Summer Vibes 2024
It seems like I was just finishing up my last summer vibes project, but BAM it is June already. This June feels a lot different than last June. I’m coming off of a mild case of burnout between work, my Immersion course load, and life generally, so I’m feeling a bit hesitant to put too many expectations on the summer months ahead. But my brain and body function better when I have a project or a goal, so I am excited to announce the start of my second annual Summer Vibes project. Last year the project was overall an experiment. I wanted a way to continue my painting consistency during my busy season. I assembled a collection of reference photos from my personal archive and solicited photos from my community. I also set aside time to paint almost every day. As a result, I completed fifteen paintings from June through September, some of which are my favorite paintings I have ever done. I documented the process by publishing a series of blog posts.
This year, my goals are similar. I want to focus on completing a lot of paintings, but I’m not interested in putting very much pressure on myself. I’ve missed my consistent painting practice over the last few months due to Immersion and I am craving time to paint without too many constraints. I’m craving to get back into painting landscapes and especially to paint those calm and quiet moments that remind me of summer: the view of a campsite as the sun is setting or sitting next to a lake while you have your snack on a hike. I often take these types of photos during the summer, but they are not necessarily the pictures that I get printed or that I share on social media. There is something about them though that I love but cannot quite explain why, but the words that come to mind are peace, ease, quiet.
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For this year’s project, I again plan to use reference photos as my guide. I went through my photo archive looking for images that match the introspective mood I am in. The photos from my personal collection are from hikes around Colorado and travel destinations like Spearfish, South Dakota and Glacier National Park in Montana. I’m excited to get into the mountains this year and add new photos to my reference collection, but in June the mountains are still very much locked in snow in many places. Some of my references are from my parents. They recently returned from a trip to the UK exploring southern Scotland and northern England. I have loved seeing their photographs of luscious green farmland and I have been pulling photographs aside that resonate. I also have been saving photos that have been sent to me by friends, things that are indications of these quiet moments in their own lives: walks in their local parks to see the morning birds, chickens giving you attitude in the backyard, or the way early morning light hits the seedhead on a dandelion.
So far I have about fifteen reference photos to get me started, which might even be enough to get me through the full summer depending on how leisurely I take my painting process. Another parameter I am putting on this project is painting more or less everything at the same size: a roughly four by six inch painting on a five by seven inch piece of paper. I chose this standard size so that I could frame them more easily if desired and because I naturally finish them faster. My summer project is supposed to be a fun and easy project, and there is nothing better than starting and finishing a painting in one session, even if it still takes a few hours. I’m not against painting larger this summer, but this is a limiting parameter that feels good as I get started.
Another idea I am toying with is painting a subject matter more than once. Last year, my goal was just keep going, move onto the next painting, keep making work. This was coming from a desire to try new subjects and keep exploring techniques. This year, I’m considering creating multiple paintings from the same reference to see how I might naturally improve upon the painting each time. Will I change how I mix or apply colors? Will I try to accomplish a texture in a different way? What would a painting look like if I spread it across two pieces of paper instead of one. I’m even more curious to see what doesn’t change between paintings. Will I continue to gravitate towards the same brush strokes or the way I build the composition? I think completing a painting multiple times will also give me a sense of what key elements of my artistic style are.
This project still feels new, so I’m excited to see what directions I take once I really get into painting. I still plan to blog throughout the summer sharing what I think of the different pieces or where their inspiration comes from. What are you interested in seeing me create this year? What are your favorite quiet moments that your cherish in the summer moments?
Here are a few of my favorite pieces from last year’s project. I’m excited to see what I come up with this year. If you want to follow along with all the updates, make sure you are on my newsletter list.
If you are curious about last year’s project, you can find all of the posts here.