September Challenge Day 27

Favorite Light

Two days painting clouds at a workshop with David Boyd Jr. in Newnan, Georgia has made a huge impact on my desire to paint.  It's like I never saw clouds before!  I am thankful for the time to study, paint, and make new friends.  I can't wait to work on more, especially on larger canvases.  

September Challenge Day 26

Cloud Study

Note to all.  For the purpose of study and wonder, look at how many warm colors - pinks and yellows are in the clouds!

September Challenge. Day 25

Cloud Study

Yes... I'm baaaaack!  The last 4 days have been about creating 2 Halloween/Bewitching tablescapes, one life sized scarecrow, and participating in a Cloud Workshop.  I love the creative process in it all, but it is not always painting!

I'll have to save the tablescape and scarecrow pictures for later, as they are for upcoming events and I don't want to give away my secrets!  I promise I will post them soon.

As for the cloud workshop, I am in heaven!  A fellow artist and I are traveling to Newnan, GA to attend the workshop presented by David Boyd, Jr.  He is a well know plein air painter and someone whose blog I have followed for about 4 years.  He describes himself as a Southern impressionist painter and his work is loose, greyed, and wonderful!  I could never have imagined studying clouds for 2 1/2 days, but the amount of information, guidance, resources, demonstrations, and actual time painting is just about more than my brain can hold!

Our afternoon work today was 4 value studies.  We looked at photographs of clouds on the screen and had about 15 minutes to sketch and apply 3 or 4 values to each picture. Black and white paint only. Then we scraped off the paint!  It left the same image on the canvas, but allowed us to add color over the black and white layer.  We only had time to finish one.  When I isolate it and take away the turquoise tape, this is what I have.  I think it is a sweet little piece.  Too bad it is only about a 4"square!  I can't wait to finish the others!

September Challenge. Day 21

Ain't Gonna Paint No More

11x14 Triptic   Acrylic

I reached back a few months for this one.  This past spring, I had the pleasure of decorating a table for the Furst Founation luncheon. Their purpose is to promote literacy in the community by providing books. That hit close to the heart of a former kindergarten teacher who still has a collection of 1000 children's books. I chose the  book "Ain't Gonna Paint No More" by Karen Beaumont as the theme to decorate the table.  What fun!  The pieces above were made as the placemats for the table, but we're not used.  I loved making them, and even named each one!  I would sell individually or as a set.  By the way, if you have not read the book, it is a must read!

See the pictures below as a testament to our fun at the luncheon.  Oh, dear!  What book am I going to bring to life next year?!

September Challenge Day 20

Ball Jars

A fun study in watercolor, but I have a long way to go.  Always fun to paint a few of my favorite things!

September Challenge Day 19

I was able to use a pattern from a previous skyline picture to sketch out this one.  Can't decide whether to add people near the tree.  Ideas?

September Challenge Day 18

Atlanta Wash

9x12, Watercolor

Playing with my watercolors again today and had fun with the grays!

September Challenge Day 17

French Market III

Oil on Canvas 16 x 20

I had to pull this one out as it is the French Market from the South Side. Although it hung in my house for a while, it is now sold!

September Challenge Day 16

French Market II

Watercolor, 5x7 

This one is on the softer side and I like it very much. In this challenge, I have focused on a series of pictures for several days. This has actually given me 'permission' to Play it again, Sam. ( I realize this is a misquote from the movie, Casablanca, but I could not resist.)  It has helped me as a painter to learn from my mistakes and refine my work.  Always a good plan.

September Challenge Day 15

The French Market I

Watercolor, 5x7

  Just a little ditty, to get back into watercolor for a few days.  I want to loosen up, but it is so hard!

September Challenge Day 14

Fresh From the Market

16x20,oil on Gesso board, still life

I have to admit this was a fun painting.  Not easy, but fun.  I began it while at an elementary school ART Day. Since the subject matter was so complicated, I had divided my reference photo into 4x4 rectangles. I made the same 4x4 reference lines on my gesso board before I began to sketch.  This makes the composition come out correctly!  It was an additional math lesson to go along with my art demonstration.  I only hope that I sparked an interest in someone to become a painter.

