End of series?? What I've learned...

Yes, I finished all 21 paintings from the 21 value studies heather and I spent an entire day drawing one June day. Am I done??.. I doubt it. Like mike said, every day I think of new was to approach these objects and now that I have completed the "required" assignment so to speak, I am free to get as wild and crazy as I want and see what I come up with. I may not do one a day but I am going to continue working on this series.  There was a clear turning point for me as mike said there's would be, somewhere around 15 or 16. I no longer approached my painting as a chore, sick and tired of the same objects, but with great enthusiasm and excitment. I realized I was looking forward to seeing what was next and what creativity would take over each day.  Which gets me to the 'what I've learned' part:

1 I've learned to free myself from the 'rules' that we are all so afraid to let go of as artists which keep us from just painting for the fun of it, with no though of can I sell this? Will everyone like it? Does it follow all the rules? Does it look like the picture? Etc.  

2 an hour is enough time to do a successful painting. It keeps me loose as there is no time to get picky and detailed. 

3 a limited palette can make the best paintings. The ones I like  the best are just 3 or four colors. 

4 I love painting just for me!  I really have only shared these with a couple of  people and not for critique but just to show how much fun I've been having!

5 I've learned to paint bigger! A quarter sheet seems small now

6. I've learned the importance of a value sketch. Yes I've always done one before painting but now I will do several or many before I begin a painting. Soooo many different ways to interpret a photo. 

I know there must be many more I can't think of right off but I want to thank mike bailey for pushing us so hard in class and for the idea of the series and to heather for challenging me to do it!!

#21

The last in my series!!! Or is it???? The dominance of this one is value line and shape. Papa bear is mid then dark then light.  Once again I only used three colors.  The painting was rather uneventful and mundane. Then I got out my rigger brush to do the line work as in my value sketch and the calligraphy took over!  Next came out the white gouache and something boring came to life!  

#19

Decided I was sick of the geometric shape flowers as in the value sketch so softened them and made them a tad more realistic. Main dominance is value shape color. Papa bear is midtone then dark then light. Don't realty love the turquoise would problem go with something else. Darker turquoise is reading almost too dark in the grey scale. 

 

#20

Almost there!!  This one had a peaceful feeling to it. Odd shadows and strange shapes but I think it's the colors that make it work. Only three colors used. Love the flower too. The odd shape of the tree that I had done in my value sketch just was not working for me so darkened it and now it fades into background shape. Dominance is shapes line and color. Papa bear dark then light then mid. 

#18

I wasn't all that excited to paint this. From the value study, which is papa bear mid tone with really no strong lights or darks, I had to come up with something to make all mid tones less boring. Dominance is probably shape and size. I wanted to add some direction and texture so I textured the trees. I After painting everything I decided to add some writing in the back ground just to create more interest and direction, and kept all the edges soft. 

#17

Crazy wild colorful-of course I love it!!  Dominance line shape texture!!  Papa bear mid value then light then dark. 

#16

Dominance do shape line direction and of course value.  Papa bear light  then dark then mid. Color became an element which I added to instill some interest. Don't like the bonsai shapes. 

#15

This one was a little bit of a challenge since my value sketch really had no rhyme nor reason and I really couldn't remember what I had in mind. So I decided to draw out a full size sketch on some scrap paper so I could make a map of where I I wanted my lights and darks. This made far more sense and I'm now comfortable with where I'm headed. My lights and darks are pretty equal but I think light prevails then darks although I'm sure that could be open to debate. 

dominance would probably be value line direction. 

#14

Very simple - dominate line, value and direction. Papa bear light, then dark with almost a non existent midtone. 

#13

Here's no 13. I struggled a bit with this as my value sketch was not working quite like I'd hoped. Changed it a little bit and added so e texture to make it less boring. Not my favorite by any means but don't hate it now anyway. The dominance is line shape and direction and value with papa bear being mid, then dark then light. 

#12

I was excited to do this one. I like the value sketch and figured if I limited the palette I could really make the colors pop!  Dominance was shape value and line, direction and papa bear was an obvious light, midc then dark.  I like the results!

The blobby blush part on the vase was where I tried using some whiteout but it wasn't very successful. Tamed it down in the painting!

Love the black and white version!

#11

This value study featured direction value and shape. Papa bear is mid then dark then light. 

Original value study

#10

Decided to do a touch of whimsy on this one since the dominant element was color shape and direction and papa bear light then mid then dark. 

#9

This painting was completed in the workshop but my value sketches are the same. Dominance value shape direction and papa bear mid, dark, light. It was also completed in the one hour painting time frame. 

#8

Limited color palette and more muted and cool

Dominance was shape size value   Papa bear was mid, light then dark.  The mid values were on the darker range to make lights pop. Was pleased with the result. 

#7 in a series

The dominance was about direction line shape and value. Papa bear was mid, dark light. . 

Like the cast shadow

Love the interest in the background. Brought out the phthalo's this time!

#6

This is number 6. Obviously line and shape are dominant. Papa bear is mid then light, dark. 

Like the orange against the toned down purple.