Painting Daily

As much as I browse the internet and check out other artist's blogs, they all seem to find time to paint something daily. I will have to admit, however, that I am not able to keep to that routine. I usually end up painting once or twice a week more or less, but just as any artist I would like to gain experience and the only way to do so is to paint often.

I think I know what my problem is... instead of painting something manageable in short period of time, like 30 minutes, I always start something grand, large, complicated... Simply put, if I know that I cant finish something i want to paint in time I have available I simply don't start it.

So here is my resolution: I am going to paint every day starting tomorrow and do it for consecutive 7 days. Any subject, any media the only limit is 30 minutes! We will see what come out of this :)

Pastel on Colourfix (brown) 8X10

Keeping a limited pallette

Its always a good idea to limit your palette especially for a beginner. It allows you to focus on values instead of color. In medium that can't be easily mixed such as pastel it is especially important to pre select your colors  until you are very comfortable with them and then slowly add new ones to the palette as your confidence grows.

How I pick colors for a limited palette:
1. I try and set 4-5 value ranges for my paintings usually based on my sketch.
2. I pick 2 - 3 colors in the same value range.
3. I try to pick at least 1 warm and 1 cold color in that particular value range.
4. I try to keep it to no more than 14-15 colors depending on the composition.
5. I try and remember that the color doesn't matter as much as value. For example if you paint blue trees, they will still look like trees if the values were selected correctly even if you don't use any green.

Here is a quick painting done with the palette selected above:

Durand Eastman Park 5X7 Pastel