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Feeling Good!

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It doesn’t come along all to often, but today was one of those days were I was more productive than I expected to be. I managed to finish off three paintings and create and finish a fourth one as well! Two were 8 x 10s and two were 10 x 10s so it wasn’t a big push, but going through the process of getting a painting to the done state can often be a challenge.

I have at least two other larger canvases that I’ve been working on for a while now and it’s a struggle to make progress – for different reasons. One is a large 36 x 48 inch canvas and I can only really work it downstairs in the basement (which is still drying out from flooding and it’s cold down there.) I kind of have to commit working down there all day to work it as I have to get a fire going in the fireplace to warm things up properly.

The second painting is one that is a little more abstract and has been stretching me. I’ve got a basic idea of what I’m after, but the result has changed significantly nearly every time I go back to it. It has at least two layers on it with some areas having been re-done five or six times. The paint is getting thick on that one!

Anyway, back to today’s accomplishments! I started off with a canvas that I had background colors, but hadn’t decided where to go with it. The bright sky made me think of warmer places and so the 8 x 10 ended up in a tropical island sort of a look. A new approach to waves that I hadn’t done before – I might make them a little less arranged next time around.

Warmer Climates

I then worked on a canvas I stared a few days ago and had nothing more than the sky created. I guess I was in a water mood as this one really gave me a feeling of being out in a boat looking off to the horizon. There is always something magical about being out on the water to me. It really begins to give you a perspective of how big this world really is when as far as you can see there isn’t another soul out there (at least none above the water line!)

Vast Distances

The third painting I started and finished today. Water isn’t the only natural environment I enjoy. Being among the trees and wildlife always helps me breath a little easier. This painting is a throwback to years when I was younger and remembering how I would just lie down and look up at the tree tops and the sky (just before I’d then get up and go climb one of those trees.) The sky brings me back to today and the sky I saw when I looked out the windows – it’s cold here in Connecticut at the moment! I think it was 10 degrees Fahrenheit this morning and the weather app said it felt like zero.

Winter Skies

The last painting started out as one of the many canvases I played around with using bottled paint to draw out trees with a little thicker paint to help them stand out. I have a ways to go before I’ll really be happy with how those come out, but I have to try! It’s a simple little winter tree blowing in the wind.

Wind Blown

I really got into the painting today. It’s a bit of a challenge where I’m set up as I have to be more careful to avoid getting paint on everything around me. That’s why I’m hoping to get the basement up and going sometime in the future as I can set up a room where I can really get into the paint. Of course the environment didn’t stop me completely today. I cleaned the paint off my face and my glasses and my hands were covered as always. Beyond that, I’ll be spending a little bit of extra time washing the blue out of my hair! The shirt is beyond saving and is a new part of my art wear these days.

I did make a video of my session today in hopes of starting to post my painting sessions. A large part of it was difficult to see as I held the canvases as I worked on them for a part of it. Even so, I need to see if I can convert it to a time lapse segment so that I can start posting those. Hopefully I’ll start posting those soon!