30 in 30- Day 29!

"Wine & Cheese"

8" × 8" 

Oil on panel, unframed

Display easel included

$125

Visit ellephantstudio.com For purchase! 

JET LAGGED!!! 

It's been Go! Go! Go! since landing in Seattle. I've almost crossed off half of my to-do list in one day! I even squeezed in an eye exam and got new glasses! They are ridiculously cute! 

We have also gotten to try new places while being here, but of course we hit the places we have been deprived of since living in NY. 

STARBUCKS! 

COSCTO! 

PHO! 

We also saw about 5 or 6 other people we haven't seen since 2010 when we lived here. 

Crazy how time flies.

Oh, I also had my paint withdrawals I spoke of yesterday kick in ALREADY.

I literally stopped in the middle of the sidewalk downtown and stared at a tree shouting to my husband to just look at it!!! It was perfect to paint!  

As soon as I realized what was happening I denied the picture and kept on walking. 

That was not just happening! 

Anyway, this painting was super fun for me to paint. This one I also did upside down. I used a photo for reference and used thicker paint with loose brush strokes to create the blurred out background. The color palette was different from my usual as well which I like. 

I will probably paint more similar to this. 

Not this week though!  

Heading out to a new restaurant shortly...I will blog tomorrow for THE LAST DAY!! 

30 in 30- Day 28

"Love you a Latte"

6" × 6"

Oil on panel, unframed

Display easel included

$60

Visit ellephantstudio.com to purchase.

I am blogging from my smart phone at the airport people! I've got some down time until our flight leaves.

So, I may or may not be obsessed with this challenge and can't shake the thought that I've left all my paints and brushes behind. After this flight they will be clear across the country from me! 

The idea already crossed my mind to borrow my mom's paint gear.

I'm giving myself until tomorrow afternoon before I start feeling the real withdrawals.... 

Hand twitching, seeing colors, examining lights and angles of every subject around me. It's coming.  I can feel it! 

I chose to post about this Latte painting because it reminds me of home. 

SEATTLE and the West Coast.  

Coffee heaven!

No offense East Coasters, but you can keep your flavored Dunkin Doughnuts drip! 

This painting was actually painted upside down (the painting,  not me). I use this method when I am dealing with tricky spheres, reflections, and lighting. This way it  prevents me from over thinking things. I can focus on painting shapes, and the negative spaces are easier to see. 

It's always a surprise when I turn the painting right side up because I have no clue if it really turned out or not until the end.

 Sooo suspenseful! 

This one happened to be success!

Thanks for reading guys! 

  

30 in 30- Day 27

"Fluff and Strut"

8" x 8" 

Oil on panel, unframed with easel

$115

Visit ellephantstudio.com to purchase.

The title of this piece reminds me of the movie Legally Blonde when they are in the Salon.

"Beeeennnnd, and SNAP!" 

"Fluuuuuuuuuuff, and STRUT!"

It's like guys at the gym. Baha!

Mr. Peacock does it better, just saying. Those feathers are FABULOUSA!

I felt the need to paint another peacock because the peacock mirrors I did the other day sold immediately after I posted them.  It was my "pancake hot off the griddle" moment. 

All I could think was, "So that's what that feels like".

MAGICAL. 

Every time I sell a painting it's uncontrollable, I start to dance. Well, more like an awkward wiggle jig hop remedy. Highly attractive, I know. My poor husband has to watch for my elbows. It's not a quick celebration either, I'll go goofy all day long! Oh well, a happy wife is a happy life, he can take it!

Anyway, this is the second painting I did in my painting spree of FIVE yesterday. I'm in love with that color blue. It's so vibrant! Whoever purchases this piece is going punch their living space in the face with  the color on this bad boy (in a classy way, of course). =)

Have a good day guys! 

30 in 30- Day 26

"Sweet Johnny Heaven"

10" x 8"

Oil on panel, unframed with easel

$125

The final remaining paintings won't have step by step photos. Lame, I know. It's because I actually did the unthinkable today.

I painted five in a row. 

FIVE.

Yah, it was insane. Paint was in all places. ALL PLACES! 

I brought this crazy upon myself. Why, you ask?

Hubby and I are heading out of town day after tomorrow, it was going to interfere with finishing the 30 day challenge. And of course the most logical reasoning was to paint them all at once. 

With that said, these apples were first in the line-up. I loved the way the "Lemon Tree" turned out from yesterday so much, I thought I would give apples a try.

