December 31, 2009 - Day 143

Acrylic on 140lb Aquarelle cold press watercolor paper

Happy New Year everyone!

December 30, 2009 - Day 142

Acrylic on 140lb Aquarelle cold press watercolor paper

I really like the way this painting turned out. I am finding though that I have been using a watercolor technique of saving the whites rather than painting over them. I don't know if that would detract from the value of an acrylic painting or not. In my mind, the entire canvas or support should be covered in acrylic paint and there shouldn't be any bare spots but does it really matter? I don't know - maybe I should just do what I feel and see what happens.

December 29, 2009 - Day 141

Acrylic on 140lb Aquarelle cold press watercolor paper

Glass of red wine today. With today's painting I was torn between this background and having it much darker beneath the base of the glass. In the end, I decided to go with this one so that I would have something to compare when I create a much darker background. Maybe, if I have the courage, I will paint tomorrow's painting with a very dark (almost black) background.

I have seen paintings with backgrounds that have very dark and very light streaks or shapes. I would like to try that but I really can't visualize what it would look like. I was going for that effect with the margarita but I didn't have enough contrast.

December 28, 2009 - Day 140

Acrylic on 140lb Aquarelle cold press watercolor paper

Today's painting is of a Melon Margarita.

I ran out of the heavier watercolor paper so I had to go back to the 140lb paper. Truth be told, I just couldn't afford to buy any art supplies this month. Christmas just drains my bank account. I am so glad it is over.

The 140lb paper works just as well as the 300lb paper with the acrylics. I tape down the edges of these small paintings so they stay flat while the paint and paper dries. While the lighter paper works well, I prefer the 275lb to 300lb papers for acrylics because it makes it more like painting on a canvas. It gives it more weight and substance than using the light papers.

December 27, 2009 - Day 139

Acrylic on 300lb Saunders Waterford cold press watercolor paper

Today's drink is a White Russian. It is very very hard to paint ice cubes in a drink!

December 26, 2009 - Day 138

Acrylic on 300lb Saunders Waterford cold press watercolor paper

First day of a new series. For the next 6 days I will be painting alcoholic drinks - just because New Year's Eve is coming up and it tis the season! In case you can't tell this drink is a Cosmopolitan.

I really enjoyed the challenge of painting the glass. I find it fascinating how the stem and base of the glass is formed by painting the background color and then adding little swoops and swirls of dark and white.

December 25, 2009 - Day 137

Acrylic on 300lb Saunders Waterford cold press watercolor paper

Finally had to give up on this one because I just didn't know what else to do to make the skin tones more realistic. They are almost there. I know that they just need SOMETHING and it would totally come together. Unfortunately I don't know what that something is. I worked on the skin for an hour but it was getting to the point that I was going to try one more thing and that one more thing would totally mess it up and then have to start all over again.

I have to say that I am happy with probably 80% of the painting. Specifically the robe, halos and eyes. Originally I had tried to paint Mary's hand holding the baby but I couldn't get the shape right so I just painted over it with the robe color and the baby's blanket color. I figured that it probably wouldn't really change the effectiveness of the painting.

Last day of the Christmas themes. Tomorrow it is on to alcoholic drinks - more specifically my favorite alcoholic drinks. That series will end on New Years Eve.

December 24, 2009 - Day 136

Acrylic on 300lb Saunders Waterford cold press watercolor paper

I haven't painted many people so I found it very hard to get Santa's skin tone and facial features right. It didn't turn out the way that I wanted it too and this has motivated me to paint more people so that I can improve in this area.

I think that I will start a series of portraits on January 1. I have always admired artists who could paint portraits because they have to be so exact. If the eye shape isn't right or the skin tone is off it the likeness is lost. It will be a great challenge for me.

December 23, 2009 - Day 135

Acrylic on 300lb Saunders Waterford cold press watercolor paper

Only 2 more days until Christmas! Poinsettia for today then I think tomorrow will be Santa Clause and something Religious for Christmas Day. I mean it did all begin as a Christian holiday after all.

I am much more relaxed about my painting since I remembered that I was doing this blog to increase my creativity NOT to make money. I am enjoying painting again and it is no longer "work" to get my painting of the day done.

December 22, 2009 - Day 134

Acrylic on 300lb Saunders Waterford cold press watercolor paper

Thought I would do something fun today so I painted my tribute to my favorite holiday cartoon.

