AAUGH! The new WordPress update messed with the editor! 12:30 pm and I need to learn how to work a new system? Are you kidding me?
I had the post written. Done. I tried to switch back to the old editor, and BAM! No more post. AAUGH! Unbelievable.
OK, let me see, how did it go?
I putzed half of Tuesday night, and most of Wednesday working on Day two. I decided that piece was not ready for prime time, and I started a new one. I watched a video on painting loose watercolor florals. You know how I struggle with painting loose. Haha.
But I am stubborn. And I am going to keep trying until I get it right. Haha.
I sketched the baselines for the blooms, and then I splattered water on the paper. The flow of paint in water took over, which is what I wanted. But I realized, I placed the buds to close to the edges.
I had fun in the process. I noticed my body relaxed as soon as I stopped fighting with the first piece. I have painted like this before. Laughing because I always think I am going to try and do things differently in the challenge. But after having not painted for so long, the process felt new. New-ish. On to day three for you and for me!
Happy creating everyone!
The difficult is what takes a little time, the impossible is what takes a little longer. Fridtjof Nansen
Heeeyyyy everyone! Welcome to the 30-Day Creative Gathering. 🙂 Hope you’re ready to get in the groove, and have some fun. I have to admit, I wasn’t sure I had enough mojo to participate. But I chatted with some of you, and we sort of talked each other into it. Ha-ha. That’s what friends are for ‘ey?!
It may have hit me late, but a few days ago, I started to get really excited. And here I am. One more time.
This will be my 13th 30-day challenge. Ten of them were with Leslie Saeta in her 30 Paintings In 30 Days events. Leslie changed her focus a couple of years ago, and a few of us wanted to continue the challenge. Yay! Christiane Drieling and I co-founded the 30-Day Creative Gathering on Facebook. Follow the links to see samples from the events.
Let’s kick it ya’ll!
My piece for day one is a do-over. And I most likely will be trying this again. It is a huge canvas that has been hanging on my wall unfinished, ever since we moved to Arizona. Four years!! Truth be told, it was unfinished for even longer than that. I had once painted a scene on it. Then I moved, and I prepped it for the new space. Haha, that is as far as I got. Honestly, I just never could decide what I wanted to see on the wall. And what I had the courage to attempt. LOL. 🙂
But it’s only paint, and I can start all over if I want to. This canvas may make an appearance again later this month.
I don’t have room to paint on a canvas this size. I painted it on my bed. Haha. I painted the sky first, stopped for dinner, and then worked on the rest. Here is my first try. I apologize for the terrible photo. The dark area is my shadow.
I am going to critique this, but know that I am happy with it to an extent. I am sharing my thoughts on the process to help clarify what I learned. Happy as always for the learning!
Tools For Day One.
I did not have the right colors on hand, and I do not have the right tools for a large piece. I used a 2-inch brush for the sky and land. Dotted (poured) the colors on, and then blended. Adding spritzes of water as needed.
For the ocean area, I used the same technique to get a base layer of color. Next, I used palette knives, a gift card, a one-inch brush, and my fingers. I used both craft paints and artist paints. Also matte gel for extra body.
The dark band at the top of the sky actually looks perfect in daylight. It is softer and blends well. I still have “lines’ of color, but it’s no longer like nails on a chalkboard. Haha. 🙂
You can click on any image below if you want a closer look.
Texture.
Waves Close-Up 1
Waves Close-Up 2
Misty 1
Misty 2
Misty 3
I was trying to mimic the feel of a painting by Hiroshi Matsumoto. I love his work. I had narrowed down my favorites to: May 2019, and June 2019. I love the feel of these two.
I decided on his June piece. The light, the shades of blue, the misty horizon. The abstract, chunky colors. The southern California-ness.
It bombed. Haha, haha. I just don’t have the right tools. I think I needed larger knives. Heavier body paint. I changed course midstream.
After looking at my piece on the wall, I have decided I want something calm in that space. Color, with hints of detail. Haha. Make up your mind Sheila!
Lastly, I think the main problem with this piece, is that it feels like separate paintings, chopped and put together. It isn’t integrated. Unified.
I promise I won’t write a novel for each piece this month. Thanks for visiting, suggestions are welcome! Happy creating everyone! 🙂
Love Notes postcard exchange helped to pass the time. Haha. Is it the end of the month already?! This round we had the option of going digital. I chose that but found a stash of stamps, so I mailed the cards as usual. I was offered a side swap from Kelly, and eagerly agreed. For the side, I painted the Prickly Pear. Thank you, Priscilla Martin and Kelly Collin-Coulter for brightening up my mailbox and month!
Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one. – C.S. Lewis
My good friend has asked me to post his call for help. He is working on two awesome applications. If you know anyone with the skills he has listed (below in bold), please share this info with them. Thank you for taking a look 🙂
A Call to Arms for Designers! With the threat of Covid-19 affecting us all, many of us are trying to find ways to help stop the spread of this pandemic through various methods. At Pandemic-Watch we are in the process of developing a mobile app that allows users to opt-in to providing anonymous location data. That data can then be compared to reporting known and suspected symptomatic users and notices sent to those who have crossed paths (with-in the possible transmission time) with a known or suspected person. In addition, we also have a project (Medic-Watch) to aid our Medical Heros! Most medical facilities require exposed staff to phone in and answer a health questionnaire each day. Many of the exposed staff are overworked, short on time, and exhausted! So many fail to report daily. This leaves the administrative staff to initiate calls or physically track them down to gather important health data. Our Medic-Watch project provides a mobile app to collect this data on a given schedule, thus making it easier and less time consuming for the staff to comply. The user can provide a schedule of days and times for the app to open and request their health status. The data is then provided to the medical facility(s) they choose on first use or add later. Our two projects are in great need of volunteers. One of our most significant needs is for designers and UI/UX designers to help in the design of our products. If you can design a mockup of a mobile screen given some criteria (such as input fields, and text to display) and make it look modern and professional, we need you! Both projects are open source and seek to help stop the spread of the pandemic. The anonymous information they collect will also be provided to medical researchers to help in understanding the spread of future epidemics. So far, our team consists of software developers and epidemiologists. We need web developers, designers, and marketing people, pandemic experts, etc. The projects are both open source and free to anyone to use, modify and further develop for their own use. As long as it is not for profit. If you would like to take part and have any talent that could be of use, please contact me at pandemic.watch2020@gmail.com
