Day 247

The Continuation of Childhood, 6 x 6 inch oil on panel

© 2013 Kathleen Coy

I realized something today. I cannot for the life of me ever remember doing a finger painting as a child. Ever. Certainly never at home. We were more of a crayon family. Less messy that way. I remember being envious of the kids who got to do finger paintings. And those scented markers? What I wouldn't have given for a set of those babies! But seriously, I can't recall ever sticking my fingers in paint and smearing it around on paper. So I decided to give myself permission to experience that today. Granted, I did wear latex gloves (probably a good idea when working with cadmium colors), but it was still tactile and delicious. And very freeing. 

Day 244

Color Notan 5, 4 x 4 inch oil on canvas

© 2013 Kathleen Coy

I like painting these little abstract color notans as a way to play around with design patterns. To me, this one is suggesting large tree masses and a building, or even two large buildings. Or maybe even two figures. Well, whatever it may become, I do like the values and design of this little study.

Day 195

Abstract in red, 4 x 4 inch oil on canvas

© 2013 Kathleen Coy

A busy day with two much-needed visits from friends, plus I finished a commission. A good day, indeed. For today's painting, I gave myself 15 minutes to do a quick abstract - it was all I had time for.

Day 189

Daydream, 4 x 4 inch oil on panel

© 2013 Kathleen Coy

I didn't have much time to paint yesterday - so I grabbed a little 4 x 4" panel with the hopes of painting this horse "fast and loose," while playing with the compliments of purple and yellow. I like the abstract design of it. I could have worked on it longer, but by that point it was almost midnight and I was ready to call it a day.

Day 172

Winter Solstice Shadows, 4 x 4 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy

I was pressed for time on friday, so I grabbed a panel, my palette knife, a few colors and set a timer for 15 minutes and stood at the window looking out into my yard and tried to quickly capture the colors of the tree shadows on snow in the bright sunlight. 

I'll be taking tomorrow off for the holiday. Have a wonderful Christmas, everyone!

Day 170

Palette Knife Color Notan 4, 

4 x 4 inch oil on canvas

© 2012 Kathleen Coy

This little palette knife study suggested a still life to me, so I added a tomato-looking thing and a few other circular objects. I'm actually pretty excited that I've got the hang of making round objects with the knife now. This one took a little longer than the last three - maybe twenty five minutes or so total. I also really like the way