For my studio and plein air painting, I now have a Compose-It-Grid I bought from Dick Blick (see http://www.dickblick.com/products/compose-it-grids/). Check it out to see what you think.

At first, one of my daughters thought the carrot roots had become a fancy signature for me.  No, but they were kind of unruly and had to be redone several times.  That's why I love oils!

September Challenge Day 13

Pumpkin Dance

Oil on Gesso Board,10x20,still life

The crisp, cool weather of fall returned today and I am ready to do a little decorating.  A friend walked by this painting in my studio and said," You have got to put this one on your mantel.  It's time for pumpkins!"  Indeed, it looked pretty nice so I will have to take a picture when I get a few other things in place. I am ready for the fall season.

September Challenge Day 12

Corner of the Square

Oil,14x11,landscape

Saturday was our Mason Jar Festival on McDonough Square.  I was joined by 4 other plein air painters for an absolutely beautiful day of painting.  The square looks a little bit different without the traffic, but I hope I captured a little bit of the small town essence that is there.  I do love painting outside with friends! This is something I want to do more and more.  

September Challenge Day 11

  Perfect Lemon Reflection

Still Life, Oil on Gessoboard, 11x14, Price Not for Sale

Please note that my use of the word 'perfect' is not in reference to my painting ability, but the realization that on each mason jar it says PERFECT MASON.  I thought that was pretty special.  As I have collected a few vintage blue mason jars, I had a friend send me some history on them.  As the company changed over time, the logo has changed also. I find these incredibly interesting. The script Ball logo on this one dates the jar somewhere between 1910 and 1923!

I painted this one a few months ago for it to be used for the Mason Jar Festival here in McDonough that is happening tomorrow, September 12 on the square.  It was used for the poster design for the festival and I am very happy with the finished poster.  Come join us on the square tomorrow!  I will be one of the Plein Air Painters there!

September Challenge Day 10

Oil on Gessoboard, 6x6, price $50

Inside the Jar

What an incredible journey with Mason Jars!  I am always looking at photos and other artist's work, and I saw one with circles of the rim colors painted. I tilted the jar to look inside and it seemed like a magical world.  I didn't begin to capture the lines and curves of reflections that I saw, but it was fun, nonetheless.

It is always an interesting challenge to find a spot for my artwork around my house. With this 30 in 30 day challenge, I don't know where I'm going to store 30 more paintings.  (They are for sale at http://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/elaine-ford-5747/artwork) :) But, I did create a little vignette for this little ditty.  Thought you might like to see.  As always, let me know what you think.

September Challenge Day 9

Still Life, Oil on Gessoboard, 12x12, Price $120

Challenges, challenges! Number one is getting the painting done and posted.  I am running a day behind!  The second is photographing your painting.  It is best done outside on a sunny day, but that is not always possible.  Also, the camera, even if I am just using my iPhone, is my worst critic.  I see things in a photograph that I never saw while I was working on the painting.  There are things about this painting I really like, and quite a few things that need a little tweaking.  That will have to happen tomorrow.  Look for more in a Mason Jar series.  I love my Phthalo green!

September Challenge Day 8

Cityscape, Oil on Canvas, 14x11, price $120

Atlanta In Blues

This is my third in the Atlanta series.  It was the most fun to get more and more abstract toward the bottom of the painting which is what I painted last. You can definitely tell that I am right handed as my palette knife strokes tend to lean from right to left as I pull down.  I might need to work on that or rename my painting, 'Leaning In"

September Challenge Day 7

Ponce City Market

In Midtown Atlanta, this is a happening place to be.  Renovations have brought in many new businesses, including the one where my daughter works!  I took this picture from my car and thought the angles were fun, although a bit challenging.  The real colors are a bit more vibrant than in this photograph, but I need to find a way to jazz my painting up some.  Suggestions?

