Liz Cutler #5 , 2 of sisters, 16x18 oil on board

Another painting from a photo with strong sunlight. The girls were working on a word search.

Beer Labels - a family collaboration (Paintings #8, #9, #10) - Claire

My oldest son continues with his homebrewing hobby and this post contains the latest beer labels that we collaborated on. He gets pretty creative in brewing his batches of beer from scratch - and he comes up with interesting names for them. Working on the labels has been an interesting adventure for us in collaboration over the internet (we live on the 2 different coasts of the country) - he sends me the info, I make up a label and send him the jpeg. He prints them out and applies them to his bottles. Of course.... it would be even better if we were under the same roof and could taste his creations together!!

More of the story:  There are actually 11 labels now in this series for my son. More information is available on my own blog. Start by finding the post on my blog with these 3 most recent labels, then at the bottom of that post you'll find links to other related beer label postings.

liz Cutler #4 One of sisters, 12x 12 oil, linen on board

Working from a photo taken when the cousins were fishing at my in-laws camp, wish I could remember what they were plotting.

Liz Cutler #3 Nuzzling for a Lifesaver oil monoprint 8x 12

This was an experiment. Using a drawing from a photo, I painted on plexiglass and pressed handmade paper onto it.

Lorrie #7 - Lamb

Lamb - watercolor 6 x 8 inches

I'm practicing painting some farm animals, using reference photos from magazines, to get some ideas for a larger painting that will be a donation to Farm Sanctuary. (Farm Sanctuary is the country's premier advocacy group for the well being of "food animals"). Each year they hold fundraising events that include silent auctions, and making a donation of art for those auctions is a great joy and reward in itself.

The Underside - #11

The Underside (c)2011 8x12 Watercolor 

Here's the latest twenty minute special and #11 in the challenge- The Underside. I painted what I could in the small amount of time I had and was done with it. I know I keep painting the same items, but I think it's a good exercise in seeing things in every different way. You really learn your subject.

# 2 Liz Cutler , Nevaeh's First Kiss ,Oil over acrylic sketch on canvas 11x 14

I think it has been decades since I did an oil painting. My first time using walnut oil instead of turpentine and now my first time wondering just how long it will take for this to dry. I did a painting sketch in acrylic to sort out values and worked from an old photo, as my nephew is now 10 . It was tricky with so much blue clothing.

After looking at it now for the zillionth time I am not so sure if it is actually finished.

#2 Boy Clown - Cheri Homaee

This last week have been hecktic. I have been working on an exhibit. Got my email hacked and facebook locked me out. Everything is straight now. So now I can paint for fun. This is boy clown or devil clown whatever your take is on clowns. In all my work I first paint in black and white then glaze over in color (graziella) . It takes a bit longer but I like the results.

#45, #46 Las Vegas Postcards - Sheryl Hawkins

Both of my sons have been stationed at Air Force bases in Las Vegas, so we have visited many times.  I decided to do these Las Vegas postcards to add to my collection of watercolor postcards I had already done from Italy, Paris, Long Island and California.  They are fun to paint and are more like sketchbook paintings which I am trying to get into.  It is a much looser style than I usually paint and fun for small projects.  These are 4X6 on 140 lb watercolor paper.

Kelly - Painting 33

(Oil Pastel, 9x12 Sennelier Oil Pastel Paper)

"Gold Daffodils in Pink" was another experiment. I wanted to see how dark and rich I could take the color using the Sennelier oil pastels, and I wanted a blurry lushness I could get lost in, so I slathered the pigment on in waves and used a smudge stick to blend and blur. These daffodils are from my front yard. It was grey and cold and snowing, but the flowers were working their hardest to brighten things up. I snipped a few and brought them inside so their gold color would glow and fill the room with spring.

The forgiving nature of acrylics made it fairly simple to sketch out my son tinged in the computer's blue light. I was thinking of how to keep warm and cool colors on the same plane on his face and what color the background needed to be to stay as background as the values are so similar. This is one of the first paintings I felt was completed (as much as I feel anything is finished) in one sitting. The 4x4 size was a big help and my subject had had enough of me staring at him. My biggest challenge I have discovered is the technical aspect - typing, blogging, the importance of clicking the correct area -quite the opposite of acrylics.

A New Challenger!

Please join me in welcoming Liz Cutler, our latest challenger! Liz is a painter working with oils, acrylic and pastel. She has only recently started to work in watercolors. One of the things I liked most about Liz's response to her goals for the challenge, was her candid admittance to the fact that she loved to dive in and indulge in color. I think we can all relate to that!

