I'm one of those people who heard about doing a painting a day and thought, "I could do that!" Two weeks later I only had three paintings to show for it. Obviously I was doing something wrong.
Daily paintings are a bit of a trend with artists right now. Carol Marine's daily painting blog was an inspiration for me, as well as the "Daily Paint Works" website where many artists show off their creations. Having your daily paintings for sale can make you feel a bit intimidated at first, but also become motivation for getting them done.
I already have many art projects and paintings in progress, but this is different. For daily paintings, you usually set a time limit for yourself, such as an hour or two. Then you try to finish the painting in that time period, to the best of your ability. Quick thinking, good visualization and fast color mixing are essential. Rather than a detailed painting, it is more of a "paint sketch". The challenge is to get the colors, shapes and shadows down correctly in the time you have.
Picking Your Subject or Thinking Up An Idea for Your Paintings
The first thing I learned was to change the subjects I was picking. It's unrealistic to think you can paint an entire ten piece still life in two hours. At least, not if you want it to be aesthetically pleasing. Instead, I choose one or two items only. Then I play with the relationship between them until I am happy with the composition. If the item has tricky parts, such as chrome or see-through glass, I make the composition even simpler to allow extra time for those parts.
Also remember that you can use photographs as well as real life set-ups for your compositions. Sometimes setting up a bunch of still life compositions at one time and photographing them all at once is easier for future days. As well, a series of compositions revolving around the same objects can be fun to explore. If you want to keep your pictures all in one spot that is easy to review, try using Pinterest, an online site where you can store your photos and collect new ones. Try this article on "Pinterest for Artists" if you need more ideas.
Lighting for Your Daily Paintings
Lighting is another piece of the puzzle that I overlooked. Strong contrasts between light and shadows in your piece will actually make it easier to paint. As well, highlights are fun to paint! Put lots of them into your composition.
Good lighting also made it easier for me to see the colors and recreate them better on my painting. I lost the muddy look and began to paint bold and bright.
Having a Sense of Humor in Your Art
Personally I enjoy making my daily paintings fun, and maybe a bit humorous. Small kitschy items around my home make great studies, and lending them character helps me paint more focused. Pairing a grapefruit and a grape, or a mismatched set of tea cups, keeps my paintings fun and whimsy. I find I get bored if I try to take my daily paintings too seriously.
Keeping the Size Small
The time limit means a large canvas is out of the question. As well, who can afford that many giant canvases? Instead I use 5x7 or 8x10 canvas boards that I can get cheap at the art supply store (or dollar store). This also helps me focus on the composition and fit as much information as I can into the frame. It also gives me a chance to practice my cropping, as it is not always possible to paint an item onto that size without creative cropping.
I generally do oil paintings, because that is my favorite medium and I find I can paint fast and fresh with it. Other people use watercolor, ink, felt pens and other mediums. Choose something that works for you.
Knowing When To Put It Away
If you're anything like me, you have to do "one more thing" on your painting at the end, and that can lead to another hour of work. Know when to stop. If there's a glaring error, you might want to fix it, but otherwise learn to accept the imperfections and tell yourself you will do better the next day. It is a learning process, and the idea isn't to make a perfect painting everyday. The idea is to learn everyday.
Now that you've started painting everyday, what about selling some of those paintings? Check out this article to find out where online to sell your artwork.
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