One of my goals this year is “more everyday observation,” which is to say small-scale paintings of current/recent things I’ve noticed. I see this as an alternative to putting too much pressure on myself to “do justice to” any given scene, or feeling like I have a long, unending backlog of unpainted inspo looming over me like a to-do list.
Everyday Observation
I started the year with a little scene of Blue Hill as seen from Arnold Arboretum’s Peters Hill on New Years Day. The photo is very busy, and the little painting attempts to simplify and center the hill – what I most noticed – which gets lost in the photo.
I found some unused 4″ squares to paint on. I love painting small; it makes everything seem lower-stakes. I continue to shakily attempt to paint straight lines. (I used a fountain pen for the power lines.)
In some cases I did reach a little into the boneyard for a photo I felt like painting. (These power lines were done with a rigger. Because I again painted this about 5×7 but on a larger piece of paper, I was able to use the paper to practice first.)
Here’s one for which I did not get a photo. The inspiration was a peaceful, dark, post-sunset windowscape that I gazed at while doing yoga.
Here are some sunset windowscapes with the Schmincke Pretty in Pink set.
Another in my distant hillside series! I last checked in in fall, now it’s definitely winter. I used a combo of Cobalt Turquoise and Pyrrol Rubin for that neat cloud mix.
I decided to do a new thing where I do sketches of Mass Audubon wildlife parks, but I neglected to do it in person, so I did this later in my Moleskine travel sketchbook from a photo.
Birds
I’ve gotta get back into my bird project!
Inspired by one of my Discord chums, I tried my hand at a pose that was not profile.
Glazing
These are for an upcoming post on glazing.
Tiny Landscapes
These are on two-inch square samples!
