120 Paintings

Yellow Daffodil

This is it! After enjoying the blogs of several Daily Painters, I finally decided to take the plunge. Health permitting, I'll be posting a new small format painting in any of several mediums or subjects.

I've also taken some classes with Larry Seiler. He recommends doing 120 small paintings in a series to improve your painting skills. So instead of just doing daily drawing, which I've done successfully more than once - this cranks up the heat. Now they have to be paintings, though not always in wet mediums. I love doing pastel painting and I'm pretty sure at least half of these will be in pastels.

As I create these small format paintings, I'll also be listing them on Etsy. Click the link to see the price and listing details.

Yellow Daffodil was inspired by a photo in the April 2012 "Pastel Spotlight" challenge posted by Don Ketchum, who gave permission to paint of course since he's hosting the challenge. I was intrigued by the strong red in the background and the way it flowed into the blurred green foliage.

Pan Pastels formed the base of my painting. I used only the 20 Painters colors since I rearranged my full range 80 color set of Pan Pastels in their four trays. I used to have them organized by color across all four trays with each value of a color in a row. The new arrangement goes back to the way I got them in 20 color sets.

There's a reason for that arrangement. I've started doing value mass planning on my paintings and if I keep all the Tints in one tray, I can start with the light value area using just the Tints. Then shift to the middle values and use the pure tone Painters set, finally create dark areas either by mixing or by using Shades and Deep Dark Shades.

That new arrangement turned out to be a great success for painting in a small area. I don't have a large table any more where I can spread out all the trays in a row. The stack of them fits neatly on the seat of my rollator. It's a mobility aid like a walker with wheels and brakes that doubles as a side table for supplies if I'm home sitting in my armchair. I just move the supplies into the armchair if I'm going out.

If you haven't read my other Blogger blogs, I'm a 57 year old disabled artist and writer with mobility limits caused by a skeletal distortion from birth, along with arthritis and fibromyalgia that came along later. i live on Social Security and work towards becoming self employed again. Until I make enough to cover both my living expenses and medical care, every dime from art sold goes back into the business in supplies, website fees and other business expenses.

I live in San Francisco, which became my home of the heart in 1978 when I first moved here. I was foolish enough to leave for "a better job" in Chicago in 1980 and regretted it ever since until August 2012 when I came home. San Francisco is diverse, colorful, progressive, arts-oriented and most of all beautiful. I can't look out the window or go anywhere in my city without seeing paintable views and beautiful people.

Also the climate is better for my health than anywhere else I've ever lived. Here, I have more good days, weeks and months when I can do things than I ever did anywhere else in the country. The mild gentle climate mitigated by the Pacific Ocean currents and winds keeps it from getting too hot or too cold. It rains sometimes but there's no snow, just rain and sometimes the beautiful fogs that give everything in the city an eerie, distant beauty.

Flowers everywhere. I don't have any hair to put flowers in since I just shaved my head, but painting a flower seems like the San Franciscan way to start my Daily Paintings! Please follow to see what I think of tomorrow, whether it's wilderness, cityscape, wildlife or of course my beloved, beautiful cat Ari. He turns 12 this month on the 22nd, catnip toys are appreciated. He always knows what packages are his and opens them himself with much vigor!