A Painting/Day in September

There is a huge group of artists that blog online daily paintings. Until now I have lacked the time or energy to commit to this kind of goal but I have always wanted to try it. SO, this is me committing to completing a painting/day in the month of September. Let's see how it goes!

In order to keep inspired, I've been reading my good 'ol blog roll and some books on master painters. Here are a few images from the blogroll that I have set aside as extra interesting-

 by William Wray

(Love the simplicity, the color pallet and the otherwise ignored setting.)

by Randall David Tipton

(This artist has taken his landscapes to an unexpected place- really shows a personal interpretation.)

by Don Gray

(This piece just reminds me of so many places in the rural Midwest where I grew up. The humble but tidy building is touching.)

by Kim Cadmus

(Urban landscape taken to the next level -graphic yet still grungy. Love it.)

Plein Air Painting Here I Come

Yesterday I went with Lisa Goldfarb to try some plein air painting. Neither of us have done much in this vein so Lisa suggested a safe place to try would be Paint Lab in Santa Monica. Basically, you pay $20 and they provide brushes, easel, paints and space (you purchase your painting surface separately). It is nice not to have to lug supplies around -esp. if just diving into this sort of thing, however the space itself is not very inspiring. Next time I will load up my own supplies and try a more scenic vista. Will need to get a fold-up/travel easel.

10"x10" on 1.5" depth canvas

purchase here for $100

Grand Canyon Acrylic 3

...And here's another grand canyon acrylic. You can find its small watercolor version in this earlier post. I'm really working towards not being too literal in my interpretation when using photo reference. Makes me feel a bit like a baby crawling about but I know it's good.

16"x20" acrylic on 1.5" depth stretched canvas

purchase here for $400

Grand Canyon Acrylic 1 & 2

16"x20" acrylic on 1.5"depth stretched canvas

purchase here for $400 

16"x20" acrylic on 1.5"depth stretched canvas

purchase here for $400  

Here is what they look like next to each other. 

Convo me on Etsy to purchase both for $600.

Venice Beach Sketches

Spent the day at Venice Beach yesterday. Pulled off a few sketches between naps and The House of Mirth.

New Mexico Acrylic No. 4

8"x8" acrylic on canvas

purchase here for $100

Ear Nightingale -The Strangest Secret Part1

Earl Nightingale's recordings have really interested/inspired me lately. (The older I get the more I am into self help -hehe.)

This is just part 1 of 3 so go to YouTube if you are intrigued and would like to hear the rest. Part 2 is really interesting in that he talks about how people can float through life -doing what they're expected to do- w/out ever stopping to decide what their goal is and what steps should be taken to get there. -Thoughts/comments?

New Mexico Acrylic No. 3

The second gallery showing fell through which left me temporarily unmotivated... (Not enough artists signed up. The space was really not ideal, so I get it and am actually not too disappointed.) Will just have to finish these pieces that I'm working on and find another venue.

20"x16" acrylic and ink on 1.5" depth canvas

$400 purchase here

Family Portraits

I took a break from New Mexico/Arizona landscapes yesterday and did some family portraits. All are 8"x8" acrylic on stretched canvas.

Will have to post a pic once they have been hung so you can visualize the final result.

E-mail me (aubrey.studebaker@gmail.com) if you are interested in commissioning portraits!

New Mexico Acrylic No. 2

This is the other acrylic piece which will be displaying at Venice Art House. At first I wasn't sure about going the illustrator-ish route by adding the black ink lines but I like how it turned out. I will be keeping this style for the other New Mexico/Arizona pieces (there are about 5-6 more to come!)

20"x16" acrylic and ink on 1.5" depth canvas

New Mexico Acrylic No. 1

This will be hanging/for sale at the Venice Art House which is opening on Friday (going there this afternoon to set up). I absolutely can't wait! This is the first gallery I've displayed in since graduating college...Just needed a few years to conquer my fears. (o;

20"x16" acrylic and ink on 1.5" depth canvas

Also, I framed the two lovelies below which will be on display/for sale along with their larger acrylic counterparts. I got the (2) frames and (2) mats (which have a beaut texture) for a total of $9.75 at a wholesale shop near my house. Score!