100 paintings Archives - Page 2 of 5 - Dora Sislian Themelis Art

Painting Photos for Friday

Here I am again with photos of paintings for Friday. Somehow my idea of a fun pic for the end of the week ended up being a finished watercolor painting, but, hey, that’s okay. I’m enjoying myself in the studio at least. To me it’s a fun photo.

Blueberries ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
15×20 Watercolor, Canson cold press paper

The latest work is finished. Done. I am done with IT. That might be the last time I paint a million little blueberries under tiny leaves of lavender. The last time. Remember I said that.

Let’s look over the process. First I sketched in the basic shapes. Then I dropped some color in areas.

Next painting session lead to more color and definition of forms. Little by little it started to look like something.

With more color I started adding shadows to further develop the composition. Having fun here too.

The 100 Paintings Challenge has begun.

A Welcome Back to 100 Paintings

I did it again. I re-upped for the 100 Paintings Challenge. Will I make it? I don’t know for sure, but with my new plan and schedule in place I am well armed. So far I am making headway and have plunged in with both feet. I’m using a swimming/diving analogy and I’m not any kind of good swimmer, but it’s how I feel.

This week is my first back in the challenge. Laure Ferlita, the facilitator of 100 Paintings Challenge posted a Welcome Back interview we had on the blog.

Something about the challenge appeals to me. The opportunity to build a steady painting schedule and a strong, consistent body of work is something I need. The accountability is there. I know I signed onto something that others are waiting to see.

The classes I’ve been taking, in person and online, with Alyson B. Stanfield have been a huge factor in my growth as an artist. She suggests we do certain tasks, and I just do it. I feel great about what I have accomplished with her advice and I’m moving forward.

Humming Along on the Next Painting, Wow

Next up!

As I await my new invitation to participate in the 100 Paintings Challenge, and the next online course Cultivate Collectors to begin, I started another work. Gee, I am humming along, aren’t I?

When I took all those photographs of my veggie haul I wasn’t thrilled with most of them. I even had a few I didn’t bother printing out. This photo was one of those I had no intention of painting from. Well, lookie here. Guess I was wrong.

Finally using my brain, I sketched this out over the weekend to be prepared for the sessions to begin during the week. Smart cookie.

I was so excited to paint that I thought about it before I fell asleep, each time I woke during the night (which was alot) and it was the first thing when I got up to start my day. It’s great to have that motivation going.

The plan of attack was running in my head. Where was I going to start? How would I treat the areas that seemed to flow together? Which colors was I mixing to give the work the feeling I was after?

Plenty of questions, and I hope I have some good answers.

While my granddaughter napped, I ran to the studio and put down some color. I thought I might try to keep a light hand on this one. I’m not sure where it’s going to go, but it’s a beginning.

Beginning Another Work

With the Blast Off class over, affirmations in place, and a plan in hand, I began a new painting. The last thing I needed to do was listen to a phone interview by Alyson B. Stanfield with the author Eric Maisel, on his interesting book, Ten Zen Seconds.

I chose one of the last photos I took of the vegetable share haul and spent a good amount of time sketching in the subjects. The paper is one of the large sheets of Canson watercolor paper I bought a while ago. Yes, I know, it’s not Arches, but it will have to do for now.

Since I wanted to get the proportions right, I made a grid with pencil lines and lightly drew in the items. I wanted to try out the new Isabey brush I purchased to see how it would work. It’s a size 12, large sable hair brush and it holds alot of water, if that’s a good thing.

While I painted I listened to the interview and many of the things discussed resonated with me. Maisel talked about his work with artists and the overwhelm they encounter while trying to work, getting the work out there, promoting and talking about their work. It’s so interesting in that it’s the truth. Where to start? How to do it?

The anxiety of it all causes some of us to freeze. I know that well. Ever hear the phrase “When in doubt, don’t”? That’s what happens. If we don’t know what to do, we do nothing. Well, Maisel said that overwhelm can be helped by saying certain affirmations that he called incantations, together with deep breathing. Zen. He explained that after doing the exercise, artists find they can continue.

