one painting in one hour

Since the beginning of the Everyday in May projects, and shortly after painting in church in under a hour, I thought that I should try to do some more paintings in a short time, just to see how I do.

So, after some thinking, and some listening to an old episode of the Creative Mom Podcast, I decided that a self-portrait should work well for the job.

I had pre-sketched myself the other day, but I wasn't very happy with the drawing, so I decided to just put the background color over it, and start from scratch.

Before doing anything, I had to "straighten up" my boys' book collection which was all over, in order to have a space to set up my easel. The studio space we're trying to put together still has a long way to go, and if I set up the easel in there, there will be no space to actually more around. So I opted to bring everything out to the living room, which then took more time, as mentioned above.
I then found a way to hang a small mirror from the easel, so I'd have some way of looking at myself while painting.
I then painted a the orange background over the back and after giving it a few minutes I set my timer for an hour, and started to paint. I "drew" directly with the brushes, and attempted to look at myself while I was painting.
The set up for the mirror got in the way, as far as painting the left side of the canvas, plus I did not get a look at my whole face at once, which I knew it would lead to distortion, but that didn't bother me.

Working quickly for an hour, checking my countdown a couple times, I managed to come up with the painting you see above. Those of you who know me personally might be a bit confused, as to say it doesn't look like me, . Those of you who don't know me, might say that it's a distorted face. I suppose all of you are right. As the artist, I don't think it matters.
I actually am really happy with the result. I wouldn't say it captured me perfectly, but it accomplished what I wanted to, with this painting. I did manage to make a face, with no prior drawing, show up in the canvas within an hour. I like the impressionist brushy style it's in. I like the colors, and I like the confidence it gives me for the next quick painting I will do. I learned some of what works best. I learned a bit more about dealing with acrylics, and I learned a bit more about how not to place the mirror next time.
Regardless of how I look, what do you think of the painting on its own? If you didn't know it was a self-portrait, or that it was done in an hour. What would your response be?


16x20 acrylic on stretched canvas

Every Day In May - seventeen

That's me. Croquill pen, with sepia ink, staring at a mirror.
This is my new "boy"haircut. Most of the time, it looks like this, and sometimes, I spike it up. Soon there will be a picture or painting of the spiked up version.
I enjoy drawing myself. Not because I'm so good-looking, but because I think it's a good subject, in that I have no one to please but myself, plus, it's a ready model. I don't need anything but a mirror.
Rembrandt painted tons of self-portraits. I can only hope to be as prolific, and achieve such skill.

On another note, I am disappointed with the particular sketchbook I am using at this time. It's not a moleskine, and boy does it show!
I really am surprised at how thin the paper is and how the signatures don't match up, and don't flatten out very well, as you can see from this drawing and it's scan. I need to keep drawing in it to finish it up, but it's kinda thick. I really cannot do any color wash in it, or it will go thru to the next page.

I think I will do a it more on this drawing, but I'm most sure what.
I like it even now. Any suggestions?

Every Day In May - Eleven

This may be a bit hard to see, but it's a self-portrait sketch I did last night, on a canvas I intend to paint.
It's a bit of a challenge I'm giving myself, to paint it in an hour, much like the painting I did in church a few weeks ago. I want to see what I can accomplish in an hour. After all, if I could paint that large painting in 45 minutes, the 12x14 or so canvas should be doable. The issue is, when you go smaller, the details are smaller, and somewaht more time consuming. It's kinda strange.
Anyway, it's also a chance to record my new haircut.

Stay tuned for the progress.

Colored pencil on canvas

a look at the past...

Having a scanner will be so cool. This is the first slide I came across, and figured it was a good thing to scan and post. That way I get to see the quality as well as show you some old artwork.

I did this piece at the end of my senior year in college, in '95. That's 12 years ago. It was a piece that got to be in the senior show as one of my best. It's a self-portrait.
You might be thinking it's self-righteous; you would be mis-enterpreting my thoughts and intentions, but that's okay. It's actually a commentary on my surroundings at the time. I was thought to be a goody-two-shoes, or an angel, by most of my friends and peers, but I knew that in God's eyes, my halo was a crooked one. Far from perfect!
This is done in oil, on illustration board. It's about 9"x6", one of my smallest paintings.
It continues to be one of my favorites. It makes me be impressed at my own skills, and it makes me want to paint in oil again. When my studio is ready...
My studio is almost a reality, and we've made a lot of progress on it this week, thanks to my husband, and my brother-in-law. Thanks guys!