Tag Archives: Leslie Saeta’s January 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Sunset Shadows – Day 25 of 30 in 30

Sunset Shadows. 4 x 5 watercolor on 140 lb. cold press paper. © 2014 Sheila Delgado

I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date.

I painted until the wee hours last night. And I did finish a painting. You can see it below. I was so “in the zone” that I arrived at my destination, without knowing how I got there. Does that ever happen to you? It’s like I got on the 76, missed my exit on the 15 north. And I ended up at the beach instead of the desert.

Not a bad thing. Just not my intention.

I woke up this morning, and couldn’t get excited about posting the painting. So I decided to keep trying. And painting. And painting. Finally got something worth looking at.

Ochre patchwork. 6 x 6 watercolor, pen on cold press paper. © 2014 Sheila Delgado

What I had intended for the patchwork, was something a bit more weathered and worn. I added the outlines digitally to see if I liked it before trying with a pen. Turns out even my darkest pen ends up looking a little grey. So the digital version won.

Now it’s time for some dinner, and then I am going to head over to Leslie Saeta’s blog, and see what my artist friends have been up to. Hope you will check it out as well.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Day 24 of 30 in 30

6 Replies

Sea and Sand. 6 x 6 watercolor on 140 cold press paper. © 2014 Sheila Delgado

I finished painting early today. Had visions of going to bed early too, but it didn’t happen. Here are three pieces I worked on. Works in progress. Beginnings.

Just playing with paint, trying to create textures like the background in Day 23. Yellow ochre and indigo were calling me. I am counting this as my painting for today, but I don’t think it is in any way finished. Maybe I can add a bird, birds on the shore, or some sunlight reflecting. Hmmm…

Each of these came out looking like a landscape, but I wasn’t thinking of any in particular. The first column is how I painted them.

Works in progress. watercolor on 140 lb. cold press paper.

When I scanned them in, I rotated each of them, to see if an idea would jump out at me. Does anything come to mind for you?

You can see, I painted the first one with the yellow as a sky, but it did not work as well as flipping it upside down. Duh, this works better as sand than sky.

The one in the middle, I think might be a total loss. This last one crashed and burned. I liked it the best, so that was a bummer.

Looking at them lined up like this, I got the idea to do a cheater quilt in these colors for my Spoonflower shop. So that was one good thing that came from goofing around.

I may not have finished the day with a painting, but I did play with color, and texture. I did not focus on an end result. So I can call it a play day, and give myself a yellow ochre star for letting go!

Hey, is today Friday? Woo-whoo! Only two more days until Downton! Happy Friday!

Leslie Saeta’s 30 Painting in 30 Days Challenge

Palm – Day 23 of 30 in 30

6 Replies

Palm. 4 x 5 watercolor on 140 lb. cold press paper. © 2014 Sheila Delgado

My painting for today counts as a good save. I wasn’t happy with the washed in sky and ocean. I didn’t think to take a photo, but the colors were just too soft. Wishy washy.

I decided I could not possibly make it any worse, and I laid in colors that were left on my palette. It still wasn’t quite right.

Before digital rendering.

I was careful not to wash out the palm fronds, but that left too much “white” area. So I went in digitally and tightened that up.

Much better don’t you think? I love how the background turned out. The tree is iffy. Maybe if I go back in with more color, I can make that better. Over all, I am happy with how this turned out.

Leslie reminded us that this challenge is not about creating perfection every day. It is about developing the habit of painting everyday, getting in the “zone” and learning from our experiences. It is a reminder I needed. Looking at all the amazing art that is being created, I start to feel like I need to be amazing every day too.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Enjoy your day!