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?