Thirty in Thirty Day Collage and Closing Thoughts

So why should you join this challenge? The challenge is not about finishing 30 gallery quality "perfect" paintings. It's about getting in to the studio to try new things. It's about painting more often. It's about having fun and developing new habits! This challenge has changed the lives of many artists and I hope you you will experience the same! It's important to remember you are not doing this challenge alone. Leslie Seata

This is the quote on the home page for Thirty in Thirty challenge. This is the 6th time that I have done the challenge. I painted more, tried new things, made better habits. Some came out better than others but on the whole, I am quite pleased with the results. Worked on small format, 6 x 8 ".  Did some work on cutouts from previous collages that when I cut up to size saw that they would make good starts. On these I used crayons.The rest, canvas on cardboard, worked with oils wet on wet with brush and palette knife.

Photovisi collage

Last but not least is the wonderful chance to see some great artwork and meet new artists. I want to thank all those that visited my pages and the wonderful encouraging comments. 

Thirty in Thirty Day 30 Violet Clouds

This started out with mostly violets and purples with a little yellow and brown for the earth... it was pareve, neither here nor there. First thought just go over it and do a different painting, but the "what if"  came in... Sometimes, almost all the time, I am a bit aggressive with my paintings, scraping or drawing over. So took my blue crayon on the side aggressively filled in the sky area.. used medium to push it all around and get that insipid violet out. Hey, where did that little house come from???

Took this photograph late in the evening... last light...original bluer than turquoise. will take another tomorrow.

Violet Clouds

Oils on canvas covered cardboard

Crayons

6 x 8 "

Thirty in Thirty Day 29 What If

Can't believe that this is almost the end of the challenge!!!! Usually, around this time I feel washed out, but now I feel that I have just got started, ready to continue.

Well, what a strange title.... What If.... well you all know that sometimes you think while painting, what if I put this color, what if I scrape [love scraping] this out etc. Well, this painting was built on what-ifs... First decided that .. what if I use my crayons instead of wet paint. What if I applied some medium... what if another layer... what if more crayon strokes etc.

I learned a lot of what the crayons could and could not do on canvas.... couldn't put more than 2 layers... couldn't crayon after the medium, have to wait for it to dry...

What If  Lonely Leaf

Caran d'Ache neocolor I

Canvas covered cardboard

6 x 8 "

Thirty in Thirty Day 28 Dancing Leaves

A group of snake plant leaves.... May put some more color... like the fresh spontaneous feeling
Used a green toned canvas brushwork and palette knife and a little scratching...

Oils on canvas wrapped cardboard

6 x 8 "

Well the real story was thatI overworked this to death... so I showed the first layer... scraped, sanded rubbed till all you could see was faint red and green leaves... worked on it today and here is the result... 

Red is a bit too bright much duller in original.. I like the greens in the first layer better... 

Second Layer

Thirty in Thirty Day 27 Snake Plant

 I love this plant, Sansevieria trifasciata,commonly called snake plant or mother-in-law's tongue.. Have some growing in my garden...think these are going to be a start of a mini series... after the challenge.  Although I did start one at workshop for collage work. Brush work plus palette knife.

Oils on canvas wrapped cardboard

8 x 6"

Thirty in Thirty Day 26 Potted Plant

First I want to tell you all about a great source for HD photos that are amazing, Unsplash.. I found this site through Chris Lally's blog when she posted Themes for Artists to Explore in Paint... They are absolutely amazing... said that before.. Chris is up to about 100 themes already..

This is a WIP... worked on it some today... but it's not quite finished and already dark and raining out.so
I photographed using my smartphone ..needs some tweaking. This was done from one of the references from Unsplash that just cried "paint me"  Used both brushes and palette knife.

Oils on canvas covered cardboard

8 x 6 "

Reference Unsplash

Thirty in Thirty Day 25 Last of the Poppies

This is the third and final version of poppies in the yellow field. The  first was day 12 and the second day 15.
All were cutouts from and collage project a few years ago. After cutting the cardboard into 6 x 8 " formats I
saw some had the potential start for new work.

Finished this on with more crayon work and then with oils.