September Challenge Day 6

Fruits of our Labor

Happy Labor Day Weekend!  Some of my painting labor has been in vain this weekend, so I am posting a painting that I did several years ago.  It is a favorite, and hangs in my kitchen.  It seemed like a good time to pull this one out for the September Challenge, when I did not have a new one to post! Wish me luck for a future painting, but it is all part of the learning curve and the challenge.  In the meantime, I plan to labor away at having fun times with my hubby and family!

September Challenge Day 5

Enchanting Atlanta

This is an example of my ADD, obsessions, and the thrill of my artwork.  So, here are some of the connections.  I had 'splatter painted' acrylics before, so I thought it would work with watercolor.  My youngest daughter now works in downtown Atlanta so I scoured the internet for pictures of the Atlanta skyline. Her office group may want to do a group painting class, so I thought the 30/30 challenge would be a great time to work on another series.  Read: Forget roosters! I drew a pattern on paper, cut it out and drew the outline on the watercolor paper I  had created. It was a pain to cut the heavy watercolor paper, but Voilà!  It worked!  

September Challenge Day 4

Hey, Mister!  12x12  Acrylic

Feathers are rather fun with a palette knife!  This is an example of why I like to paint with a palette knife.  The more you 'let go' and try NOT to try so hard, the better the painting is.  My photograph has a bit of reflection on it, but it gave a chance to show some of the strokes of my palette knife.
Well, I feel as if I am finished with my series of roosters.  Tell me what is worth crowing about and which one is your favorite.

September Challenge Day 3

'Sassy'    Acrylic  6x6

This just proves that we work well in our own comfort zone.  For my rooster series, I went back to my palette knife and a tried and true favorite color - Prussian Blue.  He crows! This fella was a lot of fun to work on.  I have one more rooster planned, let me know which one in the series you like best!

You can see my collection of art work at  http://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/elaine-ford-5747/artwork.  Enjoy!

September Challenge Day 2

Same Bird  Different Day

Acrylic on Canvas  11x14

This bird survived to live another day. Literally.  I wanted to paint a series of roosters for this paint challenge, but when I tried to work on him, work on him, work on him yesterday, it was just not happening.  Some days are like that. So after contacting my good friend,Sandy Abouda, (see http://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/sandy-abouda-5043) who suggested I try a yellow background, I set once again to repainting this proud fella.  He worked out well enough for me to post. 

Let me know which rooster in the series is your favorite!

September Challenge Day 1

Hood Street House

This was a plein air painting done under the instruction of Levi Myers at the Hood Street Art Center here in McDonough.  My learning curve was very steep as this was done with brushes instead of my favored palette knife and my canvas was at eye level to try and capture the correct angles and proportions.  

Although my painting is less than perfect, my knowledge of painting en plain air is greater.  I do feel I found the serenity and gentle quietness of this sweet Southern home.

Hood Street House   Oil on board   8'x7"  Available at Elaine Ford Gallery Daily Paintworks

Painting Together

Sunflower Radiance 

The end of summer brings a new season of possibilities. For me, it is a new season of painting ideas, opportunities, classes, and a CHALLENGE! Before I tell you more specifics, I want to tell you about the 'Sips and Strokes' class I had recently.

I was referred by a friend to the event planner at Eagles Landing Country Club.  We set up for 30 people to paint sunflowers.  It was a learning curve for me as I had not done a painting class for so many before.  I painted a few practice pieces and took some pictures along the way.

These became the basis of a handout I created for the class that included my contact information.

Sunflower  Radiance           Elaine  Ford

http://creativeinspirationsbyelaine.blogspot.com

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/elaine-ford

Facebook   Elaine Ford Art

marela54@gmail.com     706-537-1564

I made a pattern of the sunflower on tag board and with the help of my daughter, Katie, sketched the sunflower shape onto thirty 11x14 canvases. Thank you, Katie for all of your help!  I controlled the painting environment by only 'serving' the red and sap green on their paper plate paint pallet to begin.  This forced them to mix their brown with the red and green to paint the background color and center of the sunflower first. Painting leaves and then the petals came next.  I had both a warm and a cool yellow along with some thickening medium to create the texture.  As you can see from the pictures below, good times and successful paintings were created that night!

