Author: admin

If you want to make sure something happens over the course of a day… Do it early, before you lose track of time and miss the opportunity.

Today I started painting around 11am and come 2pm, I am all wrapped up painting, full of lunch, have my video and photo editing done, and am writing a post. Very nice!

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On Setting Up Composition:

Even though we are two days from Easter Sunday, we are experiencing a blizzard in North Dakota and the ground outside is COVERED in snow. Our apartment is normally dark and relies heavily on artificial lighting, but with all that reflective snow, the natural light is coming in with a noticeable and appreciated presence.

I took advantage today and moved my subject, a naval orange sliced and quartered, to the sliding glass door atop a barstool and cardboard box to get a nice vantage point with dramatic lighting.

I added a warm lamp light as well, you can see it reflected on the edge of the knife and it warmed my subject just a bit, helping the intense oranges to come through.

On Color Mixing:

I’m noticing a theme while working with yellows and oranges. It’s a challenge to mix JUST the right orange and I tend to quickly either dull them down or have them come out too yellow. The highlight on the central orange slice still looks a little too yellow from what I was seeing… But it’s lovely nonetheless.

On the Painting Process:

“Hold your brush by the end, move from your elbow not your wrist, stand far away from your canvas as you paint.” Bits of advice I have picked up from art professors in college and the Plein Air Podcast. I tried it out today and went with looser brush strokes for most of this painting.

To successfully paint an entire piece this way, I will need to hone in even further on my order of events and puzzle piece it together. The highlight on the top left edge of the central orange slice is an example of a mark that did not succeed in creating the type of hard edge I was going for. I’m not sure what order to have put that in… Or maybe I just needed to be a little more calculated and intentional about how I loaded my brush.

On the Results:

Overall, I’m pleased with this painting. I want to work more on the rule of thirds, as that central orange slice would most certainly be more interesting positioned a little further to the left.

The colors are pleasing to my eye as I glance over to the painting now drying on my wall.

Another daily painting, done! I’m a little older, a little wiser.

Anima Cucina. I see you in my dreams.

This painting holds in it many of my dreams actually… First, it was painted in the aforementioned Anima Cucina, a delightfully posh and well-designed “Italian Eatery” in downtown Bismarck, ND. The menu is thoughtful, pricy, and DELICIOUS. I have dreamt of eating here again after my first experience with one of their charcuterie boards in November of 2021.

Second, I was out and about and feeling good. This painting occurred on the fourth day of my week-long artist in residence, teaching art to 7-12th graders in Elgin, ND. My trip to Bismarck happened out of unfortunate necessity (do NOT put unpackaged lithium coin cell batteries together!! They will all be dead within a couple of weeks. Bone dead). I was tired from the week, depressed from the lack of culture, and here I found myself drinking in beautifully textured walls, elegant light fixtures, young and slightly pretentious waiters, and food with finesse. I needed the respite.

Third, and most importantly, I was enjoying my first bowl of Cacio E Pepe! When I say enjoying, I mean I couldn’t get enough. The savory, salty, peppery noodles were calling my high-cardio-workout-name and I was spooning in bite after bite of the long hollow chewy noodles into my mouth on an intoxicated train of pleasure. I have been wanting to try Cacio E Pepe ever since reading through Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat. Finally, it was time. Now I can make it myself someday and I will have a worthy benchmark to compare to.

I wanted to immortalize this pleasurable moment of respite. Despite my waning desires to paint, which I had courteously agreed to respect, the need to pull out my watercolor kit prevailed. I had an excuse to linger in the details of the moment and I was taking it.

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In addition to fulfilling my dreams, this painting holds its head high artistically as well. I wanted to capture the values in watercolor, always a challenging feat, and I wanted to do so quickly so I could make it home in time for bed and the final day of my residency.

I formed the values of this painting with my pencil before I went over with the paint. Thus, the drawing process took a large bulk of the time to complete this painting.

I also heavily utilized my white gel pen as the pencil marks were darker than I had expected when paint was added to the top. This was a fairly expedient process which is useful to know. I also added some darker spots with sharpie to help with the contrast in the noodles which were a challenge to signify as individuals. I utilized advice I heard on the Plein Air Podcast on a few separate occasions: paint enough for your viewer to know what’s going on and let the rest be.

This high-contrast painting was more of a value study than a color study and I was tired when I finished… But a week later looking back… I would do it all over again. Even the battery part because it led me to a moment worth savoring.

Another restaurant travel watercolor painting.

This one was made in one of my favorite spots in Bismarck where I went to get away for the evening as a break from my teaching residency.

I was tired, in need of food, and desperate for something beautiful to paint… thankfully something beautiful came!

After enjoying a bowl of ramen and a side of spicy eggplant, I dove into my painting for the next hour or so. The wall of the bar seating area right in front of the kitchen had lots of texture, shape, and color ready for capturing with my pencil and paint brush.

