30 Day Challenge Wrap-Up

As a culmination of the "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge Leslie Saeta asks the participants to create a collage of their paintings from the month. I always find creating the collage harder than doing the 30 paintings. lol I was nearly done loading my paintings to create my collage on picmonkey.com when I hit something and the number of boxes changed. I was not willing to start over, so my collage is missing a few of the paintings from my challenge. I hope you have enjoyed following my last 30 days!

Today everyone should be posting their collages and you can see them here.

All my paintings were done with gouache for this challenge. It was a medium I had only worked with a few times before and I thought it would be a good way to get more familiar with the material. Gouache is similar to watercolors yet different. Depending on how you use it you can get different effects. It can be used nearly dry or very wet, nearly fresh out of the tube. 

Many people paint from dark to light with gouache. At times I did that but more often than not my watercolor background reared its head and I worked from light to dark. I sometimes used the gouache very transparently and sometimes very opaque (on the rooster and the avocado). I liked that when I needed to I could cover up something with the gouache, but that usually had to be done with a much thicker amount of paint. It is great for highlights and lighter areas. Although I didn't include any of my portraits in the collage, the gouache worked better for those than watercolors. The skin tones were much easier to do in gouache.

Will I continue working with gouache? Sometimes, but I am looking forward to being able to just do ink sketches or watercolors for a while, so I think the gouache may take a rest for a while.

30 Day Challenge - Day 30 - The Rock

Yes, today is the last day for Leslie Saeta's "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge. This gouache painting was done at Sunken Meadow State Park on the north shore of Long Island. There is a nice beach and boardwalk along Long Island Sound and the Nissequogue River runs through to the Sound. This huge rock usually has a few birds perched or nesting on it...fewer since the changes caused by Hurricane Sandy.

If you would like to check out the other work by the participating artists look here.

30 Day Challenge - Day 29 - Indian Island

Well February sort of messed up the numbering for the "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge since the month is over. My gouache challenge will continue today and tomorrow to meet my quota of 30 paintings. This was done at Indian Island County Park in Riverhead. The park has campsites and views along a beach along the Peconic River. I sat in my car facing the river to paint this.

Check out the other paintings being done during the challenge. They are here and are worth a look.

30 Day Challenge - Day 28 - Dunes

I can't resist painting near the beach. It was a nice day to be by the water, but still too cold to sit outside my car and paint. My Day 28 gouache painting for the "30 Paintings in 30 Days" challenge was done along Dune Road in Hampton Bays. 

You still have time to check out some of the great work that has been painted for the 30 Day Challenge. Take a look here.

30 Day Challenge - Day 27 - Reading Break

We had a rainy day yesterday so I decided to paint indoors. I set up this still life for my Day 27 gouache for Leslie Saeta's "30 Paintings in 30 Days" challenge.

I you care to take a look at some of the work by some of the other artists participating in the 30 Day Challenge you can find them here.

30 Day Challenge - Day 26 - Olympic Dreams

For Day 26 of the "30 Paintings in 30 Days" challenge I worked from a screen shot I took during the final night of the women's freeskate at the Olympics. This skater was not one of the favored athletes and I didn't write down her name or her country...and I regret that now. I remember her doing a nice program. I enjoyed watching all the skaters that night, even though NBC didn't air all of them in prime time. I checked the NBC cable channel and watched it there.

You can view the works by the other artists participating in the challenge just by clicking here.

One night I did a few sketches of the live events...not an easy task. lol They change positions really fast. Someone suggested that I pause the show, but I really wanted the challenge of sketching them almost "live."

Here are close-ups of two of my favorites.

30 Day Challenge - Day 25 - Korean Statue & More

Yesterday the NYC Urban Sketchers met at the Brooklyn Museum to sketch. There were some interesting exhibits. I knew I needed to do my gouache painting for Leslie Saeta's "30 Paintings in 30 Days" challenge. I wandered up to the Korean Art exhibit and found this statue. It was one of two on display and it is a boy attendant from the Joseon dynasty in Korea during the 18th Century.

After lunch I headed down to the lobby. The combination of this statue, the brick wall and the archway had interested me when I came into the museum, but I saved it for the second half of the day realizing that the statue itself was going to be a challenge. The statue is "The Fallen Angels" by Salvatore Albano. Marble statues are always intimidating as I have to think about what colors to use on the white that will show the shading and the shape. Then this particular statue had such strange contortions of the bodies of the fallen angels. It was very difficult to figure out what body part belonged to each angel. I ended up sketching the statue with a ultramarine blue watercolor pencil and then going over that with a light wash water-soluble graphite pencil. Watercolors were added later.

As usual the group gathered at the end of the day for libations and to share our artwork at a local restaurant/bar called Tooker's Alley. The bar is artist friendly and they even have blank pages in the back of their menu for patrons to draw something to leave for their archives. I didn't sketch in the menu. These are three of the other sketchers who were seated across from me.

