Daily Painting Sept 2017 :: No. 20 of 30

A third of the month is left! I still have a lot to experiment with. Today's painting is about thick paint. If asked if I liked thick or thin paint, I'd have to say that the jury is still out on that.

Daily Painting No. 17 of 30

3x3" original oil

Tired of marshes yet? I so love them....

Thanks for reading!~kmw

Daily Painting Sept 2017 :: No. 19 of 30

Today I've been updating my blog with the paintings I've been completing daily this month. Blogging about the work is a nice component to painting because I think about the work a little differently. Blogging isn't fun when you take eight days off and try to catch up ;) 

This painting is about the underpainting. It was orange and I left a lot of that showing. Then I added more to it. I love how it came out!

Daily Painting No. 19 of 30

3x3" original oil

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Daily Painting Sept 2017 :: No. 18 of 30

It's been a struggle to get these daily paintings complete. They are small little works, and I thought they'd be easily integrated into my schedule, but September is a true challenge of time management. 

Mixing color is the name of the game. Painting with pastels is about selecting a stick of pigment and determining color harmonies. Oil painting adds mixing the paint on top of all of it. Fun and difficult as a challenge.

Daily Painting No. 18 of 30

3x3" original oil

 This marsh piece is starting to feel more like autumn. A little different palette for me, but I like it!

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Daily Painting Sept 2017 :: No. 17 of 30

Back to some palette knife and some brush and trying to say a lot with fewest marks I can muster. It's tricky. 

Daily Painting No. 17 of 30

3x3" original oil

This ominous sky was inspiring. I took it in an abstract route and liked it in the end. The nuances in blue make are beautiful in person. In fact, the whole piece is some sort of blue.

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Daily Painting Sept 2017 :: No. 16 of 30

Nocturnes make their way into my work every so often. In past #30in30 challenges, I see the nocturnes pop up. They are favorites of my patrons and I should do more. It's a difficult thing for me to paint because night isn't about color so much and you have to work from life and from memory. This can be done, but it takes more effort.

Daily Painting No. 16 of 30

3x3" original oil

And so here is a marsh I love and have visited and painted often. For today's painting I looked at paintings from the day and made the scene into night. Ha! What exhausting fun that was!!

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Daily Painting Sept 2017 :: No. 14 of 30

Last post I discussed color and how fun it can be to see color in the landscape, especially when one color seems to predominate. Green is like this in summer. It's everywhere and in order to make interesting paintings, artists need to look beyond it while also looking deep inside it to make it interesting for the viewer.

Daily Painting No. 14 of 30

3x3" original oil

Here's a great example of seeing beyond the colors that are there. It isn't green here right now, but it doesn't look like this either. What fun to make a new color vocabulary for a spot! 

Small works this September are giving me space to stretch. I love this!

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Daily Painting Sept 2017 :: No. 13 of 30

While I've always used my palette knife to get paint mixed well, this challenge of daily paintings on a small scale have me applying the paint with the knife. The thickness of the paint is fun and attractive on these small works. 

This sunflower piece is from Tangerini's Spring Street Farm in Millis, MA close to where we live. What a treasured spot with farmers who like artists so close by and a true source of inspiration for me!

Daily Painting No. 13 of 30

3x3" original oil

I always like finding assorted colors in the greens out there, too. Seeing color is such a fun part of being an artist. I'm blessed to keep working on it everyday. 

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Daily Painting Sept 2017 :: No. 12 of 30

Simplicity in painting is difficult to figure out for me. I see all of the minutia and want to reference all of it. In my studio, the most frustrated I get is when I'm putting in too much and can't make it work.

Daily Painting No. 12 of 30

3x3" oil on 5x7" oil paper

This piece is about simplicity. What color is in the distance? What about the sky? These studies are teeny at 3x3" and I don't have a lot of wiggle room to convey everything. How can I made it work?

Oils, too, are tricky. Imaging painting with smooshes of colored butter. Lines aren't as easy to make. Hard edges get blended. Color ends up in color. It's a joyful medium when you let it do its thing. I love it hate it love it again numerous times in each painting.

Daily Painting No. 12 of 30

3x3" original oil

My struggle here ended in a nice spot. I love the color and light harmonies. Feels like September in my neighborhood field, just like I had wanted.

