Practice

On Tuesday night, I practiced some thumbnails using pictures from Ely. This feels awkward, but I know I need to practice this skill. It should help with seeing value shapes better. For the sunset reflected in the water, I like the second attempt (the one on the right better).

I also tried a quick one of a scene outside a window. It's hard figuring out how to do this!

Last, but not least, I practiced paint strokes for painting evergreens. There were beautiful evergreens up in Ely and I'm not sure how to paint them. Rather than committing to a painting, I thought I'd just play around and see what happened. 

Paintings Done Up North

I've been fighting a pretty bad case of the internal critic regarding drawing and painting.  In spite of that, I did finish two paintings when I was up north last week.

#346 - Fall Splendor and Canoeist - 3.5" x 8" - hard board

#347 - Minneapolis Monarch - 8" x 10" - paper

Kawishiwi Falls

Water - 

flowing, caressing, pounding, ricocheting, journeying, foaming, singing, falling, mixing.

Water - 

dancing, misting, shining, working, splashing, spreading, jumping, dropping, shimmering.

Water - 

running, moving, turning, rushing, surrounding, dripping, trickling, reconnecting, 

And, finally, 

releasing down, down, down. 

An Incredible Week And Two Incredible Pictures

These are two of the best pictures I think have ever taken. It helps to have spent a week in a beautiful place in the world, outside of Ely, MN, at a beautiful time of the year, with the time to savor and enjoy the experience.

I like seeing what I can achieve with my camera without cropping or editing the pictures. 

A Week Without “Shoulds”

Work has been very, very busy, plus I had a number of things to do prior to going out of town tomorrow. That means I haven't been posting to the blog. I haven't been drawing every day. I haven't been painting for quite awhile. In fact when I went to pack one of the palettes for the trip, it was really gross. The palette is all clean up and much better now. In fact, it all is going to get much, much better very, very soon, although I will miss my spouse. Next week, I will be here outside of Ely for a mindfulness retreat.

I hit the road tomorrow with a dear friend. We are road tripping one day early to go to the International Wolf Center and just hang out up there an extra day.

I plan to have a week without "shoulds" and I also want to be unplugged and unphoned for most of the week, so see you later alligator!

Just Keep Drawing

I've kept up with drawing each day. Lately, I've been looking at pictures of people engaged in sports and trying to capture rough, general shapes using cylinders and other shapes. The focus is on shapes, not proportions. I wish I could draw smaller, but I just can't at this point. On the plus side, I think this type of practice is helping.