December 21, 2009 - Day 133

Acrylic on 300lb Saunders Waterford cold press watercolor paper

I realized as I was painting today that I had started looking at this project only as a way to make money. I have been thinking that maybe once this is over that I could sell all the paintings as a complete set or maybe even have this blog published as a coffee table book.

I have started to get really discouraged and down on myself if my painting doesn't turn out or if my commentary for the day is not full of insight into the mind of an artist. I had forgotten the reason why I originally started this blog and that was to overcome my fears and to increase my creativity.

Even if I never make one penny from this blog I will have accomplished my goals. I can never again say to myself "I'm not prolific enough to make a living at my art" or "I can't create beautiful paintings" or "I don't know how to paint".

So maybe some days my painting doesn't turn out or maybe I can't think of anything inspiring or insightful to write. So what! I am creating a painting every day regardless of whether I worked an 8 hour shift or had the day off. I have painted every day even when I didn't feel like it or had absolutely no creativity or inspiration. Good enough!

December 20, 2009 - Day 132

Acrylic on 300lb Lanaquarelle hot press watercolor paper

My momma's Christmas baking. It was so yummy last night that I thought it would be a good subject for today's painting.

This is the last of the Lanaquarelle paper. It was a nice smooth paper but it didn't hold up well to any type of tape. The top layer of the paper kept tearing when I removed the tape - even painter's tape which isn't very sticky.

December 19, 2009 - Day 131

Acrylic on 300lb Lanaquarelle hot press watercolor paper

I would say this painting is 90% completed. The ornament really should have been brighter and had more highlights to make it look shinier. I finally had to call it quits otherwise I wouldn't have had enough time to post it tonight.

December 18, 2009 - Day 130

Acrylic on 300lb Lanaquarelle hot press watercolor paper

Started painting at 8 pm and was going to paint for an hour then take a break but I got in the zone and suddenly it is 2 hours later and I am done the painting. I love it when that happens!

December 17, 2009 - Day 129

Acrylic on 300lb Lanaquarelle hot press watercolor paper

I don't know what was up tonight but my hands just weren't steady. I had to repaint one eye at least 5 times because each time my hand would tremble just that little tiny bit and mess things up.

Usually when I paint metal I use shades of yellow, yellow ochre and brown mixed with white but tonight I thought I would try a metallic gold paint that I had on hand. I like the way it looks but I don't think I will use it very often. It might look nice splattered on an abstract painting - if I was ever to do those again.

December 16, 2009 - Day 128

Acrylic on 300lb Lanaquarelle hot press paper

Thank God I can still create my painting every day because words seem to have totally deserted me lately.

I would like to have at least one paragraph each post describing the artistic process or even just my thoughts on how that day's painting came about but lately I don't really have anything new or interesting to say.

So, on that note, here is my painting of the day.

December 15, 2009 - Day 127

Acrylic on 300lb Lanaquarelle hot press watercolor paper

Happy with tonight's result but it took a lot of work to get here.

December 14, 2009 - Day 126

Acrylic on 300lb Lanaquarelle hot press watercolor paper

I picked a gingerbread man as my subject tonight because I thought that it would be so easy to do compared to the bow that I did last night and the peppermint candy the night before. In hindsight, red probably wasn't the best choice for a background color. I must admit though that my head just wasn't in the game tonight and I really didn't have much motivation to paint this subject.

Before I started this blog I would have been so down on myself for not creating a "masterpiece" but after 126 days I realize that there are going to be days when my painting doesn't turn out. It is not the end of the world - I'll just start a new one tomorrow.

On the plus side I finally finished a painting of a puppy holding a candy cane that I started a week ago!

December 13, 2009 - Day 125

Acrylic on 275lb Acqerello Italia watercolor paper

I love painting shiny things like this Christmas bow. They look so difficult to do but really they are pretty easy. Each point of the ribbon is done the same way - medium green base color then a stroke of yellow green highlight then right beside the highlight a stroke of dark green shadow. Voila! A shiny ribbon.

December 12, 2009 - Day 124

Acrylic on 275lb Acquerello Italia watercolor paper

Since there are only 14 days until Christmas day all my paintings until then will have a Christmas theme.

That is all I have to say for today's blog.

December 11, 2009 - Day 123

Acrylic on 275lb Acquerello Italia watercolor paper

Something festive for the holiday season! I just wish that I had more time to create paintings to sell. Right now, there I have 4 paintings half finished and many more that I would like to create but I just don't have the time.

