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Farm Road: End of Year Four
This year I posted fewer paintings than any of my previous years. There are a few reasons for this. First, I painted less. I spent a good bit of effort this year on practicing drawing. I tried learning more about perspective in particular, because I want to be able to depict the things I’m trying […]
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Appalachia #1
Firstly: it’s pronounced ”apple-LATCH-uh” not “apple-LAY-shuh.” I didn’t know this until I moved to Wheeling, West Virginia. Appalachia is named after the Native American tribe that Spanish explorers met in the mountains north of Florida in the 1600s (if I remember correctly.) For that reason, I think pronouncing it correctly is important. The US was […]
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Proko Challenge: Landscape #5
I wanted to write up each Landscape thumbnail that I painted, but I ended up needing to dedicate the time to the challenge itself in order to finish on time. I am very pleased with the results that I got from doing this, and I think I’ll be working thumbnails like this into my workflow […]
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Proko Challenge: Landscape Thumbnails #2
This is the second post about the Proko Landscape Thumbnails challenge. The challenge was to submit five landscape paintings, each 2 inches wide by 2 inches tall. I started this painting off wanting to paint trees in the distance using wet-in-wet. I tend to do this often, but in my mind, there is this technique […]
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Edge of the Woods: #4
Two days ago, I wanted to Practice painting clouds. I painted this: I liked it in general, but felt like the bottoms of the clouds got over worked. So I tried again. I like this one more than the first, and decided to try to paint clouds again, with a more definite focus on the […]
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Monarch Butterfly: #1
Well, I am often too hard on myself when it comes to my paintings, but today, I finished a painting that I am happy with. Actually, I am very happy with this painting. I’ll go so far as to say I’m proud of this painting. One of the things that I think makes this painting […]
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Tufted Titmouse: #1
My friends Tyler and Shanti want a tufted Titmouse painting, so I went for it today. I didn’t bother taking any progress photos because I wanted to focus on the painting itself. I find that when I’m painting I get all worked up thinking about what am I going to write about on my blog […]
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Ray Hendershot Exercise: Lighthouse #1
I have been absolutely stuck for the past few weeks. Every time I sit down to paint, nothing comes to mind. Nothing inspires me, I have no intention. But, just as an act of discipline, I paint anyway. The results are nothing to write about. It’s all very ugly, muddy, cliche… just nothing that I’m […]
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Buttermilk Falls: #2
I bought the game Parks the other day, and was inspired by the artwork in the game. The cards contain images styled after the WPA posters for the National Parks that were created in the 1930’s. I was enamored by the designs and imagery, so I decided to try making something that fit into that […]
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Buttermilk Falls: #1
When I think about the past, everything is either polluted with a frenetic purple anxiety, or it’s a soft marigold mist of peaceful contentment. There doesn’t seem to be any in-between. I don’t know if this is peculiar to me, or if everyone has such a bipolar memory, but for me it seems all the […]
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Great Tree Off Cantongawa: #1
I am trying more and more now to find my voice. I look online and see paintings that I admire, and I find myself trying to paint like them. But, I don’t find much success with Joseph Zbukvic’s silvery greys. I am never restrained enough to implement Alvaro Castagnet’s flare of colors. I can’t get […]
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Depression: #1
I deal with chronic depression and anxiety. It’s a bitch. Recently, I decided I wanted to paint what I think it feels like. This is really hard to do, because depression feels different to me all the time. Sometimes, it feels like a wet slug on the back of my neck. Sometimes it feels like […]
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Market Heights: #1
Hey guys! I’m proud of a painting! I have been feeling pretty down about my paintings lately, because I’m not able to produce the paintings that I have in my mind. But… I keep moving. And tonight, the blind squirrel found a nut. Before I get into that, I guess I should show you the […]
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Spiker Park Bridge: #1 & 2
I drive through a park on my way to drop off Norah at swim practice, and I pass the same park when I take Winne to dance class. After we cross a small bridge, I like to go straight where Rachel turns right. Every time I do, the girls tell me not to, because they […]
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Ray Hendershot Exercise, Fieldstone Building: #1
Yet another successful painting from Ray Hendershot’s “Texture Techniques for Winning Watercolors.” I was getting really down on myself recently because the paintings I was making were all turning out muddy and gross. This exercise helped me learn patience. The more I paint through this book, the more I learn about how to rely on […]
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Ray Hendershot Exercise, Clapboard Siding: #1
This weekend I decided I would take my own advice, and paint from the book. I decided to paint from one of the books that I have because trying to learn from my own failures has been pretty discouraging. I’m only about a quarter of the way through Ray Hendershot’s “Texture Techniques for Winning Watercolors” […]
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Poplars at An Imagined Stream: #1
I have long been inspired by seeing Van Gogh’s “The Poplars at Saint-Rémy.” When you see photos of this painting, it looks almost drab, and lifeless. I don’t know if the Cleveland Museum of Art recently had it restored, or if the photos just simply can’t do it justice, but the painting in real life […]
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Nimisila C-6: #22
I know, I know… be done with it already. The thing is… I went to the store today looking for a frame for painting 21. It turns out, they are having a big sale on custom framing. So I decided I would get a custom frame made for it. But the problem is, I don’t […]
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Wave Crash
Ok … GUYS! I’m proud of this one. That means if you don’t like it, shut up. Because I’m fragile. Call me a snow flake, a wuss, whatever. I don’t care. I just know that I like this painting, and I almost never actually like my work. If you tell me why it sucks, I […]
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Collette’s Happy Place
My mom has a friend in Arizona who wanted a painting of a photograph that her daughter took of a place where she likes to camp. It was a challenging photo, but I’m pleased with the final results. The photo is beautiful, and a really interesting composition. This is very different from what I normally […]