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Daily Painting Sept 2017 :: No. 11 of 30

While painting my marsh the other day I had an idea for a glowing underpainting. Today's piece is all about that glow. Similar subject, new approach!

Daily Painting No. 11 of 30

3x3" oil on 5x7" oil paper

In class I caution my students about "noodling" the work. When you want the underpainting to show, noodling (or overworking) can't happen. Efficiency and confident mark-making are important. Too much smoosh and the underpainting is covered.

Daily Painting No. 11 of 30

3x3" original oil

The horizon glows with this method. I'm happy!

Thanks for reading!~kmw

Daily Painting Sept 2017 :: No. 10 of 30

The beginning of the month starts with organization and a huge transition -- daily paintings and school starts again. Such planning and time-management skills are in use, and I get lulled into a false sense of security. "I've got this down! A natural time-manager!!"

And now, day 10, and I'm posting at 10pm rather than 7:15am. Took 10 days :) 

BUT --- the paintings! I have been having fun and working hard. My show in October is coming up and I need to work for that. I have commissions coming due. I have to get going on those. But these small works have me inspired and wanting to paint all the time.

Daily Painting No. 10 of 30

3x3" oil on 5x7" oil paper

While looking for a piece of paper recently, I stumbled into my filing cabinet that represents my life put away into four drawers all neat but sort of like that last scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark. What treasures did I stow away that need to be studied? For a while I remembered everything that was in there, but if I'm honest, that was 20 years ago and things just keep going in there!

I mention this now because I found some work I did while studying in France waaaaay back in 2000. My paintings were neat-o! I was on the brink of something fun. Simplicity. Modern. Ah! Painting everyday for a summer will bring you to a new level. 

One painting in particular has me inspired. And so, while working, I'm really thinking a bit differently. Today's painting starts along those lines. Oil is a tricky medium for me. I want to paint FAST but it demands planning from me. And patience. And diligence in getting clean mixtures. Pastel isn't the same for me, but the results I want aren't the same either. 

Daily Painting No. 10 of 30

3x3" original oil

Maybe I'll post some of my paintings I did while studying in France someday. I love to look at them. It was a magical time for me, oddly spiritual and creative and wholly unique. I am blessed to have had such a time. 

Reminder: my local art classes are going to start up again the week of September 19th. Zullo Gallery is a fantastic spot and I'd love to have you join us! Thanks! 

Thanks so much for reading! ~kmw

Daily Painting Sept 2017 :: No. 9 of 30

Before I get into my painting, FYI: my local art classes are going to start up again the week of September 19th. Zullo Gallery is a fantastic spot and I'd love to have you join us! Thanks! 

Little makes me feel like an artist as much as painting nocturnes. In past 30in30 series, I've painted nocturnes and written about how I find them one of the last things artists have over photographers. 

Daily Painting No. 9 of 30

3x3" oil on 5x7" oil paper

Sure, artists can take photos at night, but it's the artist who can really describe the scene vividly. Again, this is inspired by my neighborhood, but with some dramatic liberties because it's fun to take liberties. 

Daily Painting No. 9 of 30

3x3" original oil

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Daily Painting Sept 2017 :: No. 5 of 30

I have five paintings lined up in my studio like a small parade and I love seeing them! We started in the imagined English countryside and have moved to New England.

Daily Painting No. 5 of 30

3x3" oil on 5x7" oil paper

After years of painting and critiquing I've learned I love small moments. It's a sort of mindfulness in life to notice intimacies around us all. These small paintings feel like snippets of the larger world. It's the world I love to notice. 

Daily Painting No. 5 of 30

3x3" original oil

Thanks for reading. Hope to see you tomorrow! ~kmw

Daily Painting Sept 2017 :: No. 1 of 30

It's another September and again I've accepted the #30in30 daily painting challenge. With upcoming shows and a busy commission/work/teaching/parenting schedule, I've decided to switch things up this year and will do 3x3" oil paintings on 5x7" Arches Oil Paper.

Oils take longer for me than pastels because all colors I use must be mixed. It takes practice and this monthly challenge will give me just that.