It makes plenty of sense. I think I’m need to get his book from the library after listening to this interview.

As I listened I painted. After the 30 minute interview was over, I kept on painting. I must have worked for 2 hours, slowly playing with the new brush and the paints.

Usually I’m done at 20 minutes, but this is large paper. It took some time. And I could wreck my work if I’m not careful. So when I saw the time I stopped and took this photo.

The process is still the focus. Another 100 paintings challenge is on the horizon so I have to make it count and work the time schedule. The Blast Off class and all the resources I have from it will help push my agenda.

Let’s see how it goes.

From #1 to #56 in One Year

What’s Left of Fall ©2011 Dora Sislian Themelis
7×10 Watercolor on Arches

Last year I posted this watercolor still life of rocks, a favorite shell and leaves I kept in my copy of the Artist’s Way as one of the tasks of abundance. They served me very well at the time. I was already painting twenty minute works. When I decided to join in the 100 Paintings Challenge this was #1.

Four Shells with Rock ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
7×10 Watercolor on Arches

This watercolor painting with more of my favorite broken shells and rocks is #56 in the challenge. It will seem as if these items were the only subjects I painted, but that would be the wrong assumption.

Plenty of challenges were met in between these two paintings.

This weekend I also had time to go through all 56 paintings I did this year. Some works were twenty minute pieces. Others took a couple of days to complete. How I used the medium seems to me to be tighter on this last work than the first. My handling of watercolor evolved to where I’m more at ease with it. I learned a lot and still have far to go.

The 56 works evolved into different series of pieces, mostly still life work in watercolor. When I looked at each painting I could relive the past year. I can remember my days with every work, how I felt, what I was thinking, where I was and how I got myself to paint. It was a moment in time. A lesson of life.

Feel free to drop in some comments.

The Finish Line, or Not

I spent the weekend in reflection. January 31 was my first post to the 100 Paintings Challenge. A year ago I found out I could paint finished work in twenty minutes and I would post my paintings to the Twenty Minute Challenge. That’s where I found out about 100 Paintings.

Well, I will not make it to the required 100 pieces of art in this year. There is always next year to try my best. What else can I say? As of today I painted 56 watercolor paintings, with a few pen and ink drawings thrown in that mix to keep at it.

In my opinion, I accomplished plenty. As I said in another post, I am good for another go. See what happens this time.

Yesterday I went into the studio to survey my space. What is it that keeps me from doing better work there than at the dining room table? For one thing, the dining room table is lower than my drawing board allowing me to stand while I paint. I can move around, look at my work from a distance, keep some energy going. The drawing board is high and I can’t get away from it. Need to change it.

The dining room table has great north facing light, the studio is in the basement. Can’t do much about that, but make sure I have good light in the studio.

Most paintings took twenty minutes or so to complete. The larger works took a couple of days of work, and then I was a slacker some days. And I was working in the dining room because I needed to be near my granddaughter while she napped. A year later she’s not napping much, so there goes that.

Then I was also battling with Mr. Resistance. It’s been easier to beat the demon after all the work I’ve been doing since the Artist’s Way, Alyson Stanfield’s book and workshops, and my own lazy brain.

So I will forgive myself for not painting the requisite 100 works. It’s okay. I’m not looking to excuse myself because I did agree to the challenge, just didn’t pass the finish line on time.

We are all a work in progress. The Blast Off class I am taking online with Alyson is a huge help and I am working on my curriculum for the year ahead.

Painting will be regularly scheduled on the calendar of to-do list items at #1.
Reading artists bios, looking into documentaries of artists and museum visits is on the item list.

I’m already reading this great biography of Vincent van Gogh and it’s been very interesting to learn how he came to paint.

And there’s been knitting. Knitting socks at that. While I knit I daydream as I watch the stitches or color fly by on my needles. As I watch my brain is planning the next painting.

Not a bad start to another year of paintings. Wish me luck, again!

