Green Motorcycle

Ok, I've been trying to paint a few paintings recently, and have been having a few problems.  I am not a trained painter.  I've never taken a course, and I don't prescribe to any  real system to do my paintings.  I have, however, reviewed like a million videos, and online tutorials on how to paint.  At this point in my artistic career, I should tell you I think they are all bunko!

I've done a few paintings recently (ones that you will never see) that were painted in this more traditional way.  Sky first, then background, foreground, blah blah blah.   They all stunk.  I think that method isn't going to work for me.  Looking back at all the pictures that I have done that I think look good, and that I have had fun painting have been done mostly opposite of this.  As was the painting of this motorcycle.

I sketched the bike and jumped right in with painting it.  The foreground, the background, the sky, they will all take care of themselves.  What I think is most important to get right, right away, is the subject of the painting.  (Yes, I will admit that I like these kind of diffuse foregrounds and backgrounds.  And if I wanted to at this poinet I could go back and put in whatever foreground or background details and no one would ever know I didn't do it the "proper" way.)

I will admit to making one HUGE error with this bike.  It was supposed to be blue!!  I was working on two paintings at once, on was drying and I started with the wrong color without thinking about it,  Oooops, what do I do?  Well, I just kind of went with it, and figured that some people have green bikes anyway.

I still like it, and hope you all do to.

Dorn's The Original Breakers Cafe

Double click this picture to enlarge.

This was done over the weekend.  I found out one really important thing.  If you have two sick kids who are pretty needy, you aren't gonna be able to paint very much at any one time.  This entire painting was drawn and painted in one to two minute segments.

Even with the challenges this turned out ok. Now, I will say that I have been past Dorn's a thousand time, and I don't think the colors are right.  As it turns out, I had to paint the entire thing from a black and white picture.  I should also say that I felt so confident when I started this, that I didn't even do it on really good watercolor paper.  I did it on a slightly lower grade paper.

Bayside Cafe

I have been thinking of painting all the landmarks in Morro Bay.  To see if I could do it I did a few quick paintings yesterday.  They turned out OK.  The problem for me is that same problem I've had all along.  DRAWING.  Having not had a drawing class since Mrs. Mudrack's class in high school.  Drawing is tough.  I have been working on it.

Yesterdays quick sketches gave me a little hope so today I decided to give a go on the Bayside Cafe.  It is located in the State Park, right on the water.

So, armed with a little confidence, resolve and dogged determination, I set out to draw, and paint.  Let me pat myself on the back for a second (pat, pat).  This was drawn in PEN.  Did you get that?  PEN, no pencil.  Once I started, I was all in, for good or bad.  It did take just a while to draw it, but the painting went great. OK, there are a few problems.  The perspective is off in a few places.  I know, I know.  But without an eraser, i was forced to forge ahead.  From a drawing perspective, this is like 5 times as difficult as most of my others.

In talking to my painting partner, Ed, (who is learning to watercolor at the same time) he suggested that it may not be quite enough to mix colors in the tray and then put a homogenous color on the paper.  These are watercolors after all, let the paint mix on the paper.  I am trying to take that advice to heart.  If you look in the painting, you can see that most of the colors change ever so slightly as they lay across the paper.  I do think it adds to the interest of the painting.  I am trying to do it even more.  Please click on the picture to enlarge it, it will look much better.