Category Archives: Painting Challenge

February 2020 30-Day Creative Gathering Collage

What a difference a month makes! February flew by. I didn’t feel a loss of momentum until the final week. Being in pain will do that. In preparation for the challenge, I put together a file full of images to paint. I still have enough for another 30 paintings. Haha. Ideas abound. I intended to paint more abstracts. Planned on using Yupo more. Never enough time.

Each time I do the 30-day challenge, I wonder if I “grew” or developed new skills. I can never see it until some time has passed. I did try new subjects. Some that I never attempted before. The Cholla image, day 28, I took in 2012. WOW! I meant to paint it, and it has taken me this long. A little bit, out of sight out of mind. But also fear of painting so many spines. My first Cholla is not great, but it is better than I expected.

February 2020 30-Day Creative Gathering Favorites Collage, Sheila Delgado

Thanks so much for following along this month. I hope I did not bore you with my fascination with pointy things and desert natives. I appreciate your support and enjoy your comments and suggestions. 🙂 Thank you! It means a lot!

Congratulations and high five to the group artists. Whether you did 3 or 30, high five for making the bold attempt. For getting your art out into the world, and for encouraging others on their artistic journey! Thank you for taking part, and for making the group so lively and diverse! You ROCK! Hope to see you in September! HaPpY creating to you!

February 30-Day Creative Gathering, Days 29 And 30

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Day 30, FEB C.G., 8 x 8, watercolor on Arches cold-pressed 140 lb. paper. © 2020 Sheila Delgado.

For day 30, a Red Barrel Cactus. I don’t often paint with red. This barrel is orange, purple, mauve and magenta. And green. And what do you need for a night at the ball? A glass slipper of course. Haha. Watercolor, and for the spines, gouache that was left on my palette.

Day 29, FEB C.G., 8 x 8, watercolor on paper. © 2020 Sheila Delgado.

I painted this Aloe early in the month. I love the clean, curved lines. I started by scribbling some white Caran d’Ache Neocolor on the leaves. Next a mix of Juane Yellow and Winsor & Newton Turquoise. I mixed in some of the color left on my palette, and the result is far too turquoise. I love it, but I may go back in and make alterations.

I was trying for more of a greyish, blueish, whites green. As seen on Day 7. This is what I remember from the Iceplant succulent ground cover so popular in Southern California. There are many plants with this coloring that I love. Blue Fescue, Blue Chalksticks, and Dusty Miller to name a few. Aloes come in fresh green, dark green, and dusty sage green.

The night before last I could not sleep. Not sure why. Maybe it was the adrenaline from the challenge. I got a lot of work done. And I was still awake when the sun came up. I have had neck pain all week, Somehow I tweak my neck at night. An old auto injury. I was hit from the side, and it tore my shoulder and neck. I ordered an ergonomic pillow, relief is in sight.

Well Val, all that “blue” was for you my friend. Haha. And Sea, here is one of my Ikea studio solutions. It is the Ostbit plate holder, I use it to hold paper. There’s a month’s worth of, paper (paintings)! Haha. Plenty of room for more.

Later this afternoon, I will post my 30 Day collage. It is always fun to see all the paintings together. I am looking forward to seeing the group’s collections!

The Choice
The intellect of man is forced to choose
perfection of the life, or of the work,
And if it take the second must refuse
A heavenly mansion, raging in the dark.
When all that story’s finished, what’s the news?
In luck or out the toil has left its mark:
That old perplexity an empty purse,
Or the day’s vanity, the night’s remorse.
W.B. Yeats

Day 28 Of February’s 30

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Day 28, FEB C.G., 8 x 8, watercolor on paper. © 2020 Sheila Delgado.

The first time I saw this cactus, I thought it was really pretty. Different. It stood out with its white coat of spines. It was under a foot and a half. Not very threatening. Still, I steered clear. The photos were taken in Lucerne Valley, So. Cal. That is east of Victorville. Past Apple Valley. Keep going, and when you are in the middle of nowhere. You’ve arrived. It was a day trip to see Chimney Rock, where the last Indian fight in So. Cal. took place. I found the Cholla heading up into the rocky hills. Looking for ancient Native ovens and other artifacts.

I painted this top side down, but it makes more sense this way. This is a Teddy Bear Cholla (choy-ya), also known as a Jumping Cholla. Follow the links for short informative video’s. There is a photo here that shows why these spines are so painful. Zoom in to see just how many barbs each spine can have.

This was a learning experience. In a good way. The background was quick to come together. It is about five or six layers of color. A variegated wash, and then spatters in different hues and sizes.

For the cholla, I laid down a soft, bright green layer. When dry, I added a thin layer of white. Then I started on the spines. First I used the pencil, it did not show well over the white, so I used it around the outer edges. Next, the Posca paint pen. There were two areas where the pen plopped a huge puddle, I spread the paint around with the pen tip, and managed to hide the mistakes fairly well.

I scribbled in the centers of some shapes. I tried to create some directionality, (is that a word?) in the shapes. I worked with three circle shapes as if looking down on the tips. But I bet you will say you see four.

I am really happy with how this turned out. The background is more orange than I planned. But I like it. The paper’s texture works well here. I will do another with a softer background. Thanks for looking!