30 Day Challenge - Day 24 - Poultry Farm

Yesterday our weather included drizzle for much of the day, but I wanted to paint an outdoor scene. I went to a poultry farm not far from me. You can select your own fresh poultry there. They have several huge roosters, one in front along the street, and one in the back. When I got there I parked next to several cars with a good view of the rooster, but I can't tell you how many people parked right in front of the rooster while I was there, blocking my view. lol It wasn't like they were anywhere near the shop entrance parking there! Anyway the rooster is my Day 24 gouache painting subject for the "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge.

Check out the other challenge paintings here.

30 Day Challenge - Day 23 - Foggy View to the Bay & Shoes

We had some warm temperatures the last few days and that combined with the cold ground gave us a bit of fog in the early part of the day when I was out scoping out a place to paint. I ended up down by the bay in Blue Point to do my Day 23 gouache painting for the "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge.

Don't forget to check out some of the other work being done for the challenge here.

Last night the Patchogue Sketch Club met at the library. Our theme for the night was "Shoes." Everyone put their shoes that they brought on the long table that was set up. A timer was set for 15 minutes for you to sketch what was in front of you. When the timer rang you would move two seats to your right and sketch again, and then move again. etc. It was a fun way to get to sketch most of the shoes that were brought for the night. Everyone's favorite were the feathery pink shoes.

30 Day Challenge - Day 22 - Can of Flowers

As one of my Valentine gifts my husband bought me a bouquet of flowers. I originally put them in a glass vase but decided they looked too stuffy and formal. Instead I placed them in a tin can and used that as the subject for my Day 22 gouache painting for the "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge.

You can view the other artwork being created for this challenge here.

For those of you who may be interested in an upcoming challenge, both Marc Holmes and Liz Steele are organizing a 1 week challenge to sketch 100 people. It begins on March 5. I am hoping to participate again like last year.

30 Day Challenge - Day 21 - Sally

Yesterday I went to do portraits with my art group. We missed last week so it was good to get back to doing one. Sally posed for my Day 21 gouache painting for the "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge. I am finding it much easier to do skin tones with gouache instead of watercolors.

30 Day Challenge - Day 20 - Road to the Marina

I was up near Cedar Beach in Mt. Sinai today. The day had started out sunny but by the time I drove up there it was cloudy. I drove all the way to the end of the road and nothing jumped out at me. However when I turned around and saw how the road curved right in front of the marina I knew I had found the location for my Day 20 painting for the "30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge." Don't forget to check out some of the other great work by the other artists participating in the challenge. You can find their work here.

30 Day Challenge - Day 19 - Barn View

I drive around a lot always looking for new scenes to paint here on Long Island. Yesterday I was going from a friend's house headed to a particular spot to paint and was using the GPS on my phone for the best route. On the way I passed this awesome barn and just had to stop. I had never seen it before. So the barn became the subject for my Day 19 gouache painting for the "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge. I sat along the side of the road to paint this.

30 Day Challenge - Day 18 - Antiques

For my Day 18 painting for the "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge I painted an antique shop in Hampton Bays. It was fun to include many of the items that were outside the shop. Again this was done in gouache with ink added.

Paintings by the other artists participating in the challenge can be found here.

30 Day Challenge - Day 17 - Marsh View

Yesterday was a drizzly day but I ventured out with my mobile studio to do my Day 17 gouache painting for the "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge. This was done down by the bay in East Islip. The clouds did bring rain and I had to put the windshield wipers on every once in a while.

Click on the link here to see the other work being done for the challenge.

30 Day Challenge - Day 16 - In-Between

For today's Day 16 gouache painting for "30 Paintings in 30 Days" I drove around Sayville looking for a spot to paint. The street I was driving on faced this view directly. I've painted the house on the right before, but I liked how there was so much going on in-between the two houses. Since we are so close to the water it is common for people to have their boats stored on their property for the winter. I'm glad this one wasn't all wrapped up.

30 Day Challenge - Day 15

For Day 15 of the "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge hosted by Leslie Saeta, I did another painting at the Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay. The arboretum has this wonderful greenhouse filled with camellias...just one prettier than the next. Now is peak season for them to bloom. This is looking toward one of the greenhouse exits. Check the link to see the work done by the other participating artists in the challenge.

30 Day Challenge - Day 14 - Cacti

Today is Day 14 of Leslie Saeta's "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge. This was done at the Plantings Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay. They have lots of cacti, orchids, and tropical flowers. It was nice to be indoors and warm while I sketched since the temperature was about freezing outside.

30 Day Challenge - Day 13 - Side View

My Day 13 painting for Leslie Saeta's "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge was done in Patchogue while I sat in a parking lot for the overflow parking for a restaurant along the river.

30 Day Challenge - Day 12 - The Rooster

For my Day 12 painting for Leslie Saeta's "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge I used one of my own photos of a rooster. This was done with gouache, mostly fresh out of the tube. I wanted to see if the colors came out richer and they did. I don't paint from photos very often, but it was a very dismal, wet day here in NY yesterday.

Don't forget to go over to Leslie's blog and check out the work being posted by the other artists participating in the challenge.