Here are all the January paintings. Some portraits, some landscapes, some horses, one donkey. One failed cityscape. A pretty good month. I have completed the Paint Every Day in January for 4 or 5 years, with varying degrees of success. I think 2022 is the first time I actually painted all 31 days.
I hope to compile a retrospective of 6 or 7 years of trying to learn to paint with acrylics in the next month or so. It is time consuming! To find all the images and resize them and get them organized. But I always enjoy seeing other artists’ progress.
In the meantime, here is my set of paintings from January 2018:
9×12, 11×14 and some 16×20 acrylics paintings, January, 2018
Mostly dogs in 2018, with a handful of other animals and one almost-kind of horse, in the middle of the top row. I have improved! I just wish I had been more consistent, as always. I have started to paint over some of these. Though, the bat and panda found homes, and the beagle in the bottom row is probably going to stick around.
Thanks so much for dropping in! If you’re doing art projects this year, let me know so I can check them out. :-)
Reader, it goes poorly. The goal of the class is to produce a finished 11×14 acrylic painting on a wood panel. And this is the no good very bad condition my painting is in right now. In fact, I started a second one (also poorly) in case I throw this one in a fire.
Not. Going. Well. The face has been repainted about a dozen times. You can see how I got mad and scrubbed it with sandpaper (and then had to redo a bunch of the pencil lines). I am not used to this painting style and so far have adapted poorly. I am pretty sure this style demands a level of patience I do not possess! But it’s not over yet.
We do have two weeks left. This is the middle The middle is the hardest, right? And then I figured I would write a blog post and share the misery with the few lost souls who find it. I tell you what, I am NOT saying don’t take this class. Everyone has a different experience, is my guess. I am doing more art than I normally would and that was worth the price of admission. Oh yeah, it’s kind of pricey. I used some stimulus check on it and I consider it well-spent.
I will also say this class has a large variety of peers, many much more skilled than me, and some maybe with fewer skills. But the ones who are posting their updates are all KILLING IT with their painting progress. On the other hand, many people are not posting any updates at all, and I am worried about them.
Below is most of what I’ve done for the class. We started with sketches and ideas and then worked toward a final character and image, transfer that to a wood panel and get to painting.
I believe it started going wrong when I wasn’t really happy with my final image, but went with it anyway. The bottom left with the bird is not resolved and needs another or a different creature. The dog character looks too much like a malformed dog and not like an imaginary creature as he should have. Then I didn’t decide my colors ahead of time. THEN I could not get the hang of painting smoothly and being patient. Which is where I am today, as I write this blog post.
Here is my timeline of progress.
So there it is. I hope my next update is much more chipper!
It’s hard to see progress in your day-to-day life, but after enough years go by, a timeline emerges. Self-taught post-40 via Youtube and many trials and errors, some help from Sarah Kaiser at Studio 215 and lots of drawing practice.
Below are a selection from the past five and something years, These first two in orange are the earliest vs. the latest in this series. Hard to believe the same person did those.
Still orange! 2014 acrylic painting vs 2020 acrylic painting
The first 30-day painting challenge I did was in January 2014. I did a bit more in February but not much for the rest of the year.
I could not find much for 2015-2017. I was practicing art but mainly with ink and pencils.
In 2018 and 2019 I painted every day in January along with some of the internet, and then with sporadic practice the rest of those years.
In 2020, January went up in a puff of smoke but I did paint every day in February and I have finally been finishing paintings, which I did not manage to do much before.
Looking forward to another five and something years of progress, particularly since it’s become *slightly less difficult to get to practicing once a little progress is made.
Attitude, 9″ x 12″ acrylics on canvas www.theslumberingherd.com9×12 acrylics in progress, 1-3 www.theslumberingherd.com9×12 acrylics in progress, 4-6 www.theslumberingherd.com
No Apologies Online Only Art Auction
Starting this weekend and running September 8-15, 2019, I am co-hosting an online art auction in support of abortion rights. Most of the art was made by the organizers, though a few of our friends have donated some pieces. Looking is free! More information here: https://noapologiesartauction.org/
(The Dolores Huerta – right side, flower background, and the tiny houses in the middle (plus the painting at the top of this post) are mine. The other pieces are from other artists!)
