Saturday, February 02, 2013

Summary of 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

31 Oil Paintings in 30 Days, © 2013, Nancy Van Blaricom

  • I like the variety of subjects I chose to paint.  Mostly outdoor scenes excepting the tube of paint, my ceramic bird  and a cement crab. I'm pleased with this because I want to focus mainly on land and seascapes.
  • I was pleased that when I painted water that it mostly looked like water and that isn't always easy to do ... especially when working faster than I like to work.
  • I painted more in one month than I have in some years.
  • I posted on my blog more in one month than I do usually in 6 months.
  • I did not like trying to finish one painting a day.  I'm not good at it.  I would prefer to start one painting and give it the attention I think it needs.... Which may be two days or one month.
  • I have always admired the daily painters.  They make it look so easy.  I love painting but I felt there was too much pressure to produce a painting a day.
  • If I were just painting without this challenge I probably wouldn't have posted 1/2 or more of these. Not that they are absolutely horrible, but, that I know I can do better with more planning and time.
  • When I had finished the 30 days and looked back I was surprised that I painted the number of animals I did.  Two cows, a peacock, a rooster, a crab a bear and a ceramic bird ... and mussels, which I'm not sure what category they fall under.  Definitely not a landscape!
  • If I were to do this over again I would go into it better prepared.  I'd have all my supports chosen and toned - supports for you non artists is the canvas, paper, board etc that you choose to put paint on. Usually I chose just before I started painting.
  • Also, I would pre-choose my subjects.  At the most I was one or two days ahead in thinking what I would paint next.
  • I think I've learned how to handle my brushes better and what brushes I enjoy using in most cases.
  • There are a couple of paintings I did that I will continue to work on and possibly come up with a finished painting I'm happy with.   And, there are a few that truly are studies for larger paintings.
  • And I have found some great new artist friends who's work I really admire.

Thanks to all of you who followed along on my 30 day painting journey. I loved hearing from you and appreciate that you took the time to email me or post comments.

6 comments:

  1. You did a great job and I love seeing them all together! I agree with your evaluations of the month especially the one about posting things I would not have otherwise posted...sometimes I need to digest what I have done and then go back. I like daily painting but will not pressure myself to do daily posting. Having said that I hope Leslie has the challenge again next year!!!

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  2. It's great to see the results of your efforts and commitment. It is so easy to not paint and skip a beat. Thanks for showing such dedication.

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  3. Excellent work - and you learned a lot, it seems. I admire those who can paint that much and you stuck with it! Good job.

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  4. Thank you Maria. When you see all your work together like this you get a better perspective on your work, don't you? Nice to be without the pressure for now.

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  5. Julienne, thats so much for following along. I wasn't sure there for awhile if I could finish ... it took a lot of time when there were other things I could easily have gotten sidetracked with.

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  6. Thanks so much Deb. Glad its behind me and now moving on to less than daily posting of a finished work.

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