More PicMonkey

Still fooling with PicMonkey.  And you can add titles to the collage!  I also see a possibility for creating cards.  Pretty cool options.  Watch the video if you try it out, it helps!

Day 30! End of the 30 in 30 Challenge

Day 30 in the Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days Challenge!  The morning started with an incredible sunrise so it was only fitting to honor the last day of the Challenge with a painting of the canyon sunrise.  It is a treat each morning here as I sit and read and watch the changing light on the Snake River Canyon!  The Perrine Bridge is in the distance and the canyon walls reflect the morning light.  Different each day!

Day 29 - A Drive By

This winter scene was painted from a photo I took while riding in the truck and thus the resulting name: A Drive By.  With iphone in hand, I often snap pics of scenery for later painting consideration.  Many times the drive by photos turn out to be nothing of consequence, but sometimes they are great.  And there is that handy delete key for the dogs!  These photos give me a quick reference and a sense of the place. I see the shapes and relationships between those shapes which is the key to good composition. Having photos that I can easily crop and manipulate in the iphone editing program is a real bonus to quickly finding a composition to paint.

Day 29 of the 30 in 30 Challenge!  If you go to the Challenge site, check out the painting by Cindy Gillette, number 32.  It knocked my socks off!

Day 28! Closing in on the Finish!

This is the winter that never seems to end.  We did  a road trip to Montana and found that we have a lot more snow piled up at home than we saw in the areas around our destination in Ennis.  Great place Ennis, small town with a big heart and good restaurants!  The snow there had melted during a slight warm up, but now it is extra cold and the river is frozen over with ice jams.  The sweet waitress in the drug store/restaurant said there was not much to do since her horse didn't like to go out in the cold!  They are looking for a break in the weather there too.  Fishing is slow and not even the fly shop folks say they are going out.

This small farmstead piece above is my salute to the hardy farmers and ranchers who go through this kind of winter and take care of animals and their families under harsh winter conditions.  Rural America!  A wonderful place!

Check out the postings on the 30 in 30 Challenge page.  Getting down to last chances to see what other artists are posting.  I am having fun viewing their art and making new art friends!  

Day 27! Late Post - Better Late than Not at All!

We have been to Montana and back, but I am determined to post to make my 30 in 30 Challenge goal even though it is late and I am tired!

This little 4x4 canvas piece is a look down our lane at one of the houses in our neighborhood.  It was fun to finally do a painting of it since I see it most days and have thought about painting it for a long time.

Day 25! Robins Clean Up

The flock of robins are gone and the tree branches have been stripped of their fruit.  Great!  So glad that we had a food source for them.  It brings the question, where are they now?

And it is Day 25 of the 30 in 30 Challenge.  Five days left!  Take a look at the site where you will see other post by Challenge participants.  I especially like the post by Kim Smith, #9.  She knows birds!  Check it out!

It is snowing again! Day 23 of the 30 in 30 Challenge!

The good news is that there is no wind and the snow is stacking up again on the branches of the little apple tree outside my studio.  This helps to make a plan for the painting I will do today.  There are still a few apples left on the tree so the contrast is just what I am looking for.  I need to hurry before the robins come in today since food is scarce and they eat all they can.  Can't believe they are here, it has been such a cold January.  We also need to fill the bird feeder again.  I am just glad that we have our Hawthorne tree berries and the apples to help them along!  Oh, and our bunny is back!  He/she likes the apples too!

Day 23 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge!  Check out the paintings here.  My favorite in the posts so far today is the tulips #28 done by Laurie Mueller!

Day 19! Snow, Snow, Wonderful Snow

And it showed again last night!  The 30 in 30 Challenge theme I chose, Winter Scenes, does not lack for material to paint.  This scene is the view out our condo window in Elkhorn.  So beautiful, so amazing the amount of snow this year.

Also, Happy Birthday to little Miss Mae who turns two today!

Day 18! Still Winter

This is Day 18 of my posting to the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  I saw some really nice pieces on the site yesterday and recommend that you go to the site and check it out here.

