During the February 2021 30-day challenge, over 700 pieces of art were created in our group. This is our fourth Creative Gathering, and our third year together. We are down about 120 pieces from last year. Several artists were unable to participate. We missed you!
Shown in no particular order. As I received permission, I added to the post. Many of the artists involved have been doing a bi-annual painting challenge for over 8 years. I am thrilled that so many choose to keep the challenge alive!
I am so honored to be among this group of creatives. Your work is amazing! I applaud your learning and experimenting. Your fearlessness. Your desire for growth. Your generosity and graciousness with fellow group members.
Thank you all for granting permission to share your work here and on the group Pinterest board. It is a gorgeous gallery!
Congratulations to all of the amazing artists who took part. Grab a cuppa, sit back, and browse the stunning art that follows. Enjoy!
I worked on days 4, 5, and 6 at the same sitting. It was late, and when I ran out of some of the paint colors on my palette, I made some marks with the knife and left it to dry overnight. The first layers are below.
Coming back to it, I added more cream and more of the soft earth tone. Again with the knife. I was not successful in creating an interesting texture, so I played, and played, just filling the paper with paint.
I scanned it. and thought about cutting it down. Finding an interesting section, and cropping it into a new piece of art. Or maybe cutting into long strips, and creating a triptych.
Played some more, made moons. There was a round shape on the right that inspired me. The moons are on their own transparent layer. Clipped top and bottom to fit the canvas.
Moons, Digital.
Decided they needed separation from the jumbled background layer. Added shadow shapes. I had to erase part of this shape, the moons are semi-transparent. I left them that way to show some of the texture from underneath.
Moon Shadows, Digital.
I copied a section from the background layer and pasted it strategically. The moons needed separation from the areas of the same moon color in the painting. I erased as needed so the edges could not be seen, then I blurred the edges, so they were even less noticeable. This is quick and easy, for this piece of “play”. I would do it differently for a more intentional piece of art.
Taupe Warmth, Digital.
On the first day of painting, I taped down the papers. The second day on this one, I had already taken the tape off. It left a messy edge, that I kinda like. This all was just for color play after all. Haha.
Finally, I thought why not add some birds to the mix. Another PNG, transparent layer. I added a color overlay to the black birds, it was just too harsh. A deeper shade of the moon shadows was just right.
If you have four minutes to kill, there is a video here that talks about working with layers in Photoshop. There are several short videos that break it down. Sort of a digital collage. LOL. Yes, I am thinking of you Nelvia McGrath! And Sea Dean! Haha.
See what you can do with your daring with color and your ignorance mixed with it. Charles Webster Hawthorne, American Painter, 1872-1930
Late-night color studies for the large canvas on my wall. Well. the large canvas that is sitting on my floor waiting to be painted. I have already decided that I need muted tones in that area. The corner is dark though, so maybe a lighter canvas would be nice.
I used a palette knife and the inexpensive Hobby Lobby Master’s Touch watercolor paper. As I rotated the surface around, I noticed it could work either way.
When I had finished, I wasn’t sure about the linear marks I had made. Didn’t quite work. So I took some cough drop wrappers that were on my desk and used them to move the paint around. Haha.
Day 4 Before
Next, I tried the opposite, more mid-tones, and less of the light. I tried to form hills with the knife. I need practice. 🙂 I like how the paper texture shows up here and there.
