Painting (36) Wildflower Garden

The last several months have been so difficult. Besides the isolation of lockdown, the six weeks leading up to that I was cooped up recovering from a broken ankle. Just when I was getting back on my feet, the pandemic hit. All together my imprisonment at home has lasted since January 14th. Granted, the restrictions are easing considerably but still… Now this would have been the perfect time to get involved in a lengthy project like the novel I’m working on but my productivity has been atrocious. In all this time I have written one page. On the other hand, the one thing I have done is paint. Painting feels like therapy to me and while my skills are still rudimentary, the process has been very enjoyable. Here is one of my latest pieces. Something cheerful, bright and full of color. A Wildflower Garden.

Painting (35) Coffee Time

In learning to paint, you quickly find those subjects that are easier for you and thus, you can fall into the habit of painting those same things over and over again. For me, forests and oceans are my go-to themes. But in the spirit of stretching out, I decided to try a still life for a change. I’ve drawn still life scenes and tried one with the Apple Pencil and Procreate but this is my first try on canvas. Here is my still life: Coffee Time.

Painting (34) Skellig Islands At Sunset

When you first start painting, you tend to save every attempt. As you improve your skills, you start to reuse canvases with substandard work in order to be thrifty. Sometimes when you reuse a canvas, the texture of the underpainting shows through. That isn’t always so bad, a little texture can enhance a painting. But sometimes, it ends up right in the middle of an otherwise perfect sky… That is unfortunately what happened with this one. Which is a shame because otherwise I think it turned out pretty good. Here are the Skellig Islands at Sunset on a recycled canvas. If you can’t spot the blemish, ignore everything I just said!