Crayons and oils on collage cutout on cardboard

6 x 8 "

Thirty in Thirty Day 24 Landscape Fantasy

I am coming to the end of the start cutouts from my old collages.  This is crayons on a newsprint collage that also had crayons on it.  Had no idea what to call it ... so named it Landscape Fantasy. I really had fun doing these, wish I had more to cut up.

Crayon sketch on paper collage on cardboard

6 x 8"

Thirty in Thirty Day 23 Open Sky

Another cutout from a previous collage on cardboard.  Wanted to work on the sky a bit more with my crayons but they disturbed the thin layer of newsprint.  I may tweak with oil and cold wax at a later date.

Crayons on paper collage on cardboard

6 x 8 "

Thirty in Thirty Day 22 Creeping Creatures

What a crazy day yesterday. By the time I wanted to photograph some ready paintings it was too dark. I like to schedule the day before.

This is another painting or rather sketch on a cutout from a previous collage.  I used my favorite Caren d'Ache neocolor I wax oil crayons.  The are harder than regular oil pastels and I love them.  Seems that all sorts of creatures are creeping in my works. Where did they come from?

Crayon sketch on collage

6 x 8 "

Thirty in Thirty Day 21 Orange Leaves

Can't believe that we are in the final stretch.  It has just flown by.

Just two simple leaves from a branch... Tried to mimic the bokeh photography effect.

Oils on canvas wrapped cardboard

8 x 6 "

Thirty in Thirty Day 20 Mountain Trail

This composition reminds of a mountain trail.  Another done with a cutout from collage on cardboard, with added crayon work. It's fun working with sections from old projects.

Crayon work on cutout collage

6 x 8 "

Thirty in Thirty Day 19 Something Hiding

Here is another painting done from cutting up an old collage on cardboard.  Most were covered with canvas but a few showed sign for an interesting starting point.  The original collage was newsprint paper,oil pastels. and wax crayons.  Added some more crayon work.  As I look at this I feel that something is hiding. Guess anyone will see different things in the jungle of color.

Wax crayon cutout collage.

6 x 8 "

Workshop Concept Project January 2016 Our Community Center

In between the thirty in thirty challenge we had our first workshop challenge for 2016.We were supposed to go on a painting outing a few months ago but because of the security issues, it was cancelled. So instead of drawing inspiration from nature the project focused on our Community Center where we meet weekly. The instructions were to paint an aspect or concept, not necessarily an interior or exterior view.

We could work in any media on 40 x 40 cm wrapped canvas. These canvases would then be placed in a sort of floor mosaic.

I photographed a few of the artificial potted plants that are in the lobby.  Made a tight crop of one area.
The background I painted with oils and cold wax. The leaves and shapes from newsprint and worked on with my Caran d'Ache neocolor I crayons.

It was interesting to see the different approaches. Most were focused mainly on our art activity. I always enjoy these projects for several reasons. First they help to unify the group and second they force us out of our comfort zones making us think out of the box. I was a bit disappointed that not all took part.

At Heleni's suggestion, I made changes to the cutout leaves in the center to open the composition.

Revised Collage

Oils and cold wax 

with crayons

40 x 40 cm

Oils and cold wax collage

with crayons

40 x 40 cm

Here are few photos from the event thanks to Shoshi Tal photographer

Thirty in Thirty Day 18 Violet Landscape Melody

This is another painted with leftovers from my charts.  An imaginary landscape. It was all violets, purples.and pinks. Photographed it this morning and ready to post.  But then, looked it over and thought I should spark it with some yellows or oranges... don't know if I did the best thing. I am so expert at ruining a good start. Next time I'll try editing changes in Photoshop to SEE if they really work.

Final Tweak

Violet Landscape Melody

Canvas wrapped on cardboard

8 x 6 "

Heleni thought the oranges and yellows a bit too strong so I muted thm a bit...

Thirty in Thirty Day 17 Orange Melody

I am really having a lot of fun doing my charts and the colors left over have helped me with lots of inspiration. for new works, mainly sort of abstract imaginary landscapes. This was painting on a toned canvas using mainly oranges, therefore, my orange melody.  I am a happy camper with this painting.