Daily Painting No. 1 of 30
3x3" oil on 5x7" oil paper

At the start of summer I rewatched Miss Potter about Beatrix and ultimately her role in conserving England's Lake District. The rolling hills and farms are a landscape I dream about! Today's painting is about mixing all the greens! Photographing this proved quite a challenge, but I think the gist comes across.

Daily Painting No. 1 of 30
3x3" original oil

At the end of the month, I'm going to put all of the work up for sale, first-come-first-served at $35 each (a steal!) Follow along with me and see if there's one or more you may want. The 5x7" size will be easy to frame and mat. I'm going to collect some frames during the month for ones I may want to keep :)

I'm looking forward to seeing how the collection looks -- always funny to think of on day one!

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day 17 :: SIMPLE GIFTS :: September Daily Paintings

SIMPLE GIFTS
original pastel, 6x6"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck
$50

When I first saw the work of Wolf Kahn I was confused and wondered where the detail went. The more I have looked at and created artwork the more I have come to understand the beauty of a grand scheme of design and the play of composition, color, and simplicity. 

My mantras for the month: Do the work and Keep it simple are well-represented here. My acrylic came first. What fun until it wasn't. The fun was in the sketch and then later in the treeline and sky. What fun! The not fun: windows windows windows. Funny that, too, because the windows are what makes the subject appeal to me. 

SIMPLE GIFTS
original acrylic, 18x18"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck

The acrylic is 18x18" and large and playful because there's space to spread out. The pastel was getting bogged down with the challenge of saying what needed to be said in a 6x6" surface. When I looked at the color combination and the composition and my marks I decided it was done.

I love these! The subject is a lovely classic home in my town. This is architecture I adore.

PRICING NOTE:  I am taking risks with this challenge. The work created is about learning and  my pieces are experiments and priced accordingly. Each piece is A BARGAIN at only $50 ($10 shipping if you're not local) rather than $125 for my usual gallery-worthy work. Only my pastels will be available at this time. Email kimweineck@gmail.com to purchase. Of course, thank you! 

Thank you for reading! ~ kmw

Day 16 :: RED :: September Daily Paintings

RED
original pastel, 6x6"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck
$50

This is a busy month which I deliberately chose to augment my stress by undertaking this challenge. It's wonderful to do the work and feel progress and I keep telling myself that doing the work is a better feeling than having more on my plate. Certainly this month laundry and cleaning and such can take a back seat! 

As I mentioned in yesterday's  post about the porch light painting, architecture is a challenge for me. Generally I want to tighten things up and make all the edges hard and ruler straight. Painting then becomes such a chore as opposed to being something to enjoy and free my inner artistic child. When I'm feeling life's pressures, of course I take on the challenge of something that I find difficult. Goodness. 

RED
original acrylic, 18x18"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck

Today my studio time in Massachusetts brings me back to Vermont at the farm I am so inspired by. This square composition is wholly architectural with some intense cropping to really challenge all my perspective skills. My farmer friends have wonderful young children and so you can make out the scooter and the red tricycle in front of the barn door.

The acrylic came first and then the pastel above. Simplicity is my mantra and being able to say a lot with little marks and color changes. I think I did well with this. Pastel makes it easier to do: pick colors, make marks, move on!

This will be a fun one to compare and contrast. I have been putting both images next to each other on Facebook. It certainly does welcome comparison that way!

PRICING NOTE:  I am taking risks with this challenge. The work created is about learning and  my pieces are experiments and priced accordingly. Each piece is A BARGAIN at only $50 ($10 shipping if you're not local) rather than $125 for my usual gallery-worthy work. Only my pastels will be available at this time. Email kimweineck@gmail.com to purchase. Of course, thank you! 

Thank you for reading! ~ kmw

Day 13 :: SHADE TREES :: September Daily Painting Challenge

SHADE TREES
original pastel, 6x6"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck
$50

It was bound to happen eventually. Today's acrylic took all my energy, and I love it. It feels like I'm illustrating a book about a farm in Vermont that I love. The pastel needs another 30 minutes but today I'm gassed.

This morning I enjoyed painting at a local cafe. Painting en plein air is fun but tiring. Adjusting to school has been tiring, too. September is a month of transition. Add soccer on top of it all, and I am impressed with myself for making my way down here tonight and working on these two pieces. 