It is also frustrating that I have been unable to sell the paintings that I do have completed. People are more careful with their money right now and aren't splurging on art purchases. Thank God I have a job that pays the bills otherwise I would be a basket case right now!

December 10, 2009 - Day 122

Acrylic on 275lb Acquerello Italia watercolor paper

I was too tired tonight to attempt painting another dog so I decided to paint a still life. I find it easier to create still life paintings of fruits, vegetables and hard objects like spoons, bowls, etc than to paint a living subject.

Wow, I am too tired to write the blog tonight. My mind just won't form coherent sentences. Since the painting is completed and posted I think that I will quit for tonight and write again tomorrow morning.

December 11, 2009

Now that I had a good night's sleep and a couple cups of coffee I think I can actually write complete sentences (smile).

For the majority of this project I have been pushing my limits by challenging myself to paint subjects that I find difficult. Still life paintings are by far the easiest for me to complete because the form of the object is easier to see and the light and shadow are more pronounced.

With living subjects like animals, people and even plants there are so many angles and planes that make up the form that if anyone of those is off the whole painting is ruined.

Compare today's painting of an orange to the painting of a dog on December 6, 2009. The dog in that painting doesn't look "real" because there is something wrong with the shading and highlight around the eyes. The orange in today's painting isn't really the correct color but because the shape and shading is right you can tell it is an orange.

I have been using this blog as a means to improve my paintings by practicing things that are difficult for me but with the Christmas season approaching I need a break. So even though I would like to improve my dog paintings I will leave those for a time when I have more time and energy. For now, I am going to work on still life paintings which I find easier to do.

It's funny, even though I will still be completing a painting a day I feel like I am cheating myself and the people following my blog because I am not pushing myself to bigger and better things. Why do I feel that I am doing something wrong by creating paintings that are easy for me?

December 9, 2009 - Day 121

Acrylic on 275lb Acquerello Italia watercolor paper

I was very tired tonight and not really in the mood to paint so the painting did not flow easily. I re-painted the shadow areas on the dog at least 4 times. The first few times I had the shadow areas a dark blue/grey but it looked too harsh so I changed it to a grayish brown color which I like better. That is the wonderful thing about acrylics you can re-paint it as many times as you like without having to start from the beginning.

This dog series is the longest running series that I have ever had. I have completed 13 dog paintings (if you include the wolf and the coyote) and there are still more that I would like to paint.

December 8, 2009 - Day 120

Acrylic on 275lb Acquerello Italia watercolor paper

Wow! It has been 3 months since I started this project and I have not missed a day. One of my main excuses in the past for not being a successful artist was that I wasn't a prolific painter and I didn't have enough paintings to sell. Well this blog has blown that limiting belief right out of the water.

In the past 3 months I have painted 158 paintings. Some days I find it so hard to believe that I was capable of that. Last year I painted 25 paintings and felt that there was no way I could paint much more than that unless I quit my job and painted full time. Well here I am a year later still working 30+ hours/week and some how I found the time, energy and motivation to paint.

December 7, 2009 - Day 119

Acrylic on 275lb Acquerello Italia watercolor paper

For this painting I started with the highlight areas and then added the shadows which the reverse of how I usually paint. By painting the highlight areas first I think I was able to see the form better. I also think that having a lighter background really helps bring out the shadow areas as well.

December 6, 2009 - Day 118

Acrylic on 200lb Multimedia Aquarelle watercolor paper

Another frustrating day painting today. I just couldn't "see" the angles and planes of the face. I think I re-painted this 4 or 5 times but still couldn't achieve the correct form.

I have never been one to sketch or draw but I think that I might have to start making thumbnail sketches. These are quick small sketches with very little detail that can be done in color or black and white. The purpose of thumbnail sketches is to experiment with different aspects of the painting before committing anything to canvas.

I don't use thumbnail sketches mainly because I am the impatient type and I don't want to "waste" my time on a preliminary sketch/color sketch when I could be spending that time painting the "real" painting. Although, the theory is, if I did thumbnail sketches it would take less time and energy to paint the "real" painting because I would have already figured out the problem areas.

I would like to say that I am going to use thumbnail sketches in the future but in reality I have a lot of resistance to it and probably will continue on without them.

December 5, 2009 - Day 117

Acrylic on 200 lb Multimedia Aquarelle watercolor paper

Really had to rush with this painting tonight because it was 10:30 pm before I actually sat down to paint.

Sometimes I find it is harder to paint light subjects because I usually don't get the base coat dark enough to really allow the highlights to pop. That was the case with this dog. My base coat could have probably been a lot darker than what I used.

