Oct 6, Six Days, Six Paintings

If I had not committed to the Painting a Day, this would have ended up in the woodstove...overworked, poorly drawn, hard to think of anything good except I followed through and I learned.

I love water, sailing, anything to do with the coast. These scenes inspire me to paint, but they never come out well....so I guess I need to get to work and loosen up. On my big easel is a painting I am working on of the pier at Old Orchard Beach, I am struggling with the water, but at least with oils you can scrap it off; watercolor is not so forgiving.

Oct 5, Five Days, Five Paintings

Back to watercolor and my comfort zone, at least for today.

I took the reference photo for this in 1991 at the Farmington Fair, since it is Fair Season in Maine it seemed appropriate.

Oct 4, Four Days, Four Paintings

This is one of the few scenes I have ever done more than once, so I decided to try it in gouache. There is more that I could do, but ran out of time.

Oct 3, Three Days, Three Paintings

My first try at gouache....and I loved it. Lots to learn, it handles very differently from any other medium I have used. One brush, a little water and a very basic palette of color.

My "daily painting" today.
It got a little messy and I just had to stop, learning to paint with a knife is not as easy as it sounds, but this is supposed to be a learning experience.

Rainy weekends are good for painting, changing the water in the hot tub and eating cookies!

My first day. Painted with three colors, no brushes, mediums or thinners. Cleanup is a breeze, but I can see my self going broke very quickly.

I did not expect this, but I am very content with my first one. I am going to try to stick to a very limited palette for a while.

Starting Oct 1 I will be doing a painting a day.....it may be small, it might really be a drawing with a little paint splashed on for fun, but it will force me to paint and I am sure my skills will be sharpened.

I did this little sketch yesterday from a found object. When I was getting out of my kayak the other day, I spotted this lure tangled in some rope and plants on the shore. I have fond memories of stepping on these as a child, so I spent several minutes getting bit by assorted flies....just to get this out, and perhaps help someone avoid these rusty barbs. Found objects can be fun!