SHADE TREES
original acrylic, 18x18"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck

Again, "nothing feels as good as doing the work." Tonight as I headed down the stairs to my basement art studio I knew I'd feel as good going back up the stairs as after a tough workout. This month is about my own self-direct art workout, and it does feel good. 

The plein air painting from this morning came out nice, too. (You can see it on my Instagram account @kimweineck.) I enjoyed speaking with the most wonderful people who came specifically to support me and with others who stopped by to get coffee and noticed I was there working. The town we live in is full of wonderful folks, and I'm so happy we landed here. 

One more word to a friend who I know reads my blog posts: Thank you so much for bringing my dad to Cilla's Coffeehouse to see my work. It was such a treat to have him tell me he saw (and liked!!) my paintings hanging there. I really appreciate it. xxoo 

This farm is the same one as my painting from yesterday, in case you were wondering. Magical place, I tell you....

PRICING NOTE:  I am taking risks with this challenge. The work created is about learning and  my pieces are experiments and priced accordingly. Each piece is A BARGAIN at only $50 ($10 shipping if you're not local) rather than $125 for my usual gallery-worthy work. Only my pastels will be available at this time. Email kimweineck@gmail.com to purchase. Of course, thank you! 

Thank you for reading (and supporting!) ~ kmw

Day 10 :: REEDS :: September Daily Paintings

REEDS

original pastel, 6x6"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck
$50

Weekend! Day ten! No longer in the single digits with one-third of the month behind me. Today, as mentioned yesterday, here is the same marsh view with some sky. My color in the original is a bit different. The reeds in the foreground appearing like bluish white dots are actually in the bright light orange family. Optimizing photos is difficult and as long as I keep doing daily painting challenges like this, my editing skills are bound to improve. 

Feel free to comment on what you'd like to see for the month. I have a feeling more figures are going to appear at some time. Acorn still lifes showed up last September. As I walk the dog early in the morning I keep picking up unique little acorns and thinking of paintings. 

We foraged for grapes and elderberries today. The house smells wonderfully of riverbank grapes. I'm not sure if a painting of a wild grapevine would translate. We'll see! 

MARSH REEDS

original acrylic, 18x18"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck

Here's the acrylic. Quick and fun. I'm feeling that it's not quite abstract enough and not quite detailed enough. What will I do going forward? Maybe we'll have a resolution about this for the end of the month. Twenty more paintings to go!

PRICING NOTE:  I am taking risks with this challenge. The work created is about learning and  my pieces are experiments and priced accordingly. Each piece is A BARGAIN at only $50 ($10 shipping if you're not local) rather than $125 for my usual gallery-worthy work. Only my pastels will be available at this time. Email kimweineck@gmail.com to purchase. Of course, thank you! 

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day 8 :: REFLECTED :: September Daily Paintings

REFLECTED
original pastel, 6x6"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck
$50

Being an advocate for working in a series, here is another marsh scene from this same bridge near where we live. The colors in nature are changing, but I am in denial of anything autumnal just yet. I trust that the colors will soon win me over with exciting pops of red, but for now I'm pretending that the colors are as they were when my family hiked near here in August.

Heck, our summer day family hike wasn't that long ago, and yet it seems forever: school started, the light has changed, it's getting darker earlier, and we now have sports and all sorts of after-school activities! I do have some time while the girls are in school to get things done and here on September 8th I really am taking advantage of that time. 

This painting is pretty fun on my storage shelves in the studio. The prior two paintings are spoken for already (and I'm grateful) but they really do look nice as a triptych -- and I didn't even plan that! 

REFLECTED
original acrylic, 18x18"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck

Every post mentions that the acrylic is what starts my studio time. I need to get some bigger brushes! In my prior post I say: if nothing changes nothing changes. Yesterday I made changes. Today I continued to try to make deliberate changes in how I work and apply acrylic paint. (Acrylics dry quickly and oil painting techniques do not necessarily translate.)

Lo and Behold! I am happy with the right side of this painting. The left will have a bit more work to it at another point. It's changes like today that make me happy with this regimen. By month's end who knows what my acrylic paintings will look like? I can't wait to see.

I saw a sign once that said:

Nothing will make you happy but doing the work

I am really understanding that sign and I'm only on day eight!

