Day 25 - 30/30 Challenge - Workshop w/Robert Kogge part 2

Here's what I did with my day. 

I started the larger version of Monhegan Keeper's Quarters late on Saturday and worked on it all day today – building the color and getting the structure right. Only at the end of the day did I start applying the ink washes.

I really love how you can simultaneously work on the smallest of details with the colored pencil and yet retain the soft focus created by the texture of the canvas. 

There's a lot more work to do on it! 

I'm looking forward to finishing it and entering it in The Art Guild’s next exhibit - 

Home on the Range – Landscapes we love.

This technique, colored pencil and ink on canvas, was developed by Robert Kogge, an artist from New Jersey. I first took his class at the Art Student League a few years ago. If you can't get to New York to take the class, you find it online at Craftsy.

Day 24 - Jan 2015 Challenge - Workshop Weekend

Lighthouse Keeper’s Quarters, Monhegan

Sketch, colored pencil on canvas.

I haven't forgotten about the challenge and I feel genuinely guilty for missing the last two weeks. I did a couple of things but didn't post - I've been that busy - BUT I'm going to a workshop this weekend at The Art Guild. 
It's called Colored Pencil and Ink on Canvas with Robert Kogge. I took the workshop several years ago at the Art Students League, but I'm taking it again to sort of refresh my memory.
This is the working sketch I did. Because there is a bit of prep and explaining about the process Robert has his students work on a small piece to get the feel for the canvas and the ink washes. (I'll explain more tomorrow.)

Day 6, 7 and 8 - 30/30 Challenge - The Faster I Go, The Behinder I Get!

Day 6 - Summer Pond

6"x6", watercolor, $35

Day 7 - Casita Rosa, Autumn

6"x6", watercolor

Day 8 - The View from Cadillac Mountain

6"x6", watercolor, $35

I got behind. Work and life catches up with you and in my case, I gotta pay the bills.
I did paint the Summer Pond on the 6th, but didn't quite finish it and certainly didn't have time to post it. After a couple of days off (from this) I squeezed in a little time to paint two more. So I'm caught up through the 8th. I have to paint a couple more today! LOL

The Summer Pond is from a hike I took in the summer with my cousin and her husband in Rhode Island.
The Casita is the little cabin in the woods on my aunt and uncle's property. There used to be several cabins, but this is the surviving one expanded over time with pieces of the others. It's a rustic sort of bunkhouse, but there's air-conditioning and a kitchen and a shower, so it's not too rough. We  have a lot of fun there.
The View from Cadillac Mountain is from this past October. The cool purples and blues of the water and land with the intense color of the blueberry bushes and birch trees was spectacular!

Stay tuned as I catch up!

Day 5 - 30/30 Challenge - Dune Walk, Sunken Meadow

Dune Walk, Sunken Meadow

watercolor, 6"x6", $35

A Labor Day weekend walk at Sunken Meadow State Park on a increasingly overcast day. The dunes, the tidal creek, the Sound. It seemed as though there was a painting around every corner – every curve in the path.

This is Day 5 of the Leslie Saeta 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. This is the fifth time she has issued the challenge and there are more than 1000 artists participating this time. It's not a contest but an exercise.
My discovery the first time through was that it's about the doing. It's about getting your idea painted or drawn. It doesn't HAVE to be perfect and you don't need to spend hours. It IS an important way to grow as an artist. It's about problem solving and it's a commitment - like going to work is a commitment. 

Please follow me here on my blog and see what others are doing on Leslie's site. Feel free to share with your friends and check out my Etsy site and Facebook page as well (links to the right).

Day 4 - 30/30 Challenge - Favorite Sandwich

Favorite Sandwich

watercolor, 6"x6", $35

There is no doubt that a basic, homemade, softy soft, white (or potato) bread with lots of mayo (Hellman's only), salt and pepper, nice, juicy, thick sliced tomatoes, Tomato Sandwich is what I pine for every summer. Grocery store tomatoes are NOT an option. You simply cannot have one of these delightful mouthfuls of summer in December or January. Bleah!

Anyone see a theme developing for (at least) part of this Challenge?

Day 3 - 30/30 Challenge - Sea Cliff Beach Sunset

Summer Sunset, Sea Cliff Beach

watercolor, 6"x6", $35

One summer evening in July some friends and I grabbed a bottle of wine, some cheese and fruit and enjoyed each other's company with some laughs and a wonderful sunset.  

I think a lot about why we insist on painting sunsets. It is nearly impossible to capture on paper or canvas the spectrum of color, luminescence and majesty. The light and shadow, reflections and subtleties change constantly. It's even difficult to accurately capture one in a photograph – for one thing, the scale is always wrong.

Still, we keep trying. But while we're trying, enjoy the magnificence with some friends whenever you can.

Day 2 - 30/30 Challenge - Nathan's Famous

Nathan's Famous

watercolor & colored pencil, 6"x6"

Every year on the weekend nearest the first day of summer, there's a crazy parade on Coney Island called the Mermaid Parade. It's like Halloween, and New Year's and Mardi Gras and Thanksgiving all rolled into one. Thousands of people dress in costume and thousands more go to watch! It's funny, witty, risqué, inventive and whimsical. I highly recommend it!
There are certain traditional things I must do when I get there. The first is to go to the ORIGINAL Nathan's and have a hotdog and a Brooklyn Beer. YUM! This is the sign of the Nathan's on Surf Ave.

Day 1 - 30/30 Challenge - Summer Day, Oyster Bay

Summer Day, Oyster Bay

Watercolor, 6"x6" $35

SOLD!

I'm a little late posting, but here's Day1 of the Leslie Saeta 30/30 Challenge. More than 1000 artists are participating this time. 

The clouds were so pretty that day - there was even a bit of pink in the sky. Warm/cool, warm/cool.

I did a similar pastel of this plein air back in July.

Here's the plein air:

More tomorrow - or should I say later today!