September 5, 2009 - Day 26

Da Vinci watercolor on 140lb Bockingford cold press watercolor paper

Its official - I have created more paintings in the last 26 days than I did all of last year. Wow - that feels really really good.

This project has done wonders for my confidence as an artist. Prior to starting this blog I thought that I wasn't capable of producing the quantity or quality of paintings that I would need to make even a part-time living as an artist. Now, whenever I start to doubt my abilities I can look at my work for this blog and realize that I am capable of being a prolific and successful artist.

I had so many excuses before for not painting. My life isn't any less busy than it was last year. In fact, I think I have less free time now yet I have been able to create 1 painting a day for the last 26 days. Now, I know that there is no excuse for not painting or creating.

I am also finding that the process is getting easier. When I first started the blog it was all I could do to create that 1 painting but now I am finding that I am starting to paint even more. I am inspired to paint additional paintings to sell. Currently on ebay I have 2 listings. I had painted a monochromatic harvest scene and I painted a blue crayon yesterday to list. You can view my current auctions here:

Current Ebay Auctions

September 4, 2009 - Day 25

Da Vinci watercolor on 140lb Bockingford cold press watercolor paper

Today was a very productive day indeed! The sun was shining brightly and I love the look of bright sunlight on objects :) I took 150 reference photographs of peppers, oranges, bananas and cucumbers so expect to see some fruit and vegetable paintings in the near future. I will probably paint a red pepper tomorrow to keep it within the red theme for a little while longer.

I decided to do a painting of a crayon just because it is back to school time and I have been buying school supplies for my son this week. I thought that it would be fun to paint and fun to look at. I enjoyed creating this painting so much that I think I might do a series of crayons to list on ebay. I wonder if something like this would sell?

Speaking of selling on ebay - I have a painting listed for the ACEO ebay group September theme week which is "Harvest Festival". Entry requirements for the theme week are that all artwork must be 3 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches; have a starting price of $4.99 and listing length of 7 days. To search for all the paintings put "ACEO TW" in the search box and it will bring up all the paintings entered in this month's theme week.

There are only 3 days 18 hours left on my listing and I don't have any bids yet. It would be nice if it sold but maybe if it doesn't I can still win in the "People's Choice" category. There is no money to be won but it would be nice to receive the recognition from other ACEO artists.


Harvest Festival Theme Week ACEO on Ebay

September 3, 2009 - Day 24

Da Vinci watercolor on Bockingford 140lb cold press watercolor paper

Things did not flow well for today's painting. One of those days where I just woke up tired and really wasn't motivated to paint. I had to paint this morning though because I will be going to work after lunch and won't be back until 9 pm. I know I won't have the motivation to paint then.

I hate having to steal a couple hours of time to paint each day. Today I am so frustrated at my lack of sales and having to work full-time when I would rather be creating. Right now I would be happy if I could consistently make enough money from my art to be able to go part-time at work. I am in a catch-22 situation though. In order to have more time to paint I need to sell more paintings but I don't have the time to create them.

This frustration leads to second guessing my subjects, medium and size of paintings. Maybe if I painted a certain subject or if I painted large paintings I would make enough money to quit my job. The fact is though that I love painting these small paintings and I love having the freedom to choose whatever I want to paint for that day.

I don't want to limit myself in my art but I feel that if I continue creating the way I am that I am going to be stuck on this hamster wheel for the rest of my life.

September 2, 2009 - Day 23

Da Vinci watercolor and Prismacolor colored pencils on

140lb Bockingford cold press watercolor paper

In yesterday's blog entry I stated that I was going to complete a series of paintings around the color red. Yesterday I a painted red shoes and as I was watching TV last night I got the idea for this painting.

I remember being totally blown away while watching the movie "300". The Spartan warriors had these brilliant red capes and bronze armour. The color combination was amazing, especially against a dark background.

Last night was another show that featured Spartan warriors and while watching it this image came to mind. I knew then what my painting for today would be.

September 1, 2009 - Day 22

Da Vinci watercolor on 140lb Bockingford cold press paper

Enough monochromatic paintings for now. I crave brightness and color so I decided to do something red and chose these shoes as the subject. I think I am going to start a series of paintings using the color red as the main theme.

I have listed the first monochromatic painting of a swather mowing wheat on ebay for the eBay group ACEO ~ Art Cards Editions and Originals for the September theme week which is "Harvest Festival". The link to my auction is: http://bit.ly/110WPI

The ACEO theme week it is a monthly popularity contest where a theme is chosen. The artwork must be 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches and it must be listed to sell on ebay on the 1st of the month. The art cards are listed for 7 days at a starting price of $4.99. The person with the most unique bidders wins a .jpeg award. There is also "People's Choice" where the members of the group vote on their favorite ACEO

August 31, 2009 - Day 21

Da Vinci watercolor in Burnt Sienna (#205) on

140 lb Bockingford cold press watercolor paper

I first painted this subject on August 28, 2009 for the ACEO ebay group's September theme week which starts tomorrow September 1, 2009. I will list the link to my ebay auction tomorrow morning.

I liked the painting so much though that I decided to re-paint it for my blog. This painting was completed from a reference image of a swather mowing wheat in the 1940's or 1950's. I think rendering it in burnt sienna really captures the feel of that era.

August 30, 2009 - Day 20

Da Vinci watercolor in Burnt Sienna (#205) on

140 lb Bockingford cold press watercolor paper

I was so afraid to start anything today. All the fears and doubts came out to play. I could have given in and just painted something that had no meaning. I could have done another "Rainbow Reflection" or done some cop out of a painting but I want to paint things that have meaning to me. I want to take pride in my paintings. I can't do that if I give up on myself and my creativity.

I decided to just pick something - ANYTHING - and paint it. I wanted to stay with the monochromatic in burnt sienna because I like the feel of the paintings. They also help train my eyes to see the different values.

Definition: Value: relative lightness or darkness of a color. Relation of one part in a picture to another with respect to lightness and darkness.

Values are everything in a painting. If the values are off the painting is off. If the values are right you can paint in any color you like and the painting will have visual impact.

I am finding that picking a subject and then actually starting the painting is really hard some days. I think that I will have to find an on-line subject generator at one of the art sites and just randomly pick something and then go with that. The other option would be to pick a subject and then complete a series of paintings on that subject. For example: create 5 paintings of boats.

I don't know what I am going to do but I would like to come up with a solution that will help me overcome this particular block whenever it occurs. That way I wouldn't waste so much time trying to decide what to paint.