I’m still not sure how to attach these watercolor paintings… do I mix paint as I go? Do I use wet on wet or wet on dry techniques? How often should I do a wash before I add dark color? Lately I’ve just been blocking things in with the value as close to possible and doing very little layering. Watercolor theory to be continued…!

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The staff at NoodleZip are so friendly, good natured, and make the most delicious food. I gave them my painting when I left and was not disappointed by the enthusiastic receipt of my gift. They put up with my quiet mood and lingering presence. I’m more inspired by them to be kind and receptive to the people around me.

When I’m on the road, I pack a watercolor kit. It’s incredibly portable. It’s restaurant friendly! I can pull it out and paint a scene without drawing too much attention… but usually, my waitress stops by to ask to check it out.

At Blarney’s Stone Pub, the food is fantastic. I highly recommend it. They also happen to be open on Sundays so when I found myself in downtown Bismarck where nearly every other business has closed for the seventh day, I knew Blarney’s would welcome me in for a bite and a space to paint. The atmosphere there is enjoyable with low, golden lighting and lively Irish music playing as the friendly staff whip around taking care of the place like they own it. I’m a fan!

This painting was a challenge because the water glass had so many subtle value shifts in it. I managed to capture the gist, but it ended a little too tinted for what I actually saw.

I started this painting by drawing the scene in pencil. Then, I added a golden wash over the whole painting except for the napkin, glass, and reflection spots on the salt and pepper shakers. Next, I went in with the tabletop and darkest bits. I painted in the glass and shakers, then the dark background, and finished by matching the foreground values as closely as I could to what I was looking at. This includes the little white highlights (thank you, again, to my white gel pen!)

I’m very pleased with this 1.5 hour watercolor… And the salmon lox appetizer I enjoyed during my stay!

A lot of these nights I’ve found myself scrambling to fit in a painting by the end of the day. If I don’t knock it out as one of my important morning tasks…….. I’m in trouble!

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In the “Plein Air Podcast,” I’ve heard many painters talk about the importance of loosening up while painting. Letting go. Not worrying about applying the most precise, detailed little brush strokes.

Tonight I was SO tired and wanted to whip up a quick painting before bed. I’m trying to lay down by 11pm so I had about 25 minutes of allotted painting time. It was a good challenge to have to fit in all of the colors, shapes, and values in that limited window. I truly had to loosen up or it wouldn’t have been possible.

In addition to getting to bed by 11pm, I try to limit my exposure to bright lights in the final couple hours of the day. This is a challenge for painting a brightly lit subject. Today I tried something different. I set up my subject, these delicate little flowers, with a cozy candle flickering just under and behind them. That created a nice glow of light.

The next problem to solve was lighting my canvas well enough. You can get values correct in low light… In fact it might even help to dial in values… But the colors. That’s where the painting will suffer. You can’t see hue as well in low light.

I set up my lamp from Target behind me with my phone mounted to record the session and used the light to add a little more interest to my subject and, more importantly, to light my canvas from behind without destroying my night vision.

The result of all of these constraints? I’m pleased to say it is a loose and gestural flower painting with interesting lighting that is a fantastic addition to these daily paintings.

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As a side note, I also tried labeling my palette for simplicity’s sake. It was fun to look back at my colors without having to worry if I was picking the right stack as I zoomed around the canvas.

Driving home from 6 hours of running around on the North Dakota roads for simple errands that would have been done HOURS ago if we lived in a city, I made sure to call my mom to nurture our relationship and to help pass the time. While we were talking about homemade pizzas, John Grisham, hope, and existential dread, we found ourselves also in conversation about the wide-open skies.

One of the perks of living in the Peace Garden State is having a nearly 360-degree view of the sky at all times for miles and miles in any direction. You can see weather systems moving in and out, and you can watch clouds… You really don’t even have a choice if you are outside! (Side note: Ryan and I are thankful for this fact if we have children here. We are learning that looking at far away things in sunlight is critical for healthy eye development. Thank you North Dakota!)

It’s spring now and the clouds are making that fact evident. Huge cumulonimbus thunderheads loom around, many of them dissolving into whispy blobs as rain breaks free from their apparently solid structures. There are SO many different values in the sky.

After I said something to my mom about the pretty sky, my mom replied that she loves spring clouds and spring skies. It clicked in my mind that yes, this was a phenomenon unique to this time of the year and I was witnessing incredible fleeting beauty that I wanted to savor before summer comes and the moisture leaves us for expansive blue horizons and golden hills.

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When I got home, I gave myself permission to skip a painting due to my exhaustion from being in the car. I ate dinner… Puttzed around… and then I gave a glance out our sliding door on our patio for inspiration. It wasn’t hard to become enthralled.

I quickly set up my easel, hands becoming cold and clammy already from the blowing wind, and set to work capturing the sky.

