Summer Vibes August Update
Where July felt like a rollercoaster of life, August has been blessedly calm by comparison. I’ve managed to get more hiking and cycling done in the calm that comes when summer camp ends and the school year is just starting. It has been nice to refocus on my painting and some needed R&R. If you missed the last updates, you can catch up on my Summer Vibes Project in these blog posts:
Here is a recap of my latest projects from the studio.
Aunt Linda's Florida Home | 9 x 12 inches
Working on projects for family and friends is stressful! But friends and family are often are earliest supporters of new endeavors and I’m not sure where I would be without their encouragement. I have to say that I was so thrilled to get a few photos from my Aunt Linda to help with my summer vibes project. If you checked out my July update, the succulent in the elephant planter was hers as well! This house portrait was one of my most ambitious to date.
Back Road Outside Homer, Alaska | 3 x 4.5 inches
One of the exciting things about painting from reference photos is that you have a clear starting point, but you can take artistic license to improve upon the subject. In the case of this mini, I wanted the colors to be much brighter than the original reference photo. I worked wet on wet to create the sky in a way where it highlighted where the road disappeared up the hill and I used some opaque paint to add some flowers in the foreground.
Beach Outside Homer, Alaska | 3 x 4.5 inches
For this painting, I wanted the mountains and the beach to be points of interest. I tried something a little different with the beach and sand by using a splatter technique. For this, I first covered the parts of the painting that I wanted to protect. Then I mixed a number of different browns, grays, and blacks. To achieve the splatters, you make sure there is a lot of paint on your brush and then you tap it against your hand or fingers towards your paper. How big the splatter is depends on how much liquid is on your brush. I think it added something a little different to this landscape.
Beach Colors, Westerly, Rhode Island | 3 x 4.5 inches
The sky was my biggest challenge for this mini. Skies are such a struggle for me and something that I have not practiced enough to actually feel like I am getting better. I worked wet on wet here to try to create the effect of the light shining through the clouds. My favorite part of this mini is the bottom left corner where the beach grasses have tones of pink and purple.
Lone Eagle Peak | 5 x 5 inches
I have been very focused on painting this summer, but I forget how much I love working with just pencil and pen sometimes. When I do not feel like I have a lot of time, one of my fallback activities is drawing with my micron pens. I do not need a lot of supplies and if the composition is small I can feel accomplished in as little as an hour. This drawing is based on a photo I took on a recent hike to Crater Lake outside of Granby, Colorado. I also experimented with a square paper size, which I really like.
Do you have a favorite?