Daily painting 05-28-2017 (#4)

Today's painting is a further exploration of the casein medium. I do see progress from yesterday. One thing I found is that it always looks horrible in the beginning and even midway through, but slowly things start pulling together. So don't give up before adding shadows and highlights. 

Today's study is a copy of one of Carol Marine's daily paintings.

What attracted me to her paintings are the unusual compositions that make everyday subjects interesting. I am told that I am a timid composer, which is true, and that is why I am trying to learn from people who do things very differently.

I, then, wanted to experiment with what casein would do on a mid tone surface, so I picked a piece of scrap chipboard to practice on. I like that I don't have to worry about eliminating the white of the paper, and that any white is intentional white. 

Study : Just a peek by Anne Blair Brown

I noticed this beautiful painting "Just a peek" by Anne Blair Brown in the recent edition of the PleinAir Magazine. I have been teaching myself to paint by studying the paintings the catch my eye, and here is today's study.

I first did a little pen study, looked at the composition and the colors carefully and then proceeded to do a simple "gouache" color study. I don't have a set of gouache paints, but watercolor paints combined with white and black gouache tubes will work just as well.

Then I moved on to a watercolor study. I did one or two laters of watercolor paints, and cleaned it up with gouache. 

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I had so much fun with this exercise, and learned so much as well!