Cracking the Code - Day 24 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"Cracking the Code" - 18" x 24" acrylic on paper - $295 includes free shipping

This piece took FOREVER to finish!  I began by laying down two thin coats of gesso onto the 140# watercolor paper; then added a 3rd coat of black gesso to give it a solid black look.  Afterwards I used a yardstick to draw 1" squares all over the paper with a white pencil; then used my masking fluid to "paint" various designs in the squares.  I wanted a planned yet random look, and originally began with the double "ss" and "x" marks in a pattern.  Then I expanded the patterned look to include the six dot squares and the small circles, then began filling in the empty squares with random marks including the triangles, horizontal and vertical lines and mini dots.  

After the masking fluid dried, I got a can of moss green acrylic paint and sprayed it over the sheet. Once it dried, I rolled on two light coats of white paint then gently added some umber; sienna; ochre and Golden's Payne's Gray (which is Navy Blue in my eyes!) with a brush.  (you have to work lightly when using masking fluid because it's easy to remove the gummy substance when using a brayer or paint brush).

The fun really began once I started removing the dried masking fluid with my rubber cement eraser. Because of all the layers of paint on top of the designs, it took a long time to remove the paint, and some areas removed more layers, exposing some of the moss green paint.  I decided to let the scrapes and scratches remain which wasn't easy because I wanted to go in and make each mark perfect, but I forced myself to walk away and left it to dry overnight.

I'm glad I did - I absolutely love the finished, rough organic look.  What do all the lines and patterns mean?  To me, it's a life's code type of thing, and each person can read into it whatever they wish.  I haven't determined my meaning of the piece yet, and I probably never will.

Snow Bound - Day 23 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"Snow Bound" - 18" x 24" acrylic on paper - $295 includes free shipping

The River, She Rises - Day 22 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"The River, She Rises" - 18" x 24" acrylic on paper - $295 includes free shipping

As you know I'm trying to keep ahead on my paintings for this challenge, and I'm writing this particular post on the evening of January 18th.  Living in California gives us enviable weather compared to many other parts of the nation, so I feel like a big whiner whenever I talk about our storms or heat or drought.  But tonight in Sacramento we're having a hellacious storm with high winds and heavy rains that are downing trees and fences in my neighborhood, and our Sacramento and American Rivers are swelling to capacity.  It's nerve wracking and I'm trying to keep busy so I don't go into panic mode.

This painting was done several days ago and is called "The River, She Rises" - very appropriate for the current storm.  Also I love the clouds and colors in this piece - I didn't intend on making it into a landscape but here it is in all its glory :-)  Here's hoping tomorrow brings less turbulence and fluffy clouds with a hint of sunshine.  But for now, I'm going to grab a glass of Merlot; light my candles and hunker down with my dog as we wait out this storm.

Eye in the Sky - Day 20 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"Eye in the Sky" - 18" x 24" acrylic on paper - $295 includes free shipping

Land Slide - Day 17 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"Land Slide" - 24" x 18" acrylic on paper - $295 includes free shipping

Misty Night - Day 15 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"Misty Night" - 18" x 24" acrylic on paper - $295 includes free shipping

The challenge is halfway over and overall I'm delighted with this new series!  As you know I've been working furiously to keep ahead so I'm not overwhelmed with trying to paint every single day.  This means some days I'll do several paintings and other days I'll concentrate on marketing and cleaning my house which has become a hot mess thanks to paint, supplies and half-finished paintings taking up space on my tables and counter tops.  

I've been diligent on uploading my new pieces to my various online galleries including:  Artfinder; Saatchi Art and my newly updated ETSY store.  Eventually I'll add them to my Fine Art America site where you can order prints and other printed items including pillows; shower curtains; etc. but that may not happen until after the challenge is over.

I've found the constant uploading to various sites has increased my stats considerably, and in my heart I know it's what needs to be done on a consistent basis in order to keep the algorithm robots happy. But the reality is it takes a lot of time and a lot of work, and I'm starting to hate sitting in front of my computer for hours on end.  

I'd love to find a student intern this year to help with the marketing and will look into this at the nearby high school and university to see if they have a work experience program.  In the meantime I'll keep doing everything myself and am looking forward to getting the next 15 paintings cranked out so I can clean my dining room and start seeing my counters again!