December 4, 2009 - Day 116

I started the day by painting these two Rottweilers but then I couldn't decide which one I wanted to post to my blog and which one I wanted to list for sale on eBay. In the end, I decided that the Rottweilers were a really nice set to sell so I made a new painting for today's blog.


Acrylic on 200 lb Multimedia Aquarelle watercolor paper

I am very happy with the way all of today's paintings turned out. I really like the way they look and I look forward to painting more. It is ironic that my dog paintings are turning out so well considering that I am a cat person.

I am painting much looser with these dog paintings. I only used a fine liner brush on the eyes, tongue and coller. The rest was done with a larger round brush. I quickly "sketched" in the base colors then added the mid-tones and highlights while the base coat was still wet (if possible). I am also using colors that are not natural like royal blue, bright yellow and lavender which I never would have considered using before.

Right now I am really inspired by these paintings and will continue to paint them until inspiration leads me in another direction.

December 3, 2009 - Day 115

Acrylic on Strathmore linen canvas

Well, my dog paintings are starting to improve. The face is better on this one but I am still having problems seeing the shape. I really like the way the dark fur looks but the lighter tan color isn't quite right. I just don't know what colors to mix to get the shade that I am looking for.

I have been using yellow ochre mixed with a touch of burnt umber and white but it isn't quite right. I am not really sure what to use but then again I have seen animal paintings done in non-realistic colors that were fabulous. I guess I just need to focus on getting the form right and not worry so much about getting the EXACT shade of tan that I am looking for.

December 2, 2009 - Day 114

Acrylic on Strathmore linen canvas

I am starting to really like this style for my dog paintings. While I greatly admire photo realistic paintings and love the level of detail that the artists' achieve I am finding myself drawn to this style of painting as well.

In creating for this project I find that I am starting to develop my own style. I seem to be gravitating towards animal and still life paintings with minimalistic backgrounds. It will be interesting to see whether I end up sticking with those subjects or move on to something else. I still want to try portraits as well as science fiction/fantasy paintings. For the time being though I am going to continue to work on dog paintings in this style.

December 1, 2009 - Day 113

Acrylic on Strathmore linen canvas

I have mixed feelings about this painting. On one hand I kind of like it because it is funky and vibrant but on the other hand I don't like it because it is not absolutely realistic. I am starting to get the hang of painting fur and it definitely requires using thicker paint rather than using thin layers.

I need more practice seeing and painting the form of my subjects. It doesn't matter whether it is a flower, an animal or an object getting the form right is crucial to creating an accurate painting. With hard and smooth objects it is easy for me to see the form but with a furry animals or soft flower petals I find it difficult to see what the form is. If I can't see the form then I have problems painting the subject.

With this dog I really didn't know the angles of the snout to the rest of the head or how the snout joins with the face. I think I almost got it right but there is something not quite right with it. Once I am able to identify where the problem is then I can usually fix it the next time I paint the same subject.

November 30, 2009 - Day 112

Acrylic on Strathmore linen canvas

Another failure. I just don't know what I need to do to paint realistic fur. I re-painted this over and over and still couldn't get it right. I like the area around the eyes but that is all I like about it.

I think I am going to go down to the library tomorrow and see if I can find some good books on painting animals in acrylic.

November 29, 2009 - Day 111

Acrylic on Strathmore linen canvas

I finally had to admit defeat on this one. It is like all it would need to be a good painting is one something but I don't know what that something would be. My gut instinct tells me that if I added some very light highlights that the painting would come together. I am afraid to try that , though, because if it doesn't work I would have to start all over and I don't have the time or energy to do that.

This painting frustrated me enough that it has challenged me to do better. I think I will do a series of dogs so that I can learn how to paint them more accurately.

November 28, 2009 - Day 110

Acrylic on 140 lb Bockingford cold press watercolor paper

Generally I like this painting but I am still having problems painting realistic fur. I finally had to quit because I didn't know what else to do with this. I think that my paint wasn't thick enough and I let it dry out a bit too much. I have to just get comfortable with the fact that Iwill have to mix up more paint. This will mean that I will end up wasting some paint but it will mean a better painting in the end.

November 27, 2009 - Day 109

Acrylic on 140 lb Bockingford cold press watercolor paper

I ran out of the illustration board so I decided to use my watercolor paper instead. A lot of the acrylic artists making and selling ACEOs (2 1/2 inch by 3 1/2 inch paintings) on eBay use watercolor paper instead of canvas or illustration board. I like using the paper because I can tape it down to my board and it doesn't move around on me. The paper is also much thicker than the linen canvas that I was using.

