Day 30 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

This post is long and winded (surprised I have any) 

but have some things I would like to share...

"Well Used and Ready for More"

9" x 12"

oil on Raymar panel

The very MOST inviting space I know!  Finally

we are done with the challenge and I made it!!

Second year - I can think of no better way 

to start a year, if you are a regular painter.

It gets you right in the groove...

and 30 paintings under your belt

in just the first month of the year.  

For me, some very acceptable, some needing

more to be better.

So let's go 2014!

I am warmed up, got the kinks and the bugs out...

if I continue (at a slower pace, of course)

I think I will be painting a good bunch of 

paintings along the way.

Sure, there are gonna still be days of frustration 

and hair pulling...but I am ready.

Thanks to Leslie Saeta for hosting (again) the January event.

A few shots of the process on this one:

My source photo, taken with my Nikon D3200. Sent to my iPad

and clipped to my Sorg easel.

The following photos are taken with my iPhone.  I use all 

three devices for painting each day -

my Nikon camera, my iPad (which is such a great tool)

and my iPhone.

I painted my Raymar panel with cad orange acrylic.

Sketched in my shapes with a white charcoal pencil, 

then used a brush with dark brown to sketch

more boldly - you can see how shaky I was today.

There were very few dark darks - so I began laying

in color masses.

Starting to add more color as I go to 

give me that overall sense of

where I am going.

And as shown at the top - the finished painting.

NOT to go without mentioning, I have had LOTS

of help over the past thirty days.

Pye gets to a point where she watches, 

then plays and then watches some more,

finally jumping down, from her perch nearby,

 climbing up the back of the chair

over my shoulders to settle in my left arm, 

while I paint with my right.

She doesn't stay long, but long

enough to give lots of love, kitten kisses, hugs  and purrs.

She is such a sweetie.

Meeka is not as clingy and

is content to just watch with

an occasional stretch over 

to put her front feet on my 

apron and to look at 

me as if to say,

"I shouldn't be here, bugging you."

But I allow it all the same.

Gonna take a few days off.

Gotta get feeling better.

I think a few full day's rest is on the agenda.

Thanks for visiting.

I very much 

appreciate all of you who have left comments!!!