The Elements - Day 14 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"The Elements" - 24" x 18" acrylic on paper - $295 includes free shipping

Back and Forth - Day 11 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"Back and Forth" - 24" x 18" acrylic on paper - $295 includes free shipping

This little number has lots of lines and loads of visual texture, in addition to layers upon layers of paint, gesso and mediums.  The random mark making with the masking fluid lends a final finish to the many designs, and for me adds an element of movement to the piece.  In other words, my eyes keep moving back and forth - hence the name :-)

I have to admit I'm enjoying working on paper much more than I ever thought I would.  I'm using a 140# cold press watercolor paper by Canson which is a quality yet inexpensive (compared to Arches!) product made in France.  I was hesitant to use this larger product since I wasn't sure if it could hold up to the torture I put my paintings through, but I am impressed.  I love the feel and the weight of the finished paintings, and can't wait to see what happens when I add an additional two coats of my UV protective varnish with a satin finish.  I think I'm going to want to run my hands all over it!!

Steady Drip - Day 10 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

So here's another minimalist painting I created using the Daniel Smith masking fluid that I like so much. The background on this piece had many layers of various earthtones, and with the fluid "dots" and a coat of my special white medium paint that I mixed up, it allowed the darks to still show up and made the dots stand out while blanketing the piece is a peaceful, zen white look.

Many years ago I used to paint with watercolors and gouache, and I always used masking fluid in my designs because I loved that element of surprise that you get when you finally remove the dried fluid from the piece.  These last few paintings have brought back that excitement and I hope you're enjoying these new designs for the 2nd week of the challenge.  Not sure what week 3 will bring, but they are guaranteed to be abstracts on paper in neutral colors!

"Steady Drip" - 18" x 24" acrylic on paper - $295 includes free shipping

Alone in the Cold - Day 9 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

It's hard to believe I'm nearly 1/3 of the way through the 30/30 challenge already.  The adage about "time flies when you're having fun" is definitely appropriate as I've been having a blast with this new series.

Here's "Alone in the Cold" - another visually textural piece in light gray blue shades.  And I've put together a little collage of all nine paintings to date - check it out!

"Alone in the Cold" - 24" x 18" acrylic on paper - $295 with free shipping

Collage of the first 9 paintings for the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Starting Over Again - Day 6 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"Starting Over Again" - 24" x 18" acrylic on paper - $295 incl. free shipping

Beneath the Surface - Day 5 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"Beneath the Surface" - 24" x 18" acrylic on paper - $295 incl. free shipping

Challenge Complete - Here's the 30/30 Collage for January, 2016

January, 2016 - Collage of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

I am ecstatic to have completed my sixth (6th) "30 Paintings in 30 Days" challenge time and am happy to report two of these paintings have sold to good homes.  In the past challenges, I always worked "small" - usually 4" x 6" up to 12" x 12" but this challenge was comprised of larger canvases that were in need of a makeover.  The series was called "Reflections" and were all done on canvases/panels that had previous paintings of mine on them (some done from the late 1980's!!)

Part of my own personal challenge was creating something that corresponded with the title from the original painting.  This wasn't always easy, I assure you!  But at the end of the day, I was happy with the new work and didn't regret letting go of the old paintings one single bit.

The next step will be finishing these paintings so I can begin the marketing process.  I didn't focus on sales this time - mainly because there simply wasn't time.  Painting larger also means painting longer, and this challenge had me putting in some long studio hours. 

I'm excited to take these new works and upload them to my website in addition to marketing them to my group of designers and consultants.  Many of them will also hit an on-line shop or two, and a couple of them will remain in my personal collection until I'm ready to let them go.

Thank you again for following along - there were a lot of things going on during this challenge, but I managed to finish and for that, I'm proud of my accomplishment.  I'm also thrilled to report I wasn't alone this time - we managed to get a group of 15+ artists from the Sacramento area involved in the challenge, which means one heck of a lot of new art was made in our Capital city this month!

The next challenge begins in September, 2016 - I can't wait to do it all over again!

Day 22 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "Sweet Surrender"

"Sweet Surrender" - 24" x 24" acrylic on 1.5" canvas

More soft and subtle colors in this abstract painting - covering up a mid-range palette with lots of marks.   With the exception of a couple of paintings thus far, I can safely say I'm loving this new style that has been emerging from this challenge.  

Day 21 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "Inner Peace"

"Inner Peace" - 24" x 30" acrylic on 1.5" canvas

This painting gave me everything BUT inner peace while painting it....in fact it was painted over and over and over again before I finally said "enough."

