My Creative Soul Revival: cityscape

Showing posts with label cityscape. Show all posts

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Day 30 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "Oceans Between Us"

"Oceans Between Us" - 30" x 24" acrylic on 1.5" canvas

I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to post this last painting!! This was a redo of a piece that almost went into my current show that is currently up at FE Gallery. It didn't make the cut because I wasn't able to get it done in time.

Besides the time factor, I just didn't like the layout and decided to gesso over 95% of the painting instead. I pulled out my acrylic pens and sketched in some flowers with my left hand, then made an abstract "cityscape" portraying the ocean in between two places.

I was on the fence about posting this one because I didn't feel it was complete enough, but after I penciled in the words "Oceans Between Us" I felt it was finished.

This 30/30 challenge was indeed a game changer for me in many ways. For starters, 85% of the paintings are 20" x 16" or larger (biggest is 48" x 36"). Then there was the part about trying to match the old name to the new painting (these were all "do-over" pieces) - not an easy thing to do! And of course, there was the pneumonia that decided to set into my body 10+ days ago.

I'm going to celebrate with a Grande Chai Latte from Starbucks then will decide how to best market these for sale. The finish work is going to take several days, but overall I'm happy with most of the new art. A couple will get redone again but overall I think I've created a cohesive series, and I can't wait to publish some of the new paintings on my website.

Thanks for following along and for all your wonderful comments - the next 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge is in September and I am already excited about doing it again!!

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Day 26 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "Splash"

"Splash" - 40" x 30" acrylic on 1.5" canvas

"Splash" is a multi-colored cityscape with numerous layers of color in the sky and water portion. As usual, the photo doesn't do it justice!

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Day 20 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge - "El Pueblo"


"El Pueblo" - 24" x 18" acrylic on 1.5" canvas

I love the way this piece turned out....the colors are very subtle Southwest colors (hence the moniker "El Pueblo") and there's an inkling of a homestead/house in the upper right corner. I didn't want to commit to a decipherable form so left it very abstract, then added some metallic gold for good measure. And because for some reason I can't seem to get enough of the shimmer right now, I threw in some powdered silver gouache to make it really glow! The gray areas are really the silver spots, but when I tried to get the photo, the glare was blinding.

One of the biggest problems I'm having with this challenge is with the old names of the pieces. Because these are all "do-overs," most of the canvases were already named. So trying to make a new piece work with the name sometimes doesn't work - like at all.

The old painting for this canvas was called "Decisions" and was a geometric work with numbers and letters sprayed on (yes, I went through that phase....). However, when I was painting this piece, the name "El Pueblo" came to me and my rule is once a name comes to me, I know it's time to stop painting.

I don't want to white out or gesso over the previous name, so will somehow blend the names (ie Decisions - El Pueblo). Maybe it will attract a buyer who can't decide which house to buy? Or someone inthe real estate industry? I'd be happy if it just attracted a buyer, period!!

Only 10 more days to go - and today I pulled some large canvases out of the shed in my backyard. Watch out, folks - things are going to get freaky now :-)

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Day 19 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "City Dreams"


"City Dreams" - 20" x 16" acrylic on 1.5" canvas

This painting was done entirely with a palette knife, something I haven't done in years. I like the texture and blended colors you can get with acrylics and a palette knife, and may try to do a similar style piece or two before the challenge is over.

Another cityscape using complementary colors - again a very limited palette. I wanted to do something that looked Mid-Century, but didn't want to do turquoise with orange, so I opted for a creamy soft Light Ultramarine Blue by Golden instead. The building shapes look contemporary to me though - and that worked for me. I had to really hold myself back from trying to add more colors or change the "sky" - and I'm glad I did now. I like the end result and would have lost it entirely had I gone rogue with my earlier desires!

I'm behind again in finishing the paintings (ie signing; wiring; varnishing; finishing the sides), and need to get a jump on that this week. I know - in my spare time :-) But seriously - I need to get those paintings finished so I can show them to another art consultant and her client. Nothing like a little pressure to get this artist busy!

Monday, January 18, 2016

Day 18 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "Building Dreams"

"Building Dreams" - 36" x 24" acrylic and graphite on 1.5" canvas

With a strong background in the real estate industry, I have a love for buildings; houses; and dwellings in general. They house our spirits day and night, and I've always been able to "feel" their soul. When I was developing commercial real estate, each building or project that I worked on felt like a child to me, and I would always get excited when the new tenant or owner moved in. True, I had built the structure but the people who moved in were what ultimately made the building come alive.

Inside these structures, the occupants build their dreams. Doesn't matter if it's a home or a building - it's where the creativity begins and life actions take place. It's almost spiritual, hence the desire I had to add the liquid metallic gold at the lower left part of the painting.

Another fun makeover piece - and it can be hung either horizontally (as shown) or vertically with the black circles on the bottom.

Friday, January 15, 2016

Day 15 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "Midnight Celebration"


"Midnight Celebration" - 30" x 24" acrylic on 1.5" canvas

Another abstract cityscape that's kind of a hot mess but I forced myself to walk away before I overworked it. There is a lot about this piece that I like and I knew if I didn't stop, I'd end up ruining it. So - I'm going to set this one aside for the time being and leave it in plain sight for a few days so I can decide what, if anything, I want to do next.

I'm enjoying this challenge and am thrilled with the progress I've made in paring down my vast inventory of canvases that needed some love. It's hard to believe we're already halfway through the challenge and halfway through the first month of the new year. I'm excited about completing the rest of this series, and then developing a marketing plan to promote both the challenge itself and the individual pieces. I know I should have been uploading them into my on-line shops each day, but I just haven't had the time or the energy to do it. Painting large is actually great exercise, and after a few hours of painting each day, I'm wiped out!

Monday, January 11, 2016

Day 11 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "Snowdrift"


"Snowdrift" - 30" x 30" acrylic & cardboard on 1.5" canvas

I'm happy with the way this painting finally came together. I covered everything from the previous painting with the exception of the small horizontal white lines at the bottom right side of the piece. For some reason I have been wanting to paint some abstract cityscapes and at the last minute decided to add the little white "snowflakes" with some finger taps across the canvas using some gesso. Not too many dots - just enough to give it a feeling of snow drifting over a city.....