Backyard Succulent Revisited

The very first painting I did in my 10 day challenge was from a photo of a succulent I have growing in the back yard. I hadn't painted with acrylics for four or five years and even then I'd only ever done one painting. I'd totally forgotten how to use the medium which became very obvious in the finished product (see above).  I was disappointed with it and vowed to try it again later down the track.  Today was the day.

I used a different photo today and began laboriously trying to copy the colours and shadows exactly.  There is only so much of the masochist in me and after a while I decided to stylize it which seemed to work a little better and was much easier to do.
I loved the new boards.  I had previously been using stretched canvas or canvas covered boards which I found took a lot of extra paint to cover the textured surface. Today the paint felt lovely and buttery and made for a very enjoyable painting experience.

                                                               6" x 6" Acrylic on board
                                       

Jug and China Doll

                                                                       10" x 12"  Acrylic
                                                  I painted this last week for my mum's birthday

Ducati

                                                                 8" x 10" Acrylic

                                           This was painted in July for my husband's birthday.

Afternoon Tea

                                                                     12" x 9"
Well I really loosened up with this one and had a lot of fun.  However, it was a bit too rough and could have done with some preliminary drawing to get the scale right. This was painted in July.

Perfect Conditions

                                                                           6" x 9"
I felt I achieved what I set out to do with this one.  This time I got a lot more green into the water.
This was also painted in May.

Rottnest Island View

I painted this in May from a photograph I had taken several years ago.  It took me 4 hours to paint and I felt very pleased at keeping it loose.  When I'd finished I realised that the colours of the ocean were a little insipid but I didn't have the courage to change it at that point.

Rose in mustard jar

                                                   
                                                   This was painted in May.  I enjoy the challenge
                                                   of painting glass.

Launching the Boat

                           

                            I did this painting for my Father-in-law's birthday in April.  When I began it the plan was to do it in a very loose style and finish it in one day.  The two previous paintings each took around 4 hours to paint but I wasn't able to loosen up with this one and it took many, many more hours over 5 weeks to complete.                   

                                           

From the 10 day challenge

These were the two most successful paintings from

          the 10 day challenge which I undertook in February.