Before Breakfast

Drawing #22

Graphite and Pastel

I did not know what to draw today!  My mind was blank! I usually have an idea of what I want to do...but not today!! I looked at my plate sitting on the bench before breakfast and thought it would be easy to draw...it wasn't!! The spoon was easy but the plate did my head in, however I  got it done... after screwing up the first try this is it!

Egg Cup Pincushion

Drawing #21

Graphite Pencil and Pastel

More on sewing! This is a stainless steel eggcup I used to make this egg cup pincushion...I don't use it much anymore so it has become part of a collection of sewing tools that I paint. I am pleased with the way the eggcup looks using graphite....this is another study for an oil too!

Safety First

Drawing # 20

Graphite Pencil and Watercolor

Still on the sewing theme...what would we do without safety pins? I have had these for years and still use them at times.  I thought I'd use graphite pencil instead of pen for this one, it is a softer look and I quite like it for a change! Paintings are coming along...a bit of multitasking going on, I have a newsletter to put together too!

Bobbins

Drawing #19

Graphite and pastel

Some more equipment from my sewing days! Love the nice bright colors next to the grey... I used graphite pencil for the bobbins and pastel for the thread. Because  pastel paper has a grainy texture this photo has not come out very well...it looks better in real life! This is a study for an oil  when I do some more thread paintings.

Garden Delights

Drawing #18

Pen and watercolor

These are the last of my yellow cherry tomatoes this season...I call them my garden delights. The bright yellow color looks so good in the garden and they taste even better!! It may seem like I'm not painting much but I'm working on shoe paintings for a gallery...I will still post small paintings between times! I bought  Julie Ford Oliver's fracturing technique  artbyte and will be trying that out as soon as I can too! Have a look at her fantastic work here.

Miniature Collectible Shoe

Drawing #17

Pen and watercolor

My drawing today is this miniature shoe, it is only 3in high. I ordered clothing online and was sent one of these collectibles with my order...perfect for  me because I paint quite a lot of shoe paintings! First time I've drawn a miniature one!!

Fruit Salad

Drawing #16

Pen and Watercolor

Orange and  banana make a nice fruit salad... this was part of my lunch today, nice and healthy! It's not  always  as good as this, some days I feel like a bit of junk food...and  I have it!!  The thing I like about drawing daily is... I can have a go at anything, don't have to spend as much time setting up and I can still work on paintings while improving my skills!

Armed and Dangerous

Drawing #15

Graphite and pastel

$40+s/h
SOLD

I was originally going to paint this in oil but thought it would be good to try another medium....hence my drawing today! As soon as I had finished it  'armed and dangerous' came to mind...I have had my share of bleeding fingers over the years when I used to sew!  I tried using gouache on this at first but was more comfortable with pastel...this mixed media is new to me, but I'm liking the variety!

Protea

Drawing #14

Pen and watercolor 

 

Got my drawing done! My friend has these flowers growing in her garden and bought me a bunch...instead of painting the whole vase full  I did just one. Trying to do the whole lot would have taken too much time! Drawing daily is good until life becomes busy with a thousand and one things to do..so I'm keeping it simple and as long as I get one done everyday it's still good practice!

Coconut

6"x6" oil on board

$90 + s/h
Click here to purchase

Finally...here is the oil version of the coconut I did as a daily drawing. I have two small shoe paintings in progress for a gallery, so have had to work on those...and  a larger flower one I want to paint  that I haven't even got to yet!  This is a different palette than I normally use... ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, yellow ochre, white and  cerulean blue. I have used it a few times and really like it!

My drawing today #13

Elephant....graphite pencil and white pastel. Love elephants!!  I wasn't sure what medium I was going to use to draw  this! I have a clay elephant ornament in my garden and that helped me to make up my mind! I was able to use it to get the effect of the rough texture of their skin. I enjoyed drawing with graphite and think I will use it more.   

Spoonbills

Drawing # 12

Pastel on felt textured paper

I love these Spoonbills! They wade around the Estuary sweeping their bill from side to side in wide arcs looking for food.  I have painted them in oil but I prefer pastel... I am all for keeping these drawings simple otherwise they would overtake my painting time! Still enjoying them and  have a long way to go yet...but they keep me out of mischief!!

Squash and Cipollini Onions

Drawing # 11

Pastel on felt textured paper

My good friend gave me this squash and I bought the onions at the market, it's the first time I have ever seen them here.They are sweet and delicious roasted... great to paint too! I loved the soft colors of these vegetables, so it's another one I will paint in oils. This was drawn on some new felt textured paper I bought, it is mid grey  tone and has a nice surface for pastel...great for sketching!!

Art Deco Day

Drawing #10
Pen and watercolor

Another drawing to celebrate Art Deco Weekend!  We have thousands of visitors here from all around the world celebrating this weekend....great vibe in the city and fun seeing all the fabulous different fashions from that era! The building in the background is one of our iconic Art Deco buildings.

