The upside down challenge

Another Challenge from Daily PaintWorks:

The Upside Down Challenge

At first when looking at the picture and the thought of painting upside down, I almost past it up then after a little thought I realized I had to at least try.

I must admit I really enjoyed the experience, although it took me a while for my brain to stop saying It's Upside Down.

I settled down to the task and concentrated. I took my time and things came together quite well. To my surprise it turned out even better when I turned it the right way! 
I didn't cheat.

I am hoping it will improve my painting technique along the way, I look forward to the  weekly Challenges and it gives me the opportunity to become a better painter and enjoy this experience.

Babs

(incidentally the picture above is not upside down!)

Spring in Northern Ontario

Spring in Northern Ontario 11x14 Oil on panel

This was painted from a photograph taken by a friend of ours who spends a lot of time in the Timmins area.
I was attracted to the warm evening sun contrasting to the cold blue ice on the creek, and the trees almost fidgeting to get back to growing and producing.

I tried to paint it as though I was sitting there and had to get 'er done as fast as possible. Almost succeeded but still needed a few touch ups the next day.

Trouble is touch ups quite often subdue the spontaneity, but lessons were learned:

• I like painting fast and loose.
• I want to paint plein air
• Wonder if acrylics would have been easier.

John

Recent Paintings

The Outside Your Window Challenge:


The challenge here was to do a painting of the view from a window.
Babs' View:

"From the bedroom Window" 6x6 oil on board

This is from our bedroom window, I like the colours of Spring, the Lilac and other blossoms, the fresh green grass and the occasional dandelion.
The houses on our street are all of a different style and I think that adds to the charm.


john's View:

"Across the road in the Morning Light" oil on board 6x6

I tried to capture the morning light shining on a neigbour's house, unlike many of the contributors to the challenge I had to have the window as well. The car was a "should I or should I not" but reality won.
The lace curtains were a challenge for me and someone asked if it was a stain glass window!
But we got 'er done. (As they say round here).


Jo's View
Jo is wandering through France at the present and is having difficulty connecting to a Wi-fi

We Wannabe Artists

Pictures on the wall

My sister Jo had bought two of Carol Marine’s orange paintings last Fall and took them back to the UK with her. That started our adventure into furthering our interest.
Three painters and three different styles and we have gained more experience and interest in the last few months since finding Carol and David Marines blog. We find they have developed a really interesting approach, and so encouraging: the Weekly Challenge Paintings.

We have found many tips along the way, and the other Artist that participate have given us the courage to continue, we each have our favorite artists we like to follow, of course Carol being first on the list I could kill to achieve her use of brush strokes and colour, making it look so easy.

The three of us want to thank Carol for her sense of humor and inspiration though her deft brush strokes and David for all his background work.

Jo's Color of White Challenge
Was sold to raise money for charity in USA

It has given us a wonderful opportunity to have a lot of pleasure and really take notice that creativity is LIFE and helps the soul have a moment to enjoy, get frustrated, give up and pick up the brush the next day as Carol has something different every day! and off we go again with another challenge.
Even though Jo my sister lives in London we have been able to share our blog and keep in touch on a daily basis, which is fun.

Babs' Vegetable Challenge

We find all sorts of neat things on blogs, the latest is mongoose brushes made in Yorkshire U K. all of us started with basic materials from paint, canvas, board you name it, so it is quite the learning curve and fun sussing out information between Canada US and U.K. for the better equipment and techniques to use. All in all Carol and David have given us a lovely gift and don't even know it!

CHEERS you guys.

