100 Paintings Challenge Begins Today!

"Five Vessels" - mixed media on paper - $75 includes mat & shipping to continental US

Today is the first day of a 100 Paintings challenge sponsored by Kellee Wynne Studios.  This is going to be my 5th challenge of this sort, and the 1st time doing 100 (the others have been 30 paintings in 30 days).

Each time I accept a challenge I go for something that truly is a challenge for me.  One time it was abstract figures; another time it was works on paper; and in January 2015's 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge, I decided to try oil paints.

This time it's neutral colors.  Anyone who knows me knows I'm a color freak!!  Always have been and perhaps always will be.  You won't find a piece of beige in my wardrobe - never will.  I'm surrounded by "beige" people in my life and though they're anything but boring, I've always associated it with being "safe" and unwilling to embrace change.

That said, I have always been drawn to neutral paintings.  I can't explain it - I find a peacefulness and respect in how (in my mind) the artist has restrained himself from going wild with color.  For the first two weeks in my Design 101 course in college, we only worked with black and white and learned scale and values.  I hated it and always wanted to throw in an orange or two to make the piece more exciting.  When we finally moved on to the color wheel I was hooked and never looked back.  I wanted my paintings to express joy!  Danger!  Excitement and emotions!!

But what does excite me about this challenge is I'm bound and determined to make my peace with neutral aka boring colors.  What will help (hopefully) me overcome this aversion will be making tons of texture with the paints and other mediums I'm going to be using, including charcoal, gouache, acrylics, dirt, graphite and whatever else I find.  I'm going to make some of my own brushes and mark makers to dip in India ink and smear all over the paper.  Gesso will be by my side during this journey - clear, black and white.  Let's see what happens - and feel free to call me out if things get too bright!

Subject matter is another challenge.....I absolutely love pure abstract expressionism - non-objective.  I'm drawn to those works that have beautiful free-spirited marks with a limited palette.  I want to make a lot of these, but since I'm also taking a ceramics class right now, I decided to go easy on myself and draw some loose vessels for the first painting of the challenge.  Here's "Five Vessels" - 1/100 - 6" x 6" mixed media on paper in an 11" x 14" mat with a 5" x 5" opening.

All works will be for sale, so if you're interested in purchasing this particular piece, please head over to my ETSY shop.  Also feel free to check out my new website - www.judyjacobsart.com - I just finished it (finally!) and look forward to adding a whole page of neutral works soon.