For my palette, I am using an old dinner plate with plastic wrap on top. This works really well because when I am done painting all I have to do is peel the wrap off and throw it away. It makes clean up a lot quicker.

I found today's painting to be challenging. It is very hard for me to paint thick fluffy fur. The painting turned out OK but I think that I have to learn that sometimes less is more. I think if I would have painted a dark base coat and then just added some lighter fur detail I would have achieved the same effect with half the work.

November 26, 2009 - Day 108

Acrylic on Strathmore illustration board

Very happy with today's painting. It turned out very well. The only thing that I would do differently would be to have more variations of light and dark in the background.

I think that I should have stayed with acrylics rather than painting with watercolor for the last three years. While I was able to produce some nice watercolors I like my acrylics much better and they are a lot easier to paint.

I stopped painting acrylics when I moved into an apartment. I make such a mess when I paint that I was afraid I would lose my damage deposit. Well, I guess I will just have to lose that because I have only been painting acrylics for 8 days and I already have paint on the floor. I don't know how it got there but there it is. I am sure that it won't be too long before I have paint on the walls and ceiling as well!

November 25, 2009 - Day 107

Acrylic on Strathmore illustration board

I am really enjoying working with acrylics again. They have such a different look to them compared to the watercolors. I had started a couple of lion paintings in watercolor last week but now I can't decide whether I should scrap them and do them over with acrylics.

November 24, 2009 - Day 106

Acrylics on Strathmore Linen Canvas

I really did not want to paint tonight. All I wanted to do was sleep. In hindsight, perhaps this project should have been a painting a week rather than a painting a day but I am committed now to completing it. Only 259 days to go!

I am finding that I am having problems with my backgrounds. With my watercolors the problem was mixing the paint too light but with the acrylics I am mixing it too dark. I don't why that is but I have to make a conscious effort to lighten up on the background.

November 23, 2009 - Day 105

Acrylics on Strathmore Illustration Board

Started this painting on the Strathmore linen canvas but tore the canvas when I tried to lift the masking off the Chickadee. So I started again using the Illustration board. The painting is OK but I definitely want to improve my backgrounds. I like the ones that I was doing with the watercolor but don't know how to reproduce that with acrylics.

November 22, 2009 - Day 104

Acrylics on Strathmore Illustration Board

When I started to paint the log I had my paint very thick and that is when I remembered that one of the great things about acrylics is that you can blend wet-in-wet to create great effects like the ones on the log and on the feathers.

In my previous acrylic landscapes I had my paint much thinner and it was almost drying on contact. In those paintings I was painting layers of thin glazes rather than blending wet-in-wet. While there are a lot of artist who paint acrylics in thin glazes I like the feel of painting with thick paint.

November 21, 2009 - Day 103

Acrylic on Strathmore linen canvas

My goal with today's painting was to create more accurate colors. I used my photo editing program to isolate the different colors in the water so that I could see what they were. I was surprised to find that most of the water was a very dark green that in places was almost black. I found it really difficult to paint the water green. My logical mind kept saying ""but water is blue". In this case, it wasn't blue it was green.

November 20, 2009 - Day 102

Acrylic on Strathmore Illustration Board

Today was easier than yesterday. My colors are still off but I am starting to remember how to mix them. I would have done a lot more work on this painting today but I just didn't have the time or the energy to do any more with it.

When I scanned it into the computer I was able to compare it side by side with my reference picture. That was when I saw how far off my colors actually were. My goal with my acrylics is to first learn how to paint more accurate colors. Once I have done that I would like to experiment with using thicker paint and obvious brush strokes.

November 19, 2009 - Day 101

Acrylic on Strathmore Acrylic Linen Canvas

First day of painting with acrylics after 3 years of painting exclusively with watercolor. I decided to do the same painting that I did yesterday to see what effect using a different medium would have on the outcome.

I had forgotten how to paint with acrylics after all this time. I think I re-painted the trees at least 4 times before I stopped. I still don't like them much but I think it is because I didn't have the colors on hand that I would have liked to use. I also think that I may need to buy different brushes. The watercolor brushes I was using seem to be almost too soft for the acrylic paint.