Oils on canvas wrapped cardboard

6 x 8"

My two Red Charts

Cadmium Red top left

Mixed with other primaries and graded with white

Mixes: l-r

Prussian blue- Ultramarine blue- Alizarin Crimson-Cadmium yellow- Lemon Yellow

Alizarin Crimson

Mixes l-r

Prussian blue-Ultramarine Blue- Cadmium Red-Cadmium yellow-Lemon yellow

Please note that these colors are not perfectly represented. I am not a pro at photography but they do give the general picture. 

I have in the front yard a canopy and an old TV chair that has seen better days.  It's a good place to photograph with shade., but sometimes disturbs the favorite sleeping spot of my yard cats..

Meet Lady, she had to investigate what is going on!!!

Lady

Thirty in Thirty Day 16 Tulip

This may be a WIP. Started this and scraped several times, even cleaning with paper towels and wet wipes. I am going to try to finish and maybe just work on the background and not the flowers with some impasto paint. At this stage, it looks more like a watercolor except for some areas of impasto that I left. This is usually where I make a mess of things. Heleni says I have great beginnings but somehow tend to over work... so is everything to be just a start?

Worked on this in class today... Worked on the background and intensified the tulip... having fun with wet on wet.

Oils on canvas covered cardboard

8 x 6"

Worked with brush and palette knife

Thirty in Thirty Day 15 Fowers in Field II

I am so glad I have the reserves for blog posts. Life seems to creep in and the day has gone before you know it. This is the second of the yellow field and red flowers. The original that was cut up from here.
Used oils and cold wax on the paper and gouache.

Oils and Cold Wax on cutout collage

Thirty in Thirty Day 14 Green Melody

Here is the green abstract. Green were mixed from Prussian Bue with Cadmium Yellow and Lemon Yellow graded down with white. See chart.  I did, in the end, add some more yellows to the mixes. The photo is a bit brighter  than the original... tried several times .. so it is with digital and monitors.

Oils on canvas covered cardboard

6 x 8"

Thirty in Thirty Day 13 Blue Melody

Painting or exercise, that is the question? I am trying out a split primary palette, warm and cool blues, reds and yellows.  Decided to make some color charts to see how these colors mix.

The top row of the color chart shows the master color top left and the mixes with the other primaries.
Then I made graduations with white of each mix.  This first chart the master color was Prussian blue a cool blue with a very strong tinting power, which overpowered the other colors or I used too much of it in the mix...

Decided to use the leftover paints for a some small abstracts one in with the blues and one with greens. Some of the reasons of the challenge is to learn new things and have fun doing it.

Oils on canvas covered cardboard

6 x 8 "

Prussian Blue Chart

Top L- R Prussian Blue

Mixes with Ultramirine/ Alizarin Crimson//Cadmuim Red

Cadmium Yellow/ Lemon Yellow

Thirty in Thirty Day 12 Field Flowers I

A few years ago I did a collage for one of our workshop concept challenges. You can read about it here. This was one of the collages that I cut up 6 x 8 " formats for the new Thirty in Thirty  challenge this January.

The paper was peeling and it's time done!!! After cutting the formats, I noticed that a few had some potential as a starting point.

I didn't do much, strengthened the colors and composition using oils and cold wax which went on the paper and gouache.

Oils and Cold Wax on collage cutout

8 x 6 "

Thirty in Thirty Day 11 Leaf and Buds

 I used another reference from morguefiles. Have no idea what the name of the flower is but loved the colors and the way it was placed.  Worked in oils wet on wet with impasto paints.  Did a bit of scraping and repainting... chocking this up as experience.

Oils on canvas covered cardboard

6 x 8"

Thirty in Thirty Day 10 Floating Leaves II

Here is the second of the floating leaves. The first was here day 8.  Worked on canvas covered cardboard 8 x 6 ", wet on wet impasto paints. I know there are some flaws that I will fix in the leaves but there are times that you have to STOP... I saw in the reference the tree reflected in water hope I succeeded!!!

Oils on canvas covered cardboard

8 x 6"

Thirty in Thirty Day 9 Cutout Landcape

This is another of the cutouts that I made while cutting a previous collage painting on cardboard. As you can see the paper was fraying in several spots.  

Like the idea of painting over paper and now looking over the process, I think I will continue investigating the process. Meanwhile, I was interested in reusing the cardboard for the 30 in 30.   Some of the sections being used as startups.

