Day 24 :: AUTUMN DUSK :: #30in30 Painting a Day Challenge

AUTUMN DUSK
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

at The Drawing Room, Marion, MA

It's getting darker earlier and earlier. It's a time of year that starts to make me sad. If I had to find a silver lining to this dark cloud, it's the the color of September light is warm and glowing. At dusk and twilight this warm, glowing light bathes everything, and I immediately have an imperative to paint it.

Tonight as I drove to teach my art class I was compelled to turn around and double back to take a photo of this river as it wend its way through reeds and grasses. The river reflected a gorgeous warm pink in the sky. I ran out and quickly snapped a bunch of photos.

In class we again discussed the idea of successful paintings having a specific light story. If you want to have a successful painting, it's important that the composition include some dramatic effect of the light - like in this piece which speaks to me of distinct warm autumn light.

I'm off to bed. It's the 24th of the month. Only six paintings to go!

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Day 23 :: PLANT SALE :: #30in30 Painting a Day Challenge

 harPLANT SALE
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

This weekend past I volunteered to work at a local plant sale fundraiser. Volunteering is always time well spent, but this volunteering was doing double-duty as a super-duper workout! The woman I worked with and I moved and watered and arranged and sold and restocked a TON of plants. And it was fun.

The sunlight of the morning at the antique building we were at was GORGEOUS, such a beautiful contrast in warm and cool. I have been working on temperature in my paintings, so I thought I'd take this on as a painting subject today.

The lesson from this piece is that it's difficult to paint the warm gorgeous light on clapboards. It's difficult to keep the color clean and cool where needed and differentiate shadows. What I find most problematic is keeping the painting loose and painterly while still maintaining enough detail to ensure that the piece reads appropriately to the viewer who probably wasn't there and isn't familiar with the scene as I am. (Whew! Long sentence, that last one.)

In the end, this piece was a true challenge, and this is the reason for painting every day this month. I'm stretching myself and enjoying the process. (Italics to remind me of that fact.) Working to include people in my work and cutting myself enough slack that to become familiar with specific subjects means taking them on with intent. I only have mastered marshes because I have been working on them for --- GASP! now that I think of the actual time --- 14 years! ACK!

I'm proud of this one, despite the changes I'd make should I decide to take this one on as a larger painting. Already some of the small works here have been re-imagined as bigger paintings. It'll be fun to show you which ones they are at my show at Gallery9 in Norwood, MA this November.

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Day 4 :: LATE IN THE DAY :: #30in30 Painting a Day Challenge

LATE IN THE DAY
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping
(Some day I'll figure out how to center the "Buy Now" button.)

Tim asked me what the purpose of #30in30 was and I told him it's to set a discipline of daily painting and, with daily exercise, to expand my artistic repertoire.

Holding true to this aim, I've been struggling with green in so many aspects for so long.
     *Green in shadow versus green in sunlight.
     *Green that's in the foreground and greens in the background.
     *Green that's muddy versus green that is intense.
Green causes problems especially in summer when everything is green.

For a big birthday present a few years ago my family gave me the Terry Ludwig set of 90 greens. Ninety! You'd think if you have 90 greens you'd have them all. Not me. I found I was always wanting a variation of the color that wasn't available. Eventually I figured it wasn't the selection but the user. I wasn't using green to its best effect.

This painting is a study in green in sunlight and in shadow. It's from a field near my home near where the town school buses are stored. This field is beautiful all times of the year, and it's a place that I find intimidating for it's simplicity -- gorgeous field, a stone wall, the sky, tall grasses. When a composition is simple, it doesn't allow for hiding a weak result in the architecture of a farmhouse or the dancing light and shadow on clouds. As an artist you're exposed and it's rough.

This painting went through some rough spells. Apply pastel. Keep applying more pastel. Wipe that all off. Do it again. Wipe it off again. Start over. Here's where I ended up. I love it. It's better in person. I need a better camera or the real Photoshop not Photoshop Elements.

Thanks for reading. We'll see what I paint for tomorrow. -kmw

Day 1 :: DAY'S END :: #30in30 painting a day challenge

DAY'S END
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

Sold! 

The first day of Leslie Saeta's #30in30 painting a day challenge is a daunting prospect. Staring at September I wonder what my collection will look like at the month's end. Questions come to mind: Will I paint daily? Can I keep up with the demand? How will I find the time? What about Labor Day?

As a mom to young girls starting school this month I have to think I'll be afforded new time. Summer is wonderful but finding time to paint has been its own challenge. We shall see....

DAY'S END is a piece I was jazzed up about when began the painting process. The light was just so. The colors were intense. In my art studio I've been pushing color in terms of hue, value, intensity, and temperature. This composition allowed me to stretch color in all of those ways. 

When I was finished I was happy enough to fledge this into a larger piece for an upcoming show in November. Can't wait to show you how it came out! 

Small works :: Sun Streaked

Walking on the beach in the off-season is such fun! New arrays of color are everywhere and these colors are  wonderful to capture in painting. In person, the color in the shadow is deep and somewhat unexpected. I've been researching depth of color in shadows and having a great time doing it!

©2012 Kim Morin Weineck
SUN STREAKED
original pastel, 6x6"
framed to 10x10
available

Email kimweineck@gmail.com for information on this piece.
Thanks for reading! ~kmw