I’ve been working on a painting project that I finished a couple of days ago. I did seven painting starts the first week, seven middles the second week, seven finishes the third week. I learned a lot about patience and self discipline with the project. The tree in this post was one that succeeded. I was able to get six good paintings. One I considered to be  lesser and will sell as an unframed study. 

I’ve also gone back to cartooning. I was a cartoonist right after art school for a local newspaper back in my twenties.  Now and then I go back to them to amuse myself about the world of artists and sometimes other topics. Surprisingly, they sell well, to both artists and collectors. Most of them come from experiences I’ve had in my life as an artist all these years. I find that looking at awkward or cruel incidents sting. Looking at them with humor softens the blow and turns it into a laugh instead.

This country painter laughs a lot……

Start 1

I’ve been working on a start, middle, and ending project for this month. Seven paintings for the end result. Week one is just a block in, one per day. I’ve been spending about 30 minutes per day on each painting. After all seven are started, I start the middle of each painting for 30 minutes a day. The third week I finish each painting one day at a time, having 7 finished paintings in 21 days.

Why? It teaches me patience, and improves my thinking skills for each painting. It rests my eyes and my brain. It gives me a fresh idea to improve each painting as I continue each day. 

Country painters love to learn…..