John's "Whole Cat..." Challenge

See more here: Daily paintworks
Babs

The Cat & Kaboodle Challenge

This was posted on The DPW painting Challenge on May 14th, and here is what we did in chronological order:

Babs

Cat by Babs

Looking back at the cat challenge I found painting with oils does make it difficult to bring out the cats whiskers, I must find out a way to work that one out, also found I painted  the cat a bit too small. It was Fun to work with all the different colours of fur and getting the expression in the eyes.
It needed a bit more thought than I thought!
Babs

Jo

Cat by Jo

I don't have a cat of my own, so used the photo provided. I started with the general outline and made sure the angles were right. Needing a point to focus around, the eyes and nose were lightly indicated then I could leave the cat while I concentrated on the chair. Got out my new best friend - a mongoose filbert - and really enjoyed laying in the colour! Once dry back with a size 000 to heighten the individual strands of fur and whiskers and put the glint in her eyes. Then a tiny hint of vermillion for the ear, nose and mouth.  Have to admit that getting the facial markings made me go cross-eyed but once the eyes start looking back you have to finish!

Jo

John

Cat by John

When I look at the final result of this cat painting it reminds me of the self portrait I did a few weeks ago, mouth partly open, eyes bulging, generally an expression of frustration, and that is what these challenges are , they push us into areas we don’t normally explore.

On this one I learned how to crawl in a sea of muddy paint and make some sense of it somehow.
The final painting looks better than the photo here- honestly!

John

All three paintings are 6x6 inches

The Vegetable Challenge

The Vegetable Challenge was organised by Daily Paintworks.
Carol Marine asked that we:  “Pick a vegetable and paint it from life. Direct painting. Take a break from those photos for now”

So here is what we accomplished:

Babs Comments
I enjoyed the veg challenge, but, found the highlights on the pepper difficult to make them look right. I also find I get stumped re background and grounding with shadow. I think I don't take time enough to see a lot of the details. Will  try and slow down and take the time and be more careful.

B.

Jo’s Comments
I like celery, so when the Vegetable Challenge came up I thought it a worthy subject to paint and, as is the intention, a lot was learned about this versatile veg which hadn't been noticed before! The solid bits, the leafy bits, the unique texture, was enough to get on with.
Backgrounds are my weak point so to make things more colourful I placed it on a dishcloth with a salt cellar to add a bit of interest
... and a lot more was learned - mainly not to get so ambitious!!
Jo

John’s Comments
It is a long time since I painted from life and I realise now that it’s easier to paint from a  flat photograph but not as much fun and satisfying as painting from the multi dimensions of life.
Now some might say that two rotting  potatoes and almost mouldy carrots, are hardly inspiring but they are life and as I looked at these humble roots I enjoyed them,
Didn’t eat them afterwards though .
The difficulty was moving my head all the time and seeing it from many angles and in the end result I can see the cutting board was painted from a different angle that the veges, but to heck it’s a bit of fun and made me smile

From all of us thanks to Carol & David Marine for these challenges that are getting us there!

Boy In a Puddle

"Boy in a Puddle" by Babs

We had a photo from a friend with this little boy at a motor show in Texas, I really fell in love with him. So busy it seemed washing a leaf that must have been in the puddle. He looks totally consumed and serious with his work. I guess he was bored with the Show and found this more interesting.

I painted him a little while ago and for some reason the Art Fairy visited and the concentration and interest took over very quickly.

I used oils and soft brushes. I have difficulty going into darker colours for faces, still a learning curve. It's making a habit of really taking notice of the subject's face and see how many colours can be picked up by reflections. I think that is my weakest point right now.
Babs

John’s comments:
The photograph captures a special moment, and the painting seizes that and enhances it by the fluidity of the paint strokes and deepening of the colour.
A wonderful 11x14 which looks lovely on our kitchen wall.

Jo’s Comments:
I remember my sister agonising over this painting, but a she need not have worried so!
The result is a solid composition, well proportioned little boy, concentrating on the
task in hand!
The warm yellow of his shirt contrasts well with the cool colours of the puddle and background. The clothing depicted shows a clear understanding of creases and contours of material over and around limbs and torso. His feet are planted firmly in the shallow  puddle, as indicated by the use of dark reflections in a realistic pool of water.
A painting to be proud of.

Thanks to Mike bond for providing the original Photo