My next painting class will be at The French Market and Tavern in Locust Grove on Tuesday October 6.  We plan to paint roosters and hope that many will come out for this Corks and Canvas event.  Ladies, bring a group of girlfriends or make it a fun and special date night! More information is available at events@frenchmarkettavern.com 

Now, on to other happenings!  My friend and talented pallet knife mentor, Leslie Saeta is holding her September 2015 Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days Challenge!  I have taken two workshops with Leslie and began a painting challenge with her two years ago.  The challenge is just that for the artist; it's an encouragement to paint more and the opportunity to share both on Leslie's blog and my own! See http://lesliesaeta.blogspot.com to see all of the artwork posted each day.

For this challenge, I want to paint a series of different things as I plan for my own upcoming events.  My first series will be several roosters in hopes of some ideas for my painting class.  Let me know if you would like to schedule an event or charity fund raiser. I hope you join me each day in September as I dig down deep for some fresh paintings, inspirations, and conversations with you!

Love and Home Grown Tomatoes

I have to confess. I stole this title.  The Community Gardens of Henry County is hosting an event by this name tomorrow at Heritage Park in McDonough. The purpose of the event is to raise funds so that their community gardening initiative can continue as well as enable them to provide locally grown vegetables from their Helping Harvests Gardens to food pantries and other non-profits who help feed the needy in Henry County.  I plan to attend the event and have some of my paintings available for sale. I also plan to indulge in one of their luscious tomato sandwiches.  I hope they have an abundance of napkins!

I did a series of tomato paintings back in September of 2014, but as I am ready to offer them again, I thought I would repost them in my blog.  Painting a series is a challenging, rewarding, and profitable exercise.  It gives you a chance for a do-over without the stigma of 'failing'.  For instance, I tried a  new orange paint rather than mixing my own, and found out I could make the tomatoes really pop!  I have tried different backgrounds and groupings and came up with multiple ideas that worked. Working on a 6"x6" gesso board with a palette knife gives me the quick, impressionistic look that I love. I will apply these 'tried and true' as well as 'tried and failed' ideas on other paintings that I do.

'Big Boy'    6"x6"      Oil on Gessoboard  

'Summer Trio'   6"x6"      Oil on Gessoboard   

'Hanging Together"  6"x6"      Oil on Gessoboard  

'Fresh Pick'   6"x6"      Oil on Gessoboard  

Have you ever tried to paint a series?  What worked well for you?  What problems did you have?  What did you learn?  Was there a particular size or color palette that worked for you?  What subjects would you suggest?  I would love to have your ideas and comments. Maybe this will begin some further discussions on this blog and new ideas for all of us.  I'm thinking of doing another series, this time with Mason jars.  Stay tuned....

As always, you can find more of my art for your viewing pleasure and purchase at Elaine Ford Gallery of Original Fine Art.  You can also find me on  Facebook at Elaine Ford Art or email me at marela54@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

Pretty in Purple

A Sweet friend and fellow artist, Sandy Abouda, took a picture of some pansies recently and we both set out for the challenge of painting them with a palette knife.  It was a lesson in patience and practice!  Purples are a difficult color for me, even though it is a favorite!

Waiting in Line

My drawing skills were put to the test on this painting, the third in the series from Leslie Saeta's palette knife workshop.  I actually ended up graphing the picture that had been printed and then transferring the grid to my board.  It makes complicated compositions a lot easier!

I desperately wanted to use some Phthalo Green in this painting and I think it turned out wonderfully well. It is a great color to mix with blues for the water.

A Box of Chocolates

This is the second in a series of paintings done at Leslie Saeta's workshop in Atlanta earlier in March.
We all retained a red bow, but made the color of the box and background our own.  One of the other artists said mine looked like a wonderful "Box of Chocolates".  I liked the name.  I am still amazed that such odd blocks of color up close, make for such a 3 dimensional look from a distance!

Juiciness

still life,oil on gessoboard,6x6,price $50

I had the great joy of attending Leslie Saeta's Palette Knife workshop in Atlanta  a few weeks ago.  Three whole days of painting, learning, and enjoying new friends was exhilarating!
This is my painting from Day 1. I loved mixing the colors!