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.