Painting 114 - 8/22

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Oil on gessoboard

8"x8"

As per Tristan Elwell's orders, I have painted a lemon. It... wasn't as difficult as I feared! I wish I'd gotten the shadows a little more chromatic/less muddy, but I'm very, very happy with the yellows. It's something to keep working on, of course, but - yay!

Painting 096 - 8/4

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Oil on gessoboard
8"x8"

...followed immediately by a really good painting. I can paint green things now! Also, clear things!

Painting 089 - 7/28

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Oil on gessoboard
8"x10"

And then I won at green and glass :'D

There's not really much to say, beyond the fact that I am very, very proud of myself.

Painting 087 - 7/26

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Oil on gessoboard
8"x8"

So, it seems that glass-with-liquid-in has ceased to be terrifying or impossible, and has entered into the realm of Doable. This is exciting and encouraging :D

Painting 086 - 7/25

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Oil on gessoboard
8"x8"

As I said earlier, I'm really sick of this project... but every now and then, I hit a painting like this, which is really simple and shows me exactly how much better I've gotten. It is very encouraging, and like a breath of fresh air.

Painting 080 - 7/19

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Oil on gessoboard
8"x8"

The reason I haven't been posting recently is because I am getting so sick of this project, omg. But I've been painting every single day, still, and I am starting to post again!

Here is a dead rose that I painted! I'm very proud of myself, since it's three things I'm historically weak at painting: red things, green things, and flowers. And I did a good job! Yay!

Painting 072 - 7/11

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Oil on gessoboard
8"x10"

So my roommate is a Fine Arts major, and way too awesome to be believed. This is a spiderverbicle (a vehicle representing language (which language? all language. i told you she was awesome)) and it is approximately five inches from front foot to back foot and made of copper wire.

Ohhh yeah.

Painting 064 - 7/3

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Oil on gessoed board
8"x10"

I dunno how this came out as good as it did, but I'm not complaining.

I also have no explanation for what this object is. My mom gave it to me. It appears to be a hand-sized kangaroo eraser?

Painting 063 - 7/2

(I'm a little terrible at this updating-every-day thing. I'm sorry.)

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Oil on gessoed board
8"x10"

I was beating myself up over doing another cop-out painting, but, um. I really like how this came out. I really like how it came out. It's one of my rings, a favorite (even given that it's one of five I wear constantly); it's not a true circle because I beat my rings all to hell through everyday wear.

Painting 061 - 6/30

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Oil on gessoed board
8"x10"

Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, I bring you the halfway point in my summer of painting challenge. I have painted myself again, a month after I did it the first time, and in spite of some things I'm not entirely pleased with (my nose, drawing issues with the line of my cheek, brow, and forehead, not enough chin, I look angry) wow is it a step up from last time.

When I began this project, it was with the acceptance that if I didn't improve by the end of the summer, I needed to walk away from oil painting and focus on ink, or pencil, or some other medium I was already good at for my illustrations. Since then, I have successfully completed 61 paintings in as many days, and whaddaya know? This is the improvement I was looking for. Now, in the remaining 62 days, I need to continue pushing, and prove to myself that this isn't a fluke, or a temporary upswing.

(also, yes, my hair has actually grown an inch, inch and a half in a month. it's sort of what it does.)

Painting 039 - 6/8

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Oil on canvasboard

8"x8"

My circle challenge week is over, but I grabbed an object with circles in it anyway - and excuse me while I take a moment to get really excited about this painting. This painting wasn't hard - it just worked, even the circles. It's paintings like this that make the whole painting-a-day thing mean something to me: because I could not have painted this, especially with this casually, a month ago.

So yes. :D :D :D

Painting 031 - 5/31

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Oil on gessoboard

8"x10"

I decided, when I started this project, that each month's end would be marked with a self-portrait. And here we are - at the end of the first month! I'm very, very happy with this painting, though as soon as I finished it I saw things to improve upon (the nose, the hairline, etc). I especially like the colors of the flesh.

Painting 029 - 5/29

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Oil on canvasboard

8"x8"

Apart from the fact that the scan did odd things to the colors and I forgot to correct them in Photoshop, this makes me very, very happy. While the base isn't anything special, I really do love how the head came out - and I got the circle right!! Sort of!

Painting 023 - 5/23

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Oil on gessoboard

8"x8"

With this painting, I have exactly 100 more days (and, coincidentally, 100 more paintings) to do for my Summer of Painting. I think it's a worthy one! It's my tiger cup, companion to my bear cup, and with it I have finally painted a Yellow Thing successfully! This is a fairly big deal for me, haha, and so I'll ignore the fact that there's not enough contrast in the shadow.

Painting 017 - 5/17

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Oil on gessoboard

8"x10"

I decided it was time to paint my hand again, given that I was still in my no-blue week and wanted to see how it would work out. Apart from the fact I wasn't working with strong lighting and as a response didn't go in for enough contrast, I think it came out nicely! The drawing is once again not quite there, but I actually really like the colors.

Look! My paint application is getting better! Maybe!

Painting 012 - 5/12

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Oil on gessoboard

8"x10"

I decided to atone for the previous painting by tackling one of my biggest challenges to date: the glass. And what do you know? Apart from a really wonky, not-in-perspective circle for the rim of the glass  - and some strange things going on with the metal band as seen though a layer or two of glass - and something happening with the interaction of tea and teabag above the line of the water, I think I might actually have pulled it off properly! And without any blue, ohyeah.

But it wasn't until I put it next to the original glass that I got properly excited:

...because that, ladies and gents, is a week's worth of progress.

Painting 004 - 5/4

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Oil on canvasboard

8"x8"

To atone for the less-than-stellar previous painting, I decided to paint my bear cup. I love this cup, man, and even though it didn't quite come out looking like the shiny plastic it's supposed to be made of, I'm actually really pleased with this painting. And look! I even used something approaching proper amounts of paint!

Painting 001 - 5/1

 And it starts!

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Oil on canvasboard
8"x8"

I decided to start simple, and what, really, is more simple than an egg on a white surface with direct lighting? Subtle color, warm/cool relationships, and precise tonal shifts have been a problem for me in the past, hence why this was a useful painting. I'll probably be working with all-white still lives again before this is over.