Liz is looking to learn discipline with regard to crafting her paintings, getting a handle on the age-old question, "Is it finished?" and seeking to develop a habit of completing work rather than leaving for the next great opportunity.

Liz, welcome to the challenge and best of luck!

Kelly - Painting 32

(Oil Pastel, 9x12 Sennelier Oil Pastel Paper)

Last year for the 100 Painting Challenge, I worked exclusively with birds, but this year I'm adding flowers and insects into the mix. This painting is my first floral still life. I brought these tulips home from Whole Foods in an attempt to "buy" a little spring since Mama Nature wasn't handing it out for free.

Kelly - Painting 31

(Oil Pastel, 12x16 Sennelier Oil Pastel Paper)

I bought Sennelier oil pastels today with birthday money my parents gave me. I'm in love. They are so luscious it's like painting with lipstick...or creamy butter (yum). They glide across the paper leaving pure pigment behind and blend easily with a smudge stick.

This juvenile Tricolored Heron was learning to fish when I spied him last June in Hilton Head, SC. He was moving cautiously down a branch that had fallen in the water, flapping his wings to balance and never once letting his gaze move from the tiny fish swimming below

Three Shells - #10

Three Shells 8x12 Watercolor (c)2011 Dora Sislian Themelis

Moving on to #10 in the challenge with Three Shells. At this rate, will I get 100 paintings done in one year? I'm not so sure, but I keep going. I am trying to decide whether to look over some of my photos for ideas or keep painting from life. I've been doing well painting what I see and not so sure I want to go back to photos. I will have to think about it.

Petite Petit Wine Bottle #44- Sheryl Hawkins

When I saw this wine label, I knew I wanted to paint it!  So full of tiny details and very colorful.  Of course, once I started to paint- I thought many times that I had gotten into something I wished I had not started.  There were many little details I didn't notice until I had started, and several I just left off since they were too small to try to paint!  Besides the amount of detail, the toughest part was getting the bottle dark enough.  I am glad I did this painting and I enjoyed adding the outlining with my rapidograph, so I did learn some new things.  The wine in the bottle was very good also, so all in all, a good project!

watercolor with ink on 140 lb cold press (rough surface)

Kelly - Painting 30

(Watercolor, 12x16 Arches Cold Pressed 140 lb Paper)

This painting was an experiment. I took a fern frond and painted it, then pressed it into the paper to see what would happen. I used watercolor for some of the prints and thinned-down acrylic for a few also. It was quick, MESSY and fun. The flowers are totally made up...I just wanted a color to help bring out the yellow eye patch on the White-throated Sparrow.

# 82 Tigers Nest Monastery Bhutan

I have been painting now for almost 2 years. Its been an amazing experience of learning, sometimes frustrating, sometimes exhilarating....but never dull. Today is a day when I feel I am sailing on a very high wind of sheer joy at having completed a difficult bit of work, and being totally thrilled with what I have produced! I normally paint quickly and use little colour. In this picture I experimented by using both, very little pigment in the misty bits and lots of thick pigment in the dark rock faces! I also surprised myself by taking time to complete the picture slowly, waiting for washes to dry and actually spent time in doing the detail on the monastery. I think the paper made a huge difference as well. I used a really thick paper (Cansons 300 lb) which was able to take the many washes easily.

# 81 Flowering red adenium

I came home after a week to find that my little adenium was giving out bright red flowers! So I was inspired to do a quick 20 min. challenge. Its interesting to see that my quick sketches are improving and the 20 min challenge has certainly contributed to that. I spend the first few seconds focusing on the main colours and form, do a really quick sketch, and start painting without too much thought! It works. I would have liked to spend time doing a background that would enhance the painting, but couldn't manage that in 20 mins!

Blood Oranges on Silver Tray- #43 Sheryl Hawkins

I found out about Blood Oranges on a trip to Italy.  They are wonderful, but not available for very long.  They are in the stores now and we are buying them whenever we go- the color is beautiful and they taste great.  I am still working on reflections, hence the silver tray.  I used some of the pattern of the tray to separate the oranges from the reflected oranges, but tried to keep from putting in all of the pattern- just enough to hopefully show the different surface.

Watercolor 9X12 cold press

Lorrie #6 - A Faithful Friend

Binocular Friend - Watercolor, 6 x 9 inches

Yes, these binoculars are a faithful friend! I'll bet some of you also have such a friend!

 With a hundred paintings to accomplish, I realized it would be useful to commit to working on certain things that will help me grow, so I've come up with six categories of paintings to work on. One of them is "Unusual Subjects" (things I wouldn't typically paint). Hence this one. Who knows what will show up next?!?