Murph, 16″ x 20″ acrylics on stretched canvas. www.theslumberingherd.com
I have not finished many paintings! But I actually feel like this one is finished. His nose is a little crooked and I could fool with the hair for ages longer but I’m calling this one done. The original image was a black and white photo, I believe a Spinone Italiano dog.
And here is his evolution starting as a sketch on a lightly painted canvas in February 2018, and then finally got his undercoat in January 2019. (I thought he might be finished, but he wasn’t!)
It’s been ages since posting, again. But I’m painting more and also working with another artist to put together an art auction in support of reproductive rights! I’ve put together a website here; No Apologies, and you can see the more than 20 works of art already posted. We expect at least 30 by the auction date of Sept 8 – Sept 15. More info at the link.
Bianca, 11″ x 14″ acrylics in progress. www.theslumberingherd.com
Well I have spent more time on this painting than any other. Partly because it is a person I know! Partly because I am trying to *complete* a painting. A painting that looks like someone I know. It is hard. :D
I have missed four days in February so not exactly painting every day, but still pretty good!
Ok, so apparently WordPress has changed quite a bit since my last post three months ago and/or the WordPress update I just did this morning. Dangit. I liked it the way it was. Isn’t this always the case? I am just now, begrudgingly, used to the new Gmail. Grrr.
Here is a painting of fish bones!
Fishbones, 8″ x 10″ acrylics on canvas board. www.theslumberingherd.com
I can tell you these fish bones were painted under some duress. Already days late for a Secret Santa at illustratedatcs.com, the themes I had to work with included Corgi dogs, skulls or other anatomical type bone studies, famous artists, cityscapes. I found some nice reference photos for Corgis and these fish bones. And while some of you reading this thing may be able to produce art on a tight deadline, that is not a thing I have ever had much success with.
Perhaps as a result of completing these fish bones – at the fifty-second hour, til the wee hours of the morning (and including the mini Corgis in ink, below) – I should start considering myself someone who can, in fact, finish pretty decent work on a tight deadline. The stress though. Dang.
Here’s progress pics! And like every painting I have ever painted to date, I almost gave up several times. I actually started a new canvas, thinking I’d try a Corgi. But since I was already a couple hours in, I decided to try to finish it. Always try to finish it! That is important. ;)
New WordPress Gallery it seems! Bummer you can’t click on each photo. Progress pics of 8×10 acrylic painting. www.theslumberingherd.com
Oh! And here are the corgis! Three ATCs (2.5″ x 3.5″ miniature art)
Three Corgies, each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, ink, gel pen on smooth Bristol paper
Ahed Tamimi, 22″ x 28″ acrylics in progress, Sept 2018
Ahed Tamimi, photo by Getty Images Dec 2017
Ahed Tamimi, teenaged Palestinian Independence activist, 22″ x 28″ acrylics in progress. Because no child deserves to grow up in an occupied State.
Just a reminder, more than 90% of people are just like you. They want to live peacefully and with the ability to provide for their families. Hatred toward a particular group is stoked by those in power in order to keep their power.
Tons of progress pics. Of course this is a larger canvas and I have also spent more days on it. More time = better! So far, in my experience.
Manal al-Sharif is a Saudi Arabian women’s rights activist who helped start a women’s right to drive campaign in 2011. (from Wikipedia)
Manal al-Sharif, Saudi Arabian Women’s Rights Activist, 11″ x 14″ acrylics https://www.theslumberingherd.com/
Read her speech from the Sydney Opera House All About Women Festival, March 4, 2018.
“I have proudly been called disrespectful for defying laws that disrespected me. I have been proudly called a corruptor for encouraging my fellow Saudi women to speak up for themselves. I have proudly been called a traitor to the nation and the faith for challenging the degrading narrative of women in our textbooks and teachings.” (excerpt)
Difference of three hours progress with local painting instructor
As noted, this last progression shows the difference of a three-hour session with a local painting instructor, Sarah Kaiser. Looking forward to next week’s session!
11” x 14” acrylics on canvas. Not quite finished. Stacey Abrams, Democratic Nominee for Governor of Georgia, 2018
The first African-American woman to be a major party nominee for governor in the United States.
“We are writing the next chapter of Georgia’s future where no one is unseen, no one is unheard, and no one is uninspired.” ~Stacey Abrams
Lots of progress pics below (some a bit crooked)! The ugly stage is still very hard to push through. The eyes were uneven for some time – it is very helpful to step back frequently to see the bigger picture.