 As it turns out, I've had a major breakthrough with getting comfortable with my paints. Not too comfortable though. I did scrape one of the 5 because it got away from me and was muddy and chalky. Doh!

The others? They turned out to be fanfreakingtastic. But you will see those in later posts. ;) Or on facebook.  

30 in 30- Day 25!

"Lemon Tree"

10" x 8"

Oil on panel, unframed

$125

I thought it was neat to show my steps on doing the Peacock mirrors in yesterday's post I have decided to launch.....wait for it....

Fo' Show February!!

FOR I will SHOW you the steps to creating my paintings! haha.

Clever, right?

I absolutely love today's painting! It took a while to find my subject and I woke up from my nap thinking YELLOW

Then I checked my facebook like I do every time my phone whispers my name, and my sister had posted this hilarious status.

"When life gives you lemons, freeze them, and throw them as hard as you can at the people who are making your life so difficult."

AWESOME, right?

Except I couldn't think of anyone to throw them at, which is a super big bummer. The status became irrelevant to me at this current time. I'll wait though, someone is bound to get a lemon in the face eventually.

About this painting and technique, I'll let the photos do a majority of the talking. I don't have a style yet, but I do know I should have laid in a background color in the "sky" prior to the top layers of detail. Lesson learned I suppose. So, I lay on my transparent colors first, usually touching each other, and then lighten and put creamy, bright radiant colors over the top. 

For final touches I examine to make sure there is enough contrast, and I will darken and lighten. Today the leaves needed more depth so I darkened in a few areas to make the light really say HEY GIRL.

And Viola! 

Not quite a Bob Ross episode, but we will get there. =) 

You are now free to mentally launch lemons my friends.

30 in 30- Days 23 & 24

"Peacock"

3- 10" x 10"

Oil on Framed Mirrors

SOLD

It would be super awesome to count this "painting" for three days. But that there feels like cheatin' to me! Soooo it's only going to count for two, haha because I didn't paint yesterday and I write my own rules!

I have had these three 10" square mirrors from Ikea for about four years now just collecting dust. They were $1.99 each and I never got to hanging them. Today I was winning at putting the pro in procrastination and finally told myself to shut up and PAINT! 

Three hours and a nap later I browsed on the computer for a while. 

An hour later, I finally decided to paint. 

 Couldn't paint a normal painting, nope. I wanted to paint on the mirrors... with a snack! Childish, I know.

I thought it would be awesome to show the steps I took to painting these. I basically just used a lot of white to mix with my paints. This made the colors pop against the espresso brown wood. I loved painting them on the floor, it was the only way I could get them to line up properly vs. doing them one by one on the easel and then attempt to puzzle it together. I also didn't have to use reference lines and could paint from one right onto the next! And the real reason is because I was super lazy and didn't want to stand. I can admit that just fine. ;) 

I realize I had slight toddler behavior today, but who cares these mirrors are SICK!

 I am seeing elephant mirrors in my future....

Thanks for reading guys! =)

30 in 30- Day 22!

" Terra Cotta Springa"

10" x 8" 

Oil on panel, unframed

Okay this is by far my favorite in this challenge! I'm so happy!! 

The day did NOT start out that way though. I spent up until early evening scheming for purpose with my paintings. I was stirring over the next move. It's been three weeks. This challenge is almost over. Every day that goes by I have been pushing for success. 

Since starting at the New Year I have:

Started painting!!!!

Created a blog

Painted some more

Created a website, with a business name

Did another painting or two

Added a facebook fan page

Oh, just painted again

Designed and ordered business cards

Kept on painting

Went out and showed my work for the first time to people, SO NERVE RACKING!

More painting (duh)

Currently, I now have work for sale in a store! Woohoo!

Paint, paint, paint

Did my first commissioned piece for someone

Procrastinated a little

Painted a painting

Listed a painting for auction on Ebay

You guessed it, I painted again.

Created a store on Etsy

Day 22... I finally painted my favorite painting. 

To sum this up, it's been an eternity of a month! With LOTS OF PAINTING! I have had my ups and downs. Doubts and joy. I have started something I am proud of, and it's something that brings me to tears. I've spent a long time talking about doing art, and an even longer time not doing art. I am excited to call these the early days as a painter and I can't wait for next month! 

So from this challenge I am grateful. Grateful to paint. 

Also, I am grateful for all of my awesome support!! Husband, my dear family, RUST BROWN for all of your awesome comments on my blogs! haha. And to my friends. THANK YOU!! =)