Art = Life at R.L. Delight Fine Art

Friday, January 6, 2017

Day 6: Elements # 6: Stone and Shell

This set up was a bit simpler than yesterday's. I must admit, I am enjoying painting these still life paintings. I don't consider myself a still life painter as I much prefer to be painting plein air but it is a nice change of pace. Since I am doing a challenge and want to paint from life, I am working on the still life. I also want to make a few larger paintings with my plein air studies as reference. I will have to wait on that until next month.

I have been using 5"x7" gessobord to paint on. I have a lot of them that I purchased quite a while ago. I thought this would be a good way to use them up. I decided that, if I felt it were needed, I would crop the paintings. This gives me a little room to experiment. I decided to crop this one about an inch to give it a better composition.

At the moment, I am using a limited palette of Transparent Earth Red, Permanent Red Deep, Hansa Yellow Light, Hansa Yellow Deep and Ultramarine Blue. I am using Gamblin's Radiant White for my white at the moment. Not my usual white but I thought I would experiment.

This set up was a bit precarious. Everytime I walked by the shell would wobble and threaten to fall off the top. Here is a picture of the set up in the background. The lighting for the pictures isn't the best. I need to work on my studio lighting this year. I am still unpacking too but I have enough room and light to work!

Off to rest up for tomorrow!

-Renee

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Day 5: Elements #5: Stone, Iron, Bronze

Another late post in haste. I thought I would do a simpler painting today. Turns out I miscalculated on that! This took me a while but I got it done. It has been so cold out that I haven't been able to get outside to paint en plein air. I am getting a bit restless but I am also enjoying slowing down and taking my time in the studio. I decided to paint "elements" of the usual subjects one finds out of doors. It has been interesting so far but still have many more days to go this month.

A parting shot:

Until tomorrow,

-Renee

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Day 4: Elements #4: Wood, Metal, Feather

Still too cold to be out painting or drawing so I was back in the studio today. I am trying to work through a few ideas for larger paintings. This one was a challenge today. I struggled for quite a bit and finally got it to where it will at least give me a place to start. Some days are like that. It was a good learning experience! Short post today. I am off to clean my brushes and get ready for tomorrow.

Goodnight!

-Renee

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Elements #3: Seaweed, Stone, Shell, Wood

I wisely decided to stay warm in the studio today. We are simply not used to these bitter cold temps. We have a very damp freezing cold here, the kind that goes straight to the bones and makes them ache. The wind is coming from the east, the snowy coastal range behind us, and collides with the moist air coming off the sea. So it was a still life set up for me today. I have two other ongoing still life set ups in my studio at the moment so I set it up on the only space I have left. Unfortunately, I discovered the hard way that the monkey puzzle tree that all but obscures the south facing window does weird things to the light. I got a bit confused as the time went by. I have only been in my new studio for a month. I need a year of tracking the sun to learn the nuances of the natural light coming in the window. Lesson learned!

I enjoy collecting materials from the beach. I have always been attracted to rocks and bits of twigs, leaves, and pretty much anything else that nature provides. Those of you who are collectors of this type know what I mean. I was born that way. I don't remember a time when I didn't collect this stuff. Every place in the house I sit has a bowl of rocks or bits of driftwood by it. Now I get to do something even more enjoyable with the material, I get to paint it!

It is a fun challenge to portray the sensuous beauty that I see in each piece. The 30 in 30 challenge is a perfect excuse to focus on this, hence the "Elements" line. Here on the coast, the waves carve caves into the cliffs, and the water that runs to the sea cascades to the sand and rock of the beach and into the waves. When storm waves have scoured the sands out of the caves I often find these holey rocks. I love them and can't resist taking a few home. Bits of dried seaweed twist into interesting shapes where they are left behind on the high tides. I am fascinated with the organic curves and puzzles they contort into. Over the years I have found a lot of whole sand dollar shells here too. I limit my collection of those but they are fun to paint and I enjoy the way the smooth shells feel. I propped these up on two big pieces of driftwood and painting this composition.

I need to get my digital SLR camera back up and running. Cell phones have amazing cameras these days but the subtle colors I painted in the shell and the textures are lost in the photo. I will have to work on that...

What is your favorite thing to collect?

Cheers!

