Studio Atelier February 2011 Painting Project

"Water Lilies"

Oil on canvas, 9 x 13 inches

(private collection, Brussels)

Studio Atelier February 2011 Painting Project (first stages)

Below are my preliminary sketches for the Studio Atelier challenge (see link towards bottom of sidebar). Not sure if I'll manage to get an oil painting done by next Sunday. This month we can choose any of the previous images posted on the site. The water lily photo is beautiful but why does Pacman keep coming to mind?!

Faber-Castell Polychromos in

Winsor & Newton 8" x 11.5" Sketchbook

Here's a link to the Studio Atelier challenge where other artistssubmitted their interpretations of the same photo:

http://studioatelier.blogspot.com/2010_07_01_archive.html

I've also had fun trying out different colored pencils on the red boulder photo. First with Derwent Artists pencils:

Above using Faber-Castell Polychromos and black ink

Both in 7x9.5inch handmade sketchbook

Here's a link to the Studio Atelier page where other artistssubmitted their interpretations of the same photo:

http://studioatelier.blogspot.com/2010_08_01_archive.html

In the end I decided to paint the water lilies (see next message).

water lilies

Virtual Paintout - Romania - February 2011

The ride through the mountains on the DN 12C was breathtaking. I had a hard time deciding where to stop and paint but finally settled on this spot: Google Street View


"Driving along the DN 12C"
24x30cm, oil on canvas
(Private collection, Brussels)

Virtual Paintout - Romania - February 2011 (first stages)

I've run across some amazing scenery in Romania and couldn't wait to get started. Here's my first day's work. I'm also excited to be painting my first snow scene.

Progress was rapid because I'm using a small canvas again -- no time to complete a big one right now as I'd like to finish at least two paintings this month. I also tried to spend more time at the beginning deciding exactly what I wanted to do. Hopefully that will speed things up too.

Day 2: I finished this painting today (see next post) and I’m happy with the result but it’s brought to mind three things I want to remember for next time: 1) I like working on a very smooth canvas like the one I used here; 2) I prefer them bigger however; and 3) I should try to get the tones right before putting in too much detail -- that’s always been my downfall.