9.30.14 - First Steps

First Steps

8x8"

Oil on canvasboard

Just a little painting of some of my favorite farm animals - Goats!  And when they are only 3 days old, they're extra cute - I'm just sayin'.  A very special thank you goes out to Kathy Jonokuchi for a very special paint out!!

Lookout Crew - Day 26

6x6

Oil on Gessoboard

Day 26 of

30 Paintings in 30 Days

Painted this little sketch of goats this afternoon.  I was drawn to the way they were standing, touching and twisting, and how the shadow was falling, creating a nice abstract shape.   The left goat fell into place, but I struggled a little more with the black one.  It helped turning my reference photo upside down.  It's a bit of a weird angle looking down on them and my brain was telling me that "oh no, the feet couldn't go this way"   It seems to help to detach from what we know sometimes, especially painting perspective and angles.  Measuring and looking thru a mirror helps .

It feels nice to be caught up.  

A big thank you to all of you that have stopped by my blog, who've made thoughtful and encouraging comments and signed up to follow me during this challenge with Leslie Saeta!!  It's been a great way to connect.   Hearing the feedback has been invaluable; checking out everyone's work has been inspiring and being part of a community of artists who love painting just like me is just great and I hope these connections will go on as we continue on our journey making art!

Within kids reach - Day 2

6x6

Oil on Gessoboard

to view

Day two and my dear husband got home early so I dashed off to the studio to do some more painting for the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge.  I ended up working on 3 different paintings.  This one being one that needed some rework.   I'm working hard :-) at simplifying and I originally liked the contrast of the white "kids" compared to the black adult goat, but the big goat was almost to simple of a black shape so it helped to add some color to describe the "planes" of him a little better and I ended up lightening the background as well.  Tomorrow I'll re-take the photo outside to see if I can get the colors closer to the original and a little cooler.

What is becoming clear to me in doing this challenge is how easily I get side tracked and end up working on something different from what I set out to paint....I wonder if anyone else is facing the same dilemma:-)?
Here's a second camera shot with some additions.

It has a whole different hue than the one with the photo taken inside.

This one feels like a work in progress so it will not be for sale....:-)