It took me 22 minutes from set up and mixing paints to putting on my final brush strokes. Just like that, there was the gorgeous scene in front of me, immortalized (as long as this gessoed chipboard holds up!) on my little 6×6 inch canvas. What gratifying work.

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I’m working on better understanding my motivations for painting every day. Something about this habit is calling me home despite my best efforts to weasel out of the time it takes to keep up the routine. I want to keep this little flame of passion for oil painting alive. As I’m typing this, my best guess as to why I feel compelled to continue painting daily is that it is filling my need to document, journal, and have a means for reflection on my life. I am keeping a journal of sorts on each canvas of my emotions, beliefs, values, and deep longings in each painting session. I am also improving my skills at representing the beauty around me; the beauty that sometimes gives me a much-needed reason to smile and to hope for tomorrow.

If these paintings can sustain themselves (financially, emotionally, time-wise) AND inspire others to feel some hope, gratitude, and respite as they encounter a painting… I think I could do this for the rest of my life. Dying with a nice portfolio of work that inspires beauty and awe for those who come to sounds like such a meaningful way to leave the world.

These are a few of my favorite things:

I love both of these knives; My blue handled pairing knife from my grandma and my chef’s knife from my mom and dad.

My target spoon with a beautiful, heafty lobed handle.

The thrifted plates that make my meals more pleasurable than I ever imagined a plate could with its subtle ripple of rings on the surface and burnt warm-toned edge.

Oh yes, and the grapefruit. These golden grapefruit were particularly delicious and rewarding to paint.

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I painted this one a couple of weeks back so the story of its birth is not fresh in my mind, but I do remember having to paint quickly. When I finished, I wasn’t so sure if I liked it or not but after a few days I saw it and was intensely pleased.

Something about the warm grey knife handle and the pop of blue makes me feel grounded and satisfied.

Full on a delicious dinner of Spicy Eggplant and butter curry tofu from Sarah’s kitchen, I opened up my Vincent Van Gogh book for inspiration. A painting was in order!

I stumbled upon a series Van Gogh did of his mailman and inspiration struck. I wanted to paint Sarah and she was willing, so we set up in her living room. She watched the charming movie, Chocolate, while I sat across the room in her beautiful vintage chair with the perfect vantage point.

My setup was easy since I was using a leftover palette from my painting the day before. The colors were close enough to skin tone and it worked out beautifully. The painting itself took around three hours!

I began by blocking in Sarah’s face with monochromatic values and careful measurements taken by holding my brush out to compare angles and proportions. Adding color was a breeze; I just needed to match the values and I was confident it would turn out. Indeed.

VOILA! Sarah’s beautiful face, lit by gentle TV light on a March evening.

That shiny little circle at the head of a bathtub under the faucet catches my attention nearly every time I take a bath. I think the fact that I’m slowed down, resting, and soaking in soothing hot water in a smooth basin means that there is more space in my awareness for the little distorted skin tones swirling around in that circle.

I’ve dreamt of painting that tiny metal distortion mirror for years. This paining was inspired by that desire but turned into a study of… Lets see… Value, color, and form! Basically, what I’ve been trying to learn to capture better in all of my paintings since I started this daily work.

The “Improvisation” of this painting alludes more to the fact that I had to create my own plug for the gaping hole in this tub. I used a hand towel held down by one of my thrifted food storage jars that was made in Europe. It has some heft so it stayed put. You can see it glittering between my knees.

Something about this scene got me singing the Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid. Not a bad way to end a night.

Trying to photograph this painting in the poor hotel room lighting was a frustrating experience but the soft morning light coming through my window did the trick to catch the soft, milky quality and reveal the gentle contrast in this painting.

Ahhh to be an insomniac. Where is this sleeplessness coming from? Dear paintings, are you too stimulating for my nighttime brain? Thankfully, I had John O’Donohue and Krista Tippet to keep me company and to indeed induce reflections in my mind, on Being.

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About the composition: My muse, the petit lamp I got at a thrift store in Williston, ND, took a while to position in relation to the little glass of wine. I wanted their highlight reflections to fall in the rule of thirds which took about 20 minutes of nit-picking, back and forth a couple of nudges at a time, until I was happy.

I appreciate my little glass’s simplicity, form, and highlights. The background color and flow of light is beautiful to look at as well. Nice work Morgie!

Painting in low light on a dark background and positioning the bottle at the far right of the canvas seems to have created an unwanted catch to the flow of my composition. It’s just so dark! I also could clean up some of these edges… Hello, label and lampshade. I’m looking at you.

I focused on mixing warmer paints than some of my previous paintings which I think came out too blue. It worked. This painting is incredibly warm… Aside from the wine bottle… which just… I can’t quite get past it.

Perhaps tonight, I will instead paint just the lamp and glass. Using a square composition, I thrive on short, stout shapes.