The Pears have it

Last week a bag of little red pears were on a manager's special of $.97 for 3 pounds! How could I pass that up? The first thing I did with them was to do some continuous line drawings. I started doing continuous line drawings because it is a good reminder to look at what you are drawing not at what you are doing so much on the paper. I had done some eggplants and clementines the week or so before and had so much fun doing them, so I am trying to do some every day or so. 

Here are the pear sketches. As with the eggplant, I ended up doing a painting. Each of these sketches takes about 5 minutes or so. No more than 10. So really no excuse not to do something every day.

#1

I don't always add the shading but it helped to keep my pencil on the paper to do so with this set up.

#2

I thought I had done more than one from this perspective, but I only have one. I know I thought about it. It gets the creative juices flowing to play around with the set up.

#3

I did lift my pencil to do the solo pear but otherwise each section was done without. I dumped these out on the table to see what it would look like.

#4

The drawings lead to this little 6x6 painting. Which was great fun to paint.

#6

Then I sliced them all up and dried them~ dried pears are the best and still so beautiful.

Day 15, Red Onion

Day 15, red onion, 4x6 oil on watercolor stock

Not doing too well with a painting a day, but still thinking about the 15" time limit and how it has already helped me painting outdoors again. I wiped off 3 15" paintings of this one onion. I did not realize just how complex an onion can be. The shape is easy enough but the nuances that make it an onion stymied me with only 15 minutes to capture it.

Day 12 - 15" Painting - Scissors

Day 12, scissors, 6x4 on watercolor postcard stock

I managed to do my self-imposed, self-improvement assignment yesterday in this pair of sewing scissors I had left laying around in my studio. I again beat the buzzer, so once I am done with my sample pack of watercolor postcard stock, I will move up a size or two. It is important to not play it too safe. I am enjoying the card stock surface and I am amazed at the quality of this paper. The oil is not leaking through it, it takes the paint so well and the paper is so nice and thick. This is hot-pressed surface stock, which was always my preference for my watercolors. Hot pressed is a smooth surface and cold-pressed has a texture to it.

Pear Odalisk

Day 11 4x6 oil on Watercolor postcard stock

I have been severely negligent in getting to my 15 minute daily painting. Here is the last pear from the bag I bought at the farmer's market 2 weeks ago. Took them awhile to get ripe, but this one is now perfect so I had to paint it so I could eat it. I managed to beat the clock for a change-it helps to keep it simple.

Day 6 and 9 combined

Day 6, 6x4, Thread oil on linen

Day 9, 6x4, Vernia's Thread, oil on linen

I did Day 6 in 15" and decided after looking at it for a few days that I wanted to make a painting out of it. I tried a new set-up for it. The first one I had the spool sitting on a canvas board with my MAC laptop showing silver in the top corner. I pulled out a dish towel for the second, upgraded version. I tried to paint the "finished" spool of thread in 15" but I did go over that time. Still, I don't really want 365 rough sketches laying around the house so I may do more of these duplicate studies as I go along. I have never done thread spools before but I may look into doing a few more. I have more wooden spools to play with but I did like the large size of this one and the nice slope to it. I found this when my elderly neighbors belongings were being boxed up and given to ARC. I was told to take what I wanted and I saw this spool sitting on top of a box of sewing sundry items with the needle in place. Perfect little model for a quick study. I also found an iron from the 1930's I think. It will also be put in the role of a model.

Day 7 is Eggplant - 15" study

Day 7, Eggplant #4 oil on watercolor paper

I am finding 6x8 a little rough to get done in 15" so I found some watercolor postcards that are 4x6. I am going to use them up until I get a bit faster. It was fun painting on this cold press surface and it took the oil well. No oil leakage through the paper. I am not past the eggplant stage yet as they are really fun to paint. I have one more I hope to do before I move on. Now that the garden has been nipped, there are no more to be harvested. It has taken me about two weeks to do 8 days, so I am not yet actually doing one a day. Whatever works!

# 3 - Eggplant

Day 3 Eggplant, 8x6, 20" study on canvas board

Eggplant is always fun to paint. The rich colors in one little homely shape-but oh what interesting shapes they all have. I only have 6x8" panels as my smallest size on hand and this one did go over the 15" - I just wanted to carve out the shapes of the crown (can't really call them "leaves" and I don't know the proper term for the eggplant cap.)
I noticed that inadvertently I have a color thing going on here. Red tomato, Yellow pear and now Purple eggplant. I did paint eggplant for the next 2 days which I will not be posting.

15 minute paintings Day 2 - bartlett pear

Pear Study, 7x5 done in 15 Minutes

Pears are by far one of my most favorite subjects. I paint them not only when they are in season but when I travel it is the first fruit I gravitate to at the market. I have a travelogue of Pears where others do landscapes. Day 2 found me with a 5x7 panel. Those extra inches mean keep it simple!

Day 1 is a beautiful heirloom tomato

1. Mr Stripey, 4x6, 15" study

I read a blog post last weekend in which the author had just attended an art workshop. He had garnered from it the discipline of doing a 15" painting every day for 365 days. I have attempted variations on that theme on and off over the years, never making it the whole year, but always gaining something from it. One of the best life drawing classes I have ever taken involved painting the model in motion for a half hour. Then getting 30 seconds poses, a minute, and by the time we had the 5" poses it seemed like a plethora of time; all this in 3 hours. I was always exhausted at the end of the evening but the exercise itself was invaluable. Don't get hung up on the details!
So, I have started this regime again. Here is #1. I may not make it to 365 days but that is okay. For now it is working to loosen me up after spending so much time getting ready for the museum show. I have missed painting plein air. This exercise will get me warmed up for that. Luckily we have the last of the garden produce to get me started. I grabbed this heirloom tomato off the counter.
I will not critique these as they are not meant to be "serious" works. I usually love these studies the best, though.