Coconut

Drawing #9
Pen and watercolor sketch

My drawing today...I have wanted to paint a coconut for a long time...this is a start!! I WILL paint this in oil, I love the different textures. I have so many ideas for drawings that I have made a list! I prefer to draw what inspires me on the day, but that does not always work!  Some drawings are harder than others and I will opt for a quicker one if  I am painting as well.

Valentine Vino

Drawing #8
Pastel  Drawing

Happy Valentine's Day!!!  I  love red wine and chocolates! This drawing took a bit longer because I had forgotton how messy pastel can be especially when it's on a plain background. I don't  want to take any longer than an hour when I do these drawings... something  I will have to think about before I decide what to draw!

Summer Color

8"x10" Oil on canvas

$120 + s/h
Click here to purchase

I could not decide what to paint today! I had already started this one a while ago so went with finishing it. This is part of the Estuary and in summer when the grass turns gold, the colors seem very bright...I love these trees that are scattered every where....always good to paint them!

 My drawing today #7

Deco Style...Pen and watercolor.  We are celebrating Art Deco here this week where everyone dresses up in the style of the 20's and 30's. I used to paint a lot of  art deco paintings on silk before I started oils...this was done from a photo!

Red Onions

Drawing #6
Pen and watercolor sketch

This sketch was done very quickly because I was running out of time. My idea is to do a drawing  every day for this year and not to do any ahead of time if I can help it...so some days there will be simple quick sketches like this one! I have four  sketch pads.... watercolor, pastel, oil and plain paper. These red onions were bought at our local farmers market and are delicious when cooked with the heirloom tomatoes in the previous post!!

Wave Foam

6"x8" Oil on board
$85 + s/h
Click here to purchase

A wave crashing over these rocks on a rough day! There are quite a lot of big rocks around our beach so on stormy days we get lovely foamy waves like this one...love watching them as well as painting them!! 

My drawing today #5

My Heirloom tomatoes....pastel on Mi Teintes paper. These are growing in my garden and are the first ones I picked. I haven't used pastels for a long time and thought this is the perfect opportunity to get them out again!

Lemons and Limes

Drawing#4
Pen and Watercolor Sketch

My drawing for today! I use lemons and limes a lot when I'm cooking...so always have a good supply on hand. I had these cut up on a plate but decided to draw them without it. I am giving myself 30-60 minutes to do a drawing each day, that way I can fit it around my daily painting and larger work!

New tool
I have just bought this handy MVP tool (Artists mirror, Value viewer and Planner) from Peggy Kroll Roberts. They are organized, easy to use and  are on a lanyard... you can hang them on your easel so you don't lose them!! Great idea....take a look here   

The Little shag

Drawing#3
Pen and watercolor sketch

I had planned to paint today but my brain was completely out of gear! Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!!! I eventually did this sketch of this little shag that was sitting on an old wharf pile. I have set a small goal with myself to do a drawing or sketch a day this year! Whether or not I do remains to be seen, but I will do my best! It's such good practice to improve my drawing skills and at the end of the year I should have a good collection and see an improvement!

Gull

Drawing #2
Pen and watercolor sketch

I have enjoyed my break from painting after the 30 day challenge...I will be starting again tomorrow! I found this gull on my usual morning walk, he was sitting quietly in the grass along the top of the beach just resting in the sun. Again I added a bit of color...it's nice to  to sketch  for a change! I like this one and I'm going to paint it at some stage!

Patty the Cockatiel

Drawing#1
Pen and watercolor sketch

Enjoying doing a few sketches....and thought I'd add a bit of  color as well.  We used to have two pet cockatiels a few years ago, one grey and one white named Patty...so clever and really fun birds to have around!  This sketch is a little looser than the previous oil one... I like pen and wash for that reason and will do more!

Along the Pathway

7"x 5 1/2" Oil on Canson Paper

 $25
Click here to purchase

I had been practicing drawing  figures before the 30/30 challenge and bought some canson oil paper to try some oil sketches....this one ended up far more detailed than I wanted!!  Now I have a bit more time I'm going to continue doing them as well as painting...some are done with pencil, some painted like the one above and others are pen and wash. With time hopefully I will loosen up and improve!! 

We have a seaside  pathway around the coastline of our city...this section of it is not far from where I live. It's a good place to sit, sketch and photograph all the people that walk by...maybe good for a series!

30/30 Challenge Collage

Here they are.. 30 Paintings!

I am glad I did this challenge and have learned  lessons along the way!  I learned that I don't want to post a painting every day, I do paint every day but sometimes a painting isn't finished... I don't want to post one I'm not happy with and  it's a lot of pressure to produce a good painting every day!
I learned that painting with three colors and white I could produce just about any color I wanted and I'm going to try other palettes as a result of that! I also learned that I can actually paint even when I don't feel like it...so all in all even though it was tough going at times, I'm pleased with  most of the paintings I did!
Thank you all for your wonderful comments, you helped so much  to keep me going...I have great friends!!