PRICING NOTE:  I am taking this challenge to heart and taking risks. The work created is a labor of love and learning. For this #30in30 challenge my pieces are experiments and priced accordingly. Each piece is A BARGAIN at only $50 ($10 shipping if you're not local) rather than $125 for my usual gallery-worthy work. Only my pastels will be available at this time. Email kimweineck@gmail.com to purchase. Of course, thank you! 

Thank you for reading! ~kmw

Day 7 :: RIVER VIEW :: September Daily Paintings

RIVER VIEW
original pastel, 6x6"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck
SOLD!

Today I set out to make a painting early and completed this view from the same spot as yesterday's painting. Marshes make me happy and, since I have been feeling a bit wiped out, why not embrace what I do love to paint? 

What do you think? A whole #30in30 of marsh views? I would simply love to do that. Thirty of the same view but taking chances with colors and marks. Hmmm. Food for thought, surely. Marla Baggetta made 100 variations of a same landscape. I was quite inspired by her when I first found this blog post years ago. Would it hold interest (mine and yours?) I wonder....

RIVER VIEW
original acrylic, 18x18"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck

The pastel was fun to paint, as usual. The colors are exciting to select. SO MANY GREENS! And when I tackle a subject like this SO MANY BLUES (and for both instances: never the right one). A challenge today is to paint something along the lines of yesterday and make it a painting in its own right. It's difficult not to look too much to yesterday.

The acrylic was also fun -- as opposed to yesterday's angst-ridden marsh scene. I was approaching acrylic painting the same way day in day out. Finally I had to tell myself: If nothing changes - NOTHING CHANGES. I held my brush differently and mixed colors differently. The acrylic always comes first in my daily painting regimen. Maybe I stop doing them? So many questions today!

 PRICING NOTE:  I am taking this challenge to heart and taking risks. The work created is a labor of love and learning. For this #30in30 challenge my pieces are experiments and priced accordingly. Each piece is A BARGAIN at only $50 ($10 shipping if you're not local) rather than $125 for my usual gallery-worthy work. Only my pastels will be available at this time. Email kimweineck@gmail.com to purchase. Of course, thank you! 

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day 6 :: RIVER :: September Daily Paintings

RIVER
original pastel, 6x6"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck
SOLD

Day 6 and it's shaping up to be an insanely busy month. School began August 30th and I somehow thought I'd get a jump on things so September would be of ease. Alas, no such luck. I'm drained and may need a pep talk to even start on a painting tomorrow. Content like that is really supposed to make it into blog posts. My bad. 

The pastel above was painted after my bold, quick, play with the acrylic below. I am SO IN LOVE with how this pastel looks. The colors, the marks, the scale of the shapes and the rhythm of the darks make me so happy. This is one that I will have a hard time parting with. This is one that I think of when I talk about being a painter of marshes so often that my husband calls me "Marsha."

Working in acrylic and 18x18' is a whole new animal than the 6x6" pastel pieces I have done in the past. It's day six but I have done a stack of 12 paintings so far. These six 18x18" acrylics are interesting. The compelling part of this challenge is that pile. I want to see it grow and I want to improve when it comes to the acrylics. 

RIVER
original acrylic, 18x18"
©2016 Kim Morin Weineck
Studio lighting made photographing
this piece a bit difficult tonight. 

The reason for the acrylic starts is to take them somewhere different: to play with color and see the composition differently so I don't seem formulaic in my pastels. Honestly, I so enjoy doing the pastels because I can do them with relative ease. When it comes to brushes and color mixing and larger scaled works -- it's not the same. I feel a bit tense.

Today's tension in the studio was palpable. Experimenting with marks and color started happening late in the painting near when the bus was coming. Tomorrow's new piece hopefully will continue where this one left off, because I was nearing somewhere I liked! 

PRICING NOTE:  I am taking this challenge to heart and taking risks. The work created is a labor of love and learning. For this #30in30 challenge my pieces are experiments and priced accordingly. Each piece is $50 ($10 shipping if you're not local) rather than $125 for my usual gallery-worthy work. Only my pastels will be available at this time. Email kimweineck@gmail.com to purchase. Of course, thank you! 

Thanks for reading! ~kmw