Poppies, Vincent, & A New Red

I had so much fun with this one, I couldn't wait a whole week to show you my Daily Painting from Friday.

Artist Kay Smith, posted a challenge on WetCanvas to take one of the images she had selected and to do it in a Van Gogh style. 

I selected a beautiful image she had of Poppies, and spent the next two hours (There's that time limit.) having way too much fun. 

 A little ad-libbing, a touch of Vincent, and a brand new Love...A Quiller Transparent Pyrole Red that sent me into Orbit, and has immediately become my favorite acrylic color. It's capability reminds me a lot of Windsor Newton's WC Crimson Lake (I think that is the name.)

The Result being a little 6.5 x 5 Acrylic painting on WC paper, that I am really excited about. While this one will still go in my Not For Sale pile. It has let me revisit Vincent's incredible Irises in my own way, and in doing so has offered me a glimmer of my former style.

 Thank you Kay for helping to light my path. 

Week 2 Of The DP'S

I failed miserably at doing my Painting-a-Day this past week.

I could make excuses and say I had Doctor appointments, Diabetes seminars, went to an Art League meeting, etc. And while all those events were true, it is not what kept me from painting. To say it was, would be a lie to you and to myself.

The honest truth is I just couldn't seem to get motivated. 


Instead, I found myself listening to that internal demon that boldly critiques every artist's move. I even found myself questioning if I may have permanently lost some of my knowledge and artistic skill during the high fever and surgery of last August.

Thoughts I refuse to give in to!

I will move onward to week 3 with the Hope that more of  my abilities will surface from their slumber. 

The Start Of The DP'S

I have decided one of the easiest ways to get my groove back is to start at the beginning. 

I will be doing a Daily Painting, with a time limit of 2 hours.(health permitting.)

These quickies will not be for sale. They are strictly for me to get used to painting again; to revisit what I had learned; or to experiment further. 

My hope is these works will advance me swiftly to where I had been, or they may show holes in my memory.

 With the high fever and everything that happened in surgery and the subsequent events of the past five months, I don't know what skills are still with me. Together we will find that out.

References will come from multiple sources. Workshops I will revisit; WetCanvas events and their fab reference library; and from friends photos; and my own references. 

The image itself is not as important as just the act of painting every day. It is time to get back in the groove and just paint. :)

I will be posting the Daily Paintings here on my blog, so I can be accountable to myself, and measure my progress back...Cyd