Friday Photos of Paintings

Three Friends ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
7×10 Watercolor on Arches

Last year around this time I signed on to the 100 Paintings Challenge. I wanted to do a few things by trying to paint 100 paintings in one year: build a body of work, learn how to use watercolor paints better, see subjects with a keener eye, push myself to paint regularly. And maybe sell a few works.

Shells with Peach ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
7×10 Watercolor on Arches

The challenge has been wonderful in all of those ways, except I will not meet the deadline with 100 pieces of work. Nope. Not gonna happen. Not this year anyway.

On the plus side, I have met most of my goals, and even sold a few paintings. So I consider the year a win. I am up for round 2. As soon as my deadline arrives I am committing to another go around.

I am grateful for the opportunities I found this year and I’m looking forward to better things ahead.

Quick Self Portrait Can be Scary

Last week I wanted to paint something quick so I made a print of my photograph and hurriedly sketched this self portrait on a small block of Arches watercolor paper. Seeing these photos together helps me to see how squishy I drew my head, my eye isn’t looking in the same direction, and it’s too wide open. Scary.

On the trail at the museum visit

Drawing while sitting isn’t a smart thing to do. I end up with weird perspective. Would have been better if I stood up so I could see what I was doing. I made my head too long and the angle is wrong, but hey, it’s the process! This painting is an elongated me. The product was not the goal, it was to just work.

Since I figured out that my year of 100 paintings is coming to a close next week or so, I’ve been trying to paint more twenty minutes pieces. Each of my affirmation cards for the Blast Off class count as a painting, right? Add this one and I was up to #53. Still, not getting near 100. Why not just go ahead and paint anything? I might do this again on larger paper to get the proportions right. Hope I don’t scare myself.

It’s okay to take liberties in art. Does it really matter if the likeness is exact? Don’t think it is. The way Picasso painted his subjects nobody could really look like any of his abstract figures. So I can make believe this is a kind of abstract. Yeah, that sounds good.

Process people! Move it. Paint. Work. Try. Try it again.

Quality Supplies Makes Quality Work

One day last week I was determined to keep at the painting schedule. Twenty minutes per painting and if I pushed myself I could do a few, one after another. Inspiration was running low, the shells and pebbles have been painted over and over, no new sunflowers around either. But after my artist date I had a bit of motivation so I gathered my stuff and went at it.

Shells, rocks, pebbles were thrown on my table and I just painted what I saw. Next! I decided to crop one of the sunflower photos are paint that view. Great! Then I went for an even quicker sketch of the shells and pebbles. I used paper that I had cut from larger sheets to make these smaller works, not realizing amid the Arches papers was a student grade of paper from a long while ago.

As I began sketching the last painting, as has become my style, the paint beaded up on the paper. The paper seemed to resist the watery paint. I had a hard time with that, and worked harder than I had been doing lately. Twenty minutes and I was not happy with the process of that last painting. Nope.

The moral of the story is to make sure to use quality equipment whenever possible. Taking short cuts is just not worth the trouble. I’ll be careful of that at the next session.

Working on Those Goals

About those goals..yes, I am trying my best to work really hard toward them. I decided the best one I can start on is in the studio. If I make it pleasant, maybe I will enjoy working in it. Maybe is a big word.

It’s a small space in my basement, but it’s mine. On the other side that you can’t see is a larger space we carved out for Son#1 and his musical instruments and other things. Now he has his own house and music space. So I confiscated some of it for me starting with the shelving.

I moved some posters around and hung more art I did in the past, moved my art books in and generally straightened up. That door leads to a closet I need to paint and put in flat files or shelves, but I dressed it up with a hand embroidered table covering from Cyprus I had. A bamboo folding screen I’ve had forever is blocking a crummy view of an unfinished area of the space. Who needs to see that?

Bead supplies, painting supplies, brushes, small sculptures and other stuff is arranged on and in the shelves. The table on the right is where I left out some bead stuff and ideas. Some things need to stay in view.

Today I treated myself to a real artist date at a museum nearby. In the afternoon I painted something small in the studio just to keep at it. The 100 Paintings Challenge is proving to be a real doozy. I figured out that I have only January to meet the challenge.

Will I make it?