Begonias from my 30 in 30

The remaining unposted paintings from the 30 in 30 days challenge are more florals!

They are from a day of painting at McCrillis Gardens in Bethesda, Maryland. I was fascinated by the late season begonias, in particular, but also wanted to focus on geometry and large shapes. They are 2.5x3.5"and 8x10". They were nearly finished on site and all have watercolor underpaintings. The smaller is on mounted Uart and the larger two on Pastelbord.

Begonias Mini

Late Summer Begonias

McCrillis Gardens

30 in 30 Rounding Home

I have finished my 30 paintings for this month! And it only took 25 days! If I am able to work on some larger ones next week, I won't stop at 30. I am really enjoying how loose these miniatures are. It'd be fun to translate them larger.

(My plans for the weekend preclude painting, so I actually got them done in advance. Woo! for the artist with little sense of time!)

(I spent the day as the desk jockey at my gallery today in Building W-9 at the Workhouse and had to do something!)

So here ya go. They will be gradually uploaded to the challenge site as the days open up for posting.

All are 2.5x3.5" in soft pastel.

  

 

From Natty Bo to CamdenYards

Baltimore is a world unto itself and I love it. As a small child, my now teenaged son, who had easy access to the wonders of Washington DC, would exclaim, "Baltimore is my favorite city in the whole world!" He was highly motivated to make the one hour drive in order to visit the B&O Railroad Museum as well as the features of the Inner Harbor, like the National Aquarium, Constellation historic ship, Coast Guard vessel, WWII submarine, and water taxis. Delicious crab cakes from Fells Point made our stomachs happy, too.

This painting is from an image I took from the eastern edge of Baltimore near Dundalk, back toward the winking, red neon, National Bohemian beer sign to the glow of Camden Yards in the distance. It was during the second home game of the season this year. The sky was celebrating in Orioles orange.

From Natty Bo to Camden Yards
soft pastel
9x12 on black Canson
(Private Collection)

More in my 30x30 Quest

I am still successfully working on 30 paintings in 30 days. In part, I am taking the time to work on miniature art for the holidays. I am also adapting some work I'd put to the side and giving them new life.

Today's post is all about the miniature. I have reused a 9x12 piece of Uart that had an underpainting done in watercolor plein air a while back. I didn't feel that the piece was worth developing once I got home and I moved on to other projects. For this challenge, I have taken that paper out and divided it into space for nine miniatures.The old watercolor underpainting has been handy, even as I find new applications for it.

So far, I have the under the sea series, additional sea turtles, sunsets, and these, which are from photos I took as the sun was setting on my first day in Curacao in June. I strolled the resort's property on the southern edge of the island at Piscadera Bay. I am very happy to have kept up with the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge, because I am not usually a daily painter. My goal is to be more prolific, even if it means doing miniatures, which are their own genre unto themselves.

Each pastel is 2.5x3.5".

Curacao Beach Sunset

Sunset over Piscadera

Lights Coming On, Curacao

Lilac

Lilac
pastel on Wallis Belgian Mist
8x10
Private Collection

Curacao's Southern Coast

Curacao's Southern Coast
Pen, Ink, and Watercolor
5x7

30 x 30 Under the Sea

 

soft pastel on Uart 500 with watercolor underpainting

2.5x3.5"

30 in 30

 



Imagine little wooden 1.5" gallery frames in black and a tiny bit larger, filled with these little ditties:

     

 

    

 

That's what I'm doing with myself as I prepare for the holiday season. See the 30 Paintings in 30 Days phenomenon here. I only hope to keep up, as I am not usually a daily painter. And, hey, if I only wind up with 29 paintings, large or small, then all is certainly not lost!