5-Day Challenge: Days 4 and 5

Et voici, my final report on this week's 5-Day Challenge. It's been a good one!

On Day 4 I continued working with the results I came up with on Day 3 below. It was a short session compared to the others, but I still did it.

results from Day 3

I painted the blocks that hadn't been painted yet (see above and to the right of the white critter?) and I added second coats of paint on most of the other blocks to make them richer.

I'm afraid that in my enthusiasm to continue working on Day 5 I forgot to take a picture of the results from Day 4 so you'll just have to take my word for it.

I spent Day 5's session polishing up. I continued with extra coats to make the colours even more solid, I added black lines where there were none and I fixed the ones that were there:

Day 5 results - close to done!, 12x12 on wood panel

When I look at it closely I see a few tiny touch-ups remaining before declaring it complete, but I'm pretty damn close and it feels good.

So on that note I declare this week's 5-Day Challenge officially complete and a success!

I showed up at the table every day, persisted to complete (or nearly) a piece, and my interest in art and art-making was re-kindled. A success indeed.

Perhaps next time you'll join me?

5-Day Challenge: Days 2 and 3

Here's a quick post on the results to date of my 5-Day Challenge, just to keep me honest!

After the blue pregnant lady in progress from Day 1, I switched to blank surface for Day 2. This is what I came up with:

background in waiting, 12x12 on wood panel

On Day 3 I had plans to continue the soft wash treatment on this background and see where that would lead me, but instead I got the idea to play with Bombay ink and ended up with this:

work in progress, 12x12 on wood panel

I love where this is going. It's such a new direction for me and I've no doubt it was directly influenced by the palettes we created in Mary Beth's Primary Colors workshop at S.A.W. I never expected it to go there, I just followed my intuition - one insight at a time.

I love it when that happens.

Day 4 coming soon...

5-Day Challenge + an Invitation

I'm temporarily interrupting my post-Squam trip report to kick off another 5-Day Challenge. I want to paint and this is the quickest way I know to get me there!

yesterday's results: a work in progress, 11x14 on wood fiber panel

she looks a lot like this one, non?

For those of you who are new here, a 5-Day Challenge is when I pledge to go to the table and paint at least once a day for the next five days (or the next four in this case since I started yesterday). And I invite YOU to join me!

Whatever your medium - film, words, melody, paint, yarn, wood, clay, string, pine cones, fabric or glitter - it doesn't matter. Your "art table" might be your computer screen or your dark room; mine involves paint.

It also doesn't matter whether you go to the table for ten minutes or two hours, the goal is to defeat resistance by showing up at the table at least once a day for five days in a row.

It's about practice and play - no perfection necessary.

Care to join me?

Let me know in the comments if you do! I'd love to see what you're up to.

5-Day Challenge: Days 4 and 5

I did it! Five days, five visits to the art table. Just the gentle kick I needed to get going.

Every time I do this 5-day exercise I see my confidence grow towards the end. I show up, I try out new things and I LEARN.

I didn't have much time to paint on Days 4 and 5, but I still painted. I tried something different: inspired by Day 3 paint leftovers and a favourite pot of jumbly tumbly pansies, I tried to paint a stylized (or maybe impressionistic?) still life - a first for me.

Here's the photo on which it's based:

I began with a mat board (about 9x7) on which I'd slathered my leftover paint from Day 3's Frida:

I detected the shape and colour of my blue flower pot on the bottom and it inspired me to try the pansies.

The background, pots and greenery were the product of Day 4, the flowers were added on Day 5:

I think I'm intrigued enough to continue and see where it will go.

This style of painting is new to me and completely out of my comfort zone, but a 5-Day Challenge is a great time to experiment since there's no pressure to produce anything to completion. The goal is to show up; that is all.

I'm hoping to do this type of timed challenge more often, I'll let you know if I do. And thanks to those who joined in this time 'round - you helped keep me honest!

'Til the next challenge...

5-Day Challenge: Days 2 and 3

Three days down and still going strong!

But I will not lie, Day 2 was frustrating and discouraging, leading me to these two potential backgrounds. The first one is 6x4, the second is approximately 18x7:

Day 2’s satisfaction – and it was an effort to find any – came from my having gone to the table, not from the end results.

But on Day 3, the first background became this:

Which then became this:

And after a few other interim states, led to this:

Can you guess where this is going? (Hint: F.K.)

Day 3 was a really good day.

Days 4 and 5 coming soon…