I chose the theme Winter Scene for the Challenge, and it is definitely the winter for it!  More snow reportedly on the way today.  Must get out to get a few pictures before the shoveling eats up my time again. I need new material!  And I do have aspens in my yard and I see from my studio window that the light is good right now.  Gotta Go!

Another Sweet Barn - Day 17 of 30 in 30

This is another piece done at my Second Tuesday painting session.  Interesting the difference I am seeing in the color results by using my travel palette vs. my at home palette.  I am getting softer color on the canvas 4" x 4" block for who knows what reason!  Most of the colors are the same in both palettes.  Maybe it is the smaller well.  It does explain the lack of value in some of my on site sketchbook paintings!

This is my Winter Scene 17 for the Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days Challenge.

End of Day 13 Post

Better late than never!  In the hopes of making each day in the 30 in 30 Challenge, I am posting at the end of my day and feeling the relief of making it happen even when it has been a long day!  This is a larger piece, 15" x 22" and one that I learned a lot from while painting.  Grading colors into the background to make a more interesting winter scene was the goal.

Day 12 - 30 in 30 Challenge

Moving on again from the small canvas and posting this piece for the Challenge.  This piece is a half sheet of watercolor paper.  I did this one last winter, and learned a lot about color while doing it.  Love those blues...a complete accident!

Monday Morning

Day 9 of the 30 in 30 Challenge and enjoying the discipline of posting each day.  I have been visiting the blogs of other artists in the Challenge, and am having a great time learning about new artists and the creative things they are doing in watercolor and other media.  Great way to start the new year.

Snowed In!

The snow is still coming down, blowing and drifting in the driveway and I see no reason why I can't get into the studio today!  Grocery shopping is delayed another day!

This is my Day 4 entry for 30 in 30 Challenge.  I will be placing it in the Full Moon Gallery today for the January through March show.  It is a watercolor done on a 5"x 5" Aquabord panel that I ordered from Dick Blick.  Interesting surface, but I think I prefer the watercolor ground that I have been using from Daniel Smith.  The watercolor ground seems to be a softer surface and takes the paint more like paper.

Getting in the Rhythm - 30 in 30

Day 3 of the 30 in 30 Challenge!  My theme is Winter Scenes and I draw on the many scenes of wonderful aspens from the Wood River Valley here in Idaho.  There is ample snow this year and that provides interesting shadows throughout the day.  Skiing is excellent too!

I did this watercolor on a birch wood block using Daniel Smith's Watercolor Ground.  This one is a 5" x 5" and I am finding a real difference in how my paintings turn out when comparing the paintings done on a 4 x 4 canvas with the paintings on 5 x 5 woodblocks.  Either the extra inch is making me add more detail, or the surface is smoother.  Not sure which!

Day Two for 30 in 30

The is my Day Two submission for the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge!  This Challenge is sponsored by Leslie Saeta and has artists from all over the world submitting paintings on a daily basis.  I find this Challenge to be a good January, get with it, project!  I started painting before the holiday start date so that I would have a few paintings ready to go, but I will be working daily to have new postings as we go.  That is the goal, painting daily to push my skills.

And, I am trying something new to me! The paintings are done with watercolor (my usual medium) but are painted on 4" x 4" canvas that is 1 3/8" deep.  I am using Daniel Smith's Watercolor Ground. to coat the canvas, let that dry for 24 hours, and then I paint.  When I finish I seal the watercolor so that it is ready to hang, or sit nicely on a book shelf!  During the holidays, I wrapped the canvas with red ribbon, and they could be used as an original ornament.  Very fun!

30 in 30 Days

I have joined the 30 in 30 Challenge offered online.  I will be posting paintings of winter scenes that I paint each day and will hopefully improve my skills along the way!

Creekside

Hiked near the area around the SNRA Visitor Center and along Murdock Creek to get this view. The snow levels were low during the holidays, so we could get close to the creek. It should be gorgeous today since the snowstorm is dumping as we speak!