-Renee

Monday, January 2, 2017

Day 2: Elements #2: Whale Bone

I have had a long wait to get back to my favorite spot to paint, Short Sands Beach, aka "Shorty", otherwise known as Smuggler's Cove. As I posted on my Facebook post, there is a golden piece of my heart that lives here. Several months ago a dead whale washed ashore. As it was toward the end of the tourist season, they decided to let the body remain for nature to do as it will. This is in Oswald West State Park after all. From the time we bought our house last spring until now I have not been able to get there to paint. I knew I wanted to sketch and paint the whale skeleton. All that is left is this part of the skull.

It was bitterly cold on the beach today. Temps about 34 degrees with a wicked north wind coming off the water to bring the chill factor down to 25 degrees. I had several layers on but if you ever stood in one spot for a couple of hours you know how cold a person to get. In the end I was shivering so hard I could hardly hold the brush. My paints became stiff from the cold and gritty from wind blown sand. The oil sketch is a bit rough but I decided to call it good for the day. A few stray snow flakes began to fall as I hiked out. I got home, still shivering from the cold, and administered hot shower, hot food, and hot drink in that order. I am finally warm.

It has been a good painting day. I want to get back soon, when a tad bit warmer, and make a detailed drawing. Here is a final closeup on site of the painting:

What is the most unusual thing you have painted, drew, or otherwise experienced?

-Renee

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Day 1: Elements #1: Clouds

First plein air and first dropped painting of the new year!

First I would like to wish all a Happy New Year!

I have neglected to post and share what I have been up to, both in and out of the studio, for quite a while. There are times when life takes off like a spooked horse and you have to drop everything to chase it down or coax it back. Without adding a long story to this post, I will just say that 2017 finds us settling into our new house. Emergencies are sleeping at the moment and progress is slowly being made to rectify the neglect the house had seen over the years.

This past year has taught me to be relentless. I have learned the painful lesson of being relentless about getting enough rest, eating a very specialized diet, without fail, and getting daily exercise. I am still on the path to good health but I have spent the past year battling to improve and can honestly say I have been successful. I will have to be relentless about it for the rest of my life but shouldn't we all be?

I am learning to be relentless in my art and music. Daily practice has become my lifestyle and a privilege. I am sure there will be interruptions but I am striving with every fiber of my being to get in a daily practice no matter what, even if the house decides to spring another emergency surprise or there seems to be no time!

I have big and little goals to strive for this year. The plein air painting will continue but there will also be more studio paintings and, finally, I am turning my attention to getting a body of work done for the year. So, I will end with a painting I finished toward the tail end of 2016. I really enjoyed painting "Cara Cara" as Cara Cara oranges are my favorite snack. They are delicious and beautiful!

Where in life are you relentless?

-Renee

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Day 4: A New Backyard: 10.20.30 Challenge

Labor Day weekend is always a busy time here on the coast. Not only are there a lot of visitors to the area but we are involved in a lot of activities. I spent an hour on Saturday doing a sketching demo for an event at our local art center. Sunday our band played a long, three hour gig at one of our annual local events. The band has a standing date to play there every year.

I will give a brief mention here, I play a 5-string electric cello in The Sedona Fire Band. My mate Bob plays trumpet, coronet, and flugelhorn. Click on the band name to get to the website. We will be recording our second band CD this winter. Playing music with my bandmates is one of the many joys in life.

It was a busy weekend. I did squeeze some painting in but did not have time to post. I will be playing catch-up this week. We still have a lot of work to do on our new house to get it ready for the winter as well as upgraded and renovated. We do have some beautiful views all around. We have a peek of the Nehalem river below us and of the river valley. The view from the front is framed with the beautiful coastal mountains. Behind us, we have a nice view of these trees. At least for now. The waning summer light was just beautiful this day. I didn't have a lot of time due to rehearsal schedules and celebrations and all but did my best to squeeze in a painting session. I was able to do the 10 and 20 minute part before I had to get going.

I am really enjoying the addition of focusing on values. It is really helping me to see how much I need to push them and spread out the different values in the composition. I still believe I need to push my darks and lights further apart.Here is the 10 and 20 minute paintings side by side:

The 10 minute painting looks very abstract but I am finding it really helpful to get me thinking about the design of the painting.

Here is a closer view of the 20 minute painting:

I know, none of these paintings look terribly exciting at this point. I am getting excited by how much I am learning!

Tomorrow I get to work on my studio. Currently it is stacked with boxes and needs the walls and floor painted, the switches and plugs repaired, and shelves and cupboards put up. We will be moving all of that out of the studio and I will work like crazy in the next couple of days to get all the painting done and what shelves and such I can get up. I can't wait to get all that done and get moved in!

I will probably not have time to post in the next few days but will catch up with the challenge soon.

Yours in paint,

-Renee