The original piece had a ton of texture - molding paste; fiber paste; gel sand; gel medium.....and at one point I became so frustrated I actually grabbed some more molding paste and started texturing over the texture!!

No matter what I did (graphite lines; ink drips; bold cruciform composition) I couldn't seem to create a focal point of interest.  And then it hit me.....I didn't NEED a focal point!  The texture WAS the focal point and the soft, blended colors that danced over the surface were the perfect background.  I added gold metallic highlights and that sealed the deal.

I know the photo sucks and you can't really see the shimmer but you can see the subtle colors that  float on the surface.  The finished piece has so much depth it is actually quite beautiful.  This one might just stay in my personal favorite stack!

Day 17 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "My Funny Little Valentine"

"My Funny Little Valentine" - 24" x 24" mixed media on 1.5" canvas

Looks like I need to get busy this Holiday weekend and get some more paintings done!  I thought I was ahead of the game when I completed this one last Friday, but yesterday wiped me out.  Long story and nothing I want to share right now, but I'm back on track now.

In an earlier post I mentioned two friends who are both fighting life-threatening diseases - one is being treated at the Mayo Clinic (fortunately she has excellent insurance) and the other just got accepted to Stanford's cancer center.  Unfortunately her insurance seems to be fighting her every step of the way, and one of her friends started a funding campaign to help with the bills.

I decided to do my share to help and am offering the following:  Any of the paintings in the collage below will be for sale at A PRICE YOU NAME (no reasonable offer refused) - and 100% of the sales will go to help my friend.  The offer is good through Monday, January 18th at midnight.  I normally charge an average of $1.00 per sq. in. of the canvas (for example, a 12" x 12" canvas would be $144 - but make me an offer I can't refuse!).  Here are more details.  Please consider helping this family in need.....cancer ain't cheap and the treatments are going to bankrupt this family.  Stage IV inoperable cancer can be treated and the Stanford oncologist team is hopeful Tammy's type of cancer responds to the treatments which start next week.  At $3500 a pop (out of pocket expenses), this isn't easy.  Send me an email with your offer and get some original art.  100% goes to Tammy - inquiries at:  jj@judyjacobsart.com

Day 16 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "Sky Watch"

"Sky Watch" - 24" x 24" acrylic on 1.5" canvas

Here's something different - bright, bold and tons of texture.  I wanted to paint something that reminded me of David Bowie and these colors and geometric shapes screamed "80's" to me. 

I was a huge Bowie fan  back in the day and was so bummed to hear of his passing this week.  Another rock and roll legend has joined some pretty talented superstars who went before him.....just think of the music they're playing now.

Day 5 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "Wherever the Wind Takes Me"

"Wherever the Wind Takes Me" - 7" x 5" acrylic & graphite on MDF panel

Many folks do not understand abstract art and think it's just the result of some crazy artist gone wild with some brushes and paint.  And some artists may very well work like that, but I find the abstract genre to be like an intricate puzzle, waiting to be solved. 

This challenge, I'm working on doing more abstracts and am painting over/reworking old paintings.  It's been ages since I've painted abstracts and I've really missed the "problem-solving" that needs to happen in order to make a successful work.

For example: I have to pay attention to shapes; colors; form and line in addition to keeping a balanced ratio of lights to darks; warm colors to cools; brights to neutrals and more.  And let's not forget composition!  Some pieces are easy to figure out while others are like those 5,000 piece jigsaw puzzles that take FOREVER to finish.   

I got a head start on this challenge by prepping 15 canvases before it started.  Right now I'm working on seven pieces but they aren't coming together quite like I'm wanting them to.  Analyzing each piece takes a long time, and I'm getting a bit stressed thinking I won't get all 30 paintings done by the end of January. 

Failure is not my strong point, so I do plan on finishing the challenge and completing 30 new abstract paintings.  Will they all be successful pieces?  Undoubtedly no.  I'm striving for 80% though and we'll see if I can finish this challenge with a passing grade.  

Day 2 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - Whispers in the Winds"

"Whispers in the Winds" - 12" x 12" acrylic & graphite on .75" canvas

This was a "redo" of an old seascape that I had created while on vacation this past July in Sea Ranch.  I just couldn't seem to get the piece to work, so decided to cover most of it with the neutral colors but left a couple areas of the old ocean for good measure.  The dark turquoise area in the center reminds me of a vessel, and the swirls are list quiet whispers in the wind.....

Seaside Sunday - Day 28 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"Seaside Sunday" - 5" x 7" acrylic on paper in 11" x 14" mat - $65