This turned into some kind of mountain scene. Tore away pieces of frayed paper and continued to color using my Caran d'Ache neocolor I crayons.  I did add a few highlights in oil and cold wax. Found that oils with wax would work nicely on these cutout sections.

Crayon on cardboard collage section

6 x 8 "

Thirty in Thirty Day 8 Floating Leaves I

Oils on canvas covered cardboard, Done wet on wet with impasto paints, no medium. Used both brush and palette knife with this. Really enjoying the process of wet paints, still not in complete control.

Used a file from morguefile for my reference and cropped in 2 sections, this is the first.

Oils on Canvas Covered Cardboard

6 x 8 "

Thirty in Thirty Day 7 Abstract Landscape

This is another cutout from a previous collage. Used my oil wax crayons, Caren d"ache neo color I, mainly because the oils didn't work well on the thin newsprint paper. May experiment with oils and cold wax on some others and see if it works.

Crayons on collage cutout on cardboard

6 x 8 "

Thirty in Thirty Day 6 Pink Fungi

The other day I saw some interesting fungi growing on a log in the yard.  Took several shots. This is a closeup.  Worked wet on wet using impasto paints. Oils straight from the tube with no medium.

Oils on canvas on cardboard

8 x 6 "

Thirty in Thirty Day 5 Leaf

Poor poor leaf.... thought this one would be much easier.  Every time I looked at the reference I saw more and more colors and was overwhelmed. Scraped it off several times and decided in the end to work without  the reference. Worked wet on wet with impasto paints.

Oils on canvas on cardboard

6 x 8 " 

Thirty in Thirty Day 4 Looking Up

The season I miss the most is autumn with all its lush colors painting the trees. So many shades of browns, reds, yellows and purples. One could get drunk with all that color it is so overwhelming.

Here I am back with impasto, paint straight from the tube. Used a rather large brush and palette knife. Everyone seems to tells you to choose a brush bigger than the what you would usually pick. Very difficult to handle wet oil paint on a small format with a large brush.  With paint thick, it's hard to fuss around  and not make a mess.

Oils on wrapped canvas on cardboard

6 x 8"

Thirty in Thirty Day 3 Patterns of Leaves

I don't recall offhand where I read this but sometimes in a painting that hasn't worked out as you planned there are still sections that have worked.  It was suggested to photograph those "sections" before reconstructing. I now remember where it was... Serena Barton in her book Wabi Sabi Painting with Cold Wax,  She was discussing creative reconstruction when sometimes we have to let go of a favorite part of our work. When cutting up two older works, I found interesting sections that could work on their own that I hadn't noticed as a whole.

This next painting/sketch was built on one of these cutouts.

Crayons on cutout piece of collage on cardboard

8 x 6 inches

Original cutout

pieces of newsprint got loose

Thirty in Thirty Day 2 Clementis

While I was preparing my formats I used 2 old collage paintings that were on cardboard and cut them up to  paste canvas on. After looking at a few, I thought some had interesting patterns that  I could use as starting off places or background.  This is one of them... Since they were newspaper cuttings  that had been painted over, some peeling, found it difficult to use oils over... So I am not to happy with this entry.  In the end used my Caren d'Ache neo color I wax crayons.

Oil & Wax Crayons on Cardboard 

collage

8 x 6 inches

Here is the collage that I cut up...

Thirty Paintings --Thirty Days #1 Through the Branches

Here it is January 2016 and I have joined Leslie and many, many other artists in the new Thirty in thirty challenge.

This will be my fifth challenge, my first January 2014, September 2014, January 2015, September 2015, and now January 2016. Still a feeling of anticipation, and a bit of stress but hoping that I will gain valuable lessons, habits, meet great artists and have a lot of FUN.

I will be working in a relatively small format. Canvas wrapped  on cardboard 6 x 8 inches. Thanks to Traudi , she gave me many trimmings from her rolls of canvas.  This time, I will be working in oils wet on wet and impasto technique straight from the tube. My theme will be foliage but flowers may drop in. I will be using a split primary palette, cool and warm blues, reds and yellows but some earth colors may seep in.

So here we go!!!

Through the Branches

Canvas on Cardboard

8 x 6 Inches

Oils