I attempted to create the painting using only the artist quality acrylics that I had on hand. These were Golden Acrylics in Naphthol Red Medium, Hansa Yellow Medium, Phthalo Green (Blue Shade), Cobalt Blue, Black and Titanium White. I also used Liquitex "Slow-Dri" Fluid Retarder to slow down the drying time.

I discovered almost immediately that I don't have the colors that I need. I was really missing Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Aureolina Yellow and Ultramarine Blue. I finally found a small sample tube of student quality Yellow Ochre that I used to finish up the golden areas in the grass and on the trees surrounding the house.

I also found it hard to paint on the pre-cut Artist Trading Cards from Strathmore. The cards are pre-cut to the exact size of 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches. There aren't any margins to tape down to prevent the card from sliding around while painting. More than once I had to touch up places where I put my finger in the wet paint.

It looks like it is going to take me awhile to get back into painting acrylics but I am hoping that my acrylic paintings will improve through the next 100 days as much as my watercolor paintings did.

November 18, 2009 - Day 100

Da Vinci watercolor on 140 lb Bockingford cold press paper

I am glad that today is the last day with watercolors. I just couldn't make the painting turn out. I really didn't know how to paint all the different types of trees in the background and it just turned into a solid green mass.

It has been a long time since I painted with acrylics. I wonder if I will find it really easy now that I have spent so much time painting in such an unforgiving medium like watercolors. I am going to really enjoy have the freedom to paint over something that doesn't turn out.

If this painting would have been in acrylic I could have just kept re-working the background trees until they looked right but I can't really do that with watercolor.

November 17, 2009 - Day 99

Da Vinci watercolor on 140 lb Strathmore Windpower cold press paper

This painting is of an abandoned barn in the middle of a canola field. I don't really have much to say about the painting except that I liked the scene because of all the primary colors. The blue sky, red barn and yellow fields.

Tomorrow is my last day painting watercolors for awhile. On day 101 I will be switching to acrylics. I don't know if I should stick with landscapes when I switch so I can see the difference between the two mediums or whether I should do something totally different.

November 16, 2009 - Day 98

Da Vinci watercolor on 140 lb Strathmore Windpower cold press paper

This is a painting of the Sooke Potholes near Victoria, BC.

Only two more days of watercolors and then I am switching over to acrylics. It has been 3 years since I painted with my acrylics and I am starting to get really excited about it. I first learned to paint by watching "The Joy of Painting" with Bob Ross on PBS. He was painting with oils but I used his techniques with acrylics because I don't like using harsh chemicals like turpentine.

I haven't painted with my acrylics in such a long time because I tend to make a mess when I paint. Watercolors generally wash off walls and floors fairly easily but acrylics not so much! I didn't care when it was my own home but living in an apartment now means I need to be more careful.

November 15, 2009 - Day 97

Da Vinci watercolor on 140 lb Strathmore Windpower cold press paper

Another Victoria, BC landscape. This one is of the pathway along Dallas Road.

I am trying another new paper today. It is the 140 lb cold press Strathmore Windpower Watercolor paper. It is called Windpower because it is produced with 100% windpower and is certified through the Green-e Consumer Labelling Program.

I didn't notice much difference between this paper and the Aquarelle or Langton. It is a bright white paper and the paint flows nicely onto the paper. I like that the manufacturing plant producing the paper doesn't use electricity generated by environmentally harmful means. That being said I still prefer the Bockingford over all the papers that I have tried so far.

November 14, 2009 - Day 96

Da Vinci watercolor on 140 lb Langton cold press paper

This painting is of Macaulay Point in Victoria, BC. It is my absolute favorite spot in Victoria and the place where I walked beside the ocean for the first time. It will always be a special place to me.

Today is the last day with the Langton paper. It was OK but I didn't like the roughness of it. It might work all right for larger paintings but with this smaller size I found it too rough for my use. I am picking up a Legend watercolor sampler tomorrow (I think). It has different types of paper including my Bockingford. Some of the papers are tinted which will be interesting to try.

As well, I think that Day 100 will be my last day with the watercolors for awhile. If all goes as planned I will be switching to acrylics for 100 days. After that I don't know what I will try.

November 13, 2009 - Day 95

Da Vinci watercolor on 140 lb Langton cold press paper

I am happy with the way that my animal paintings are progressing so now I would like to spend some time working on my landscapes.

This is a mountain in Montana (I think). Having grown up a flatlander I really love the mountains. They are very impressive rising up out of the foothills like giant teeth. Each one is so unique like fingerprints. This one was all rock and cliffs past the treeline.