overexposed and the rocks were underexposed. Trying to correct this left me with grainy rocks with a reddish tint. I think I would’ve been at home in the previous era of photography where the manual manipulation of photos in dark rooms was the way it was done. Computers are great, I just don’t like working digitally. I’m a huge fan of the whole tactile experience of painting.
Day 18. This is another view of the Hidden Valley trail. This time it’s on the steep ascent, looking back at the Moab Valley below. I wasn’t a very big fan of this painting when I first finished it, but it has grown on me and I really like it now.
Day 19. I know this arch has been painted and photographed a million times already. It’s such an icon that it is literally on my license plate. If you do happen to be unfamiliar with this particular arch, it is Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. These days, there is typically a crowd of people milling around it and there were even a number of people in my reference photo which I chose not to include.
Day 20. Not much to say about this one. It came together easily and I’m happy with the result. It is the view of Castle Valley from a home carved into the rock itself. Not that the painting gives any hint to this extraordinary home.
Day 21. This painting is of another arch in Arches National Park: Landscape Arch. I wasn’t sure if I was going to paint this one or not, but went for it because I wanted something quick to paint. It has been more and more difficult to paint since the puppy needs constant supervision or she’ll chew up the furniture. Luckily, I’m in the home stretch. Only 9 more paintings!
Just a heads up: I’ll be posting Week 4 on Sunday rather than the usual Thursday so I can include the final two days in that post.
Please check my store for available paintings. Buy any landscape in this series for $60 and get the second for $30 when you use the code BG319.
They look great. I would love to challenge myself to something like this.
Thank you! I definitely recommend 30 day challenges. You can do your own personal challenge like I’m doing here or there are a few challenges a year that are hosted by people or companies. Inktober, Strada Easel 30-Day Challenge, and World Watercolor Month are some that I can think of off the top of my head.
Very nice artwork on your site, Amber.
Thank you so much loujen haxm’Yor! 🙂