#30paintingsin30days Challenge-Day 4

Today totally didn't go as planned which seems typical lately.

I don't mention it much on here that I am a mom of 3 kids(ages 16, 14 and 9).  I also don't mention either how I homeschool all three of them due to various learning disabilities.  I'm just throwing it out there in case anyone is wondering why I always act like I'm so busy all the time.   I AM!

It can be difficult if not downright impossible for me to paint or create every single day while I am doing what I am doing as a mom right now.  I feel like I walk a very fine line between doing what I want to do for self-fulfillment vs. my responsibilities as a mother.  Sometimes when I etch out that time for just myself, I end up feeling guilty for not being attentive 100 percent to my children.  I kind of felt that way while reading out of my daughter's environmental science book to her this afternoon.  My mind was wandering as I thought about making time for my painting challenge and thinking about what I wanted to paint today.  The struggle is REAL!

I had the schedule for today all worked out and then I had to take my dog to vet.  She looks like she has pink eye and the vet pretty much confirmed that.  So I jumped from homeschooling kids to taking dog to emergency vet appointment to painting today's painting before I made tacos for dinner.

What I am happy about is how excited I was today about painting today's subject as opposed to the "Pear Study" yesterday that felt very tedious to me.  Reference photo is from MorgueFile which is a free image repository for artists to use as reference materials.  I saw this photo and knew that it would look great cropped down into a square.

This photo makes me happy. Birds make me happy. Crows can make me happy because they are just so darn smart!  I love seeing those videos of people who have domesticated wild crows and the crow ends up babysitting their kids in the backyard while it sits in a tree.

I used my artistic license to change the background because I love how powerful the color red oxide is against the color black.  I was surprised that the crow's eye was not brown which led me into some internet research.  I discovered that young crows can have blue eyes like our subject above. Hence, the name I chose for the title.

"Young Crow", Acrylic on Wood, 6"x6".

"Young Crow" is available to purchase through Daily Paintworks.  Click here for the link!

Thanks for stopping by and I promise not to be so whiny tomorrow!

#30paintingsin30days Challenge-Day 2

Well, I woke up thinking that I need to plan my 30 paintings in 30 days challenge better!

Starting tomorrow, I will be a lot more busier so I know that I need to schedule time to work.  I might even work on tomorrow's painting tonight.  What I will do though is plan out what painting I am going to do before tomorrow!  I literally woke up, made coffee and decided to paint my friend Cindy's cat Izzy.

This is another photo that has been on my desktop for ages.

I thought you might like to see "work in progress" photos.  First I drew in the cat and outlined it in Mars Black.

 I wanted to try something a little bit different because that is what this challenge is all about, right?  I decided to do a monochromatic study first before I added any color.

 Next I added the Yellow Oxide for the couch and this is the point that I realized that I had very little white left to do this painting with.  I have been meaning to buy a tube of white paint but I keep forgetting.  So....I was definitely rationing the white!

 Thought at this point-"Hey, why not add purple in the shadows and the cat?"

Final piece:

"Izzy", Acrylic on canvas 5"x7".

Enjoying the process so far although we are only on Day 2.  I am leaving the studio to plan for the rest of the day and will be coming back later to figure out what I am painting tomorrow.  I'm thinking I will need to get up extra early which is hard coming off of vacation.

Thanks for stopping by!

"Pug", Acrylic on Canvas, 8"x10"

I just finished up this cute painting of a pug.  I love the green background on it.  I currently have it for sale at Daily Paintworks.

I have a couple more pet portraits that I will be posting in the next couple of weeks.  I have been really busy teaching and planning for my art classes so it hasn't given me a lot of time to work on my own paintings.  I am hoping for more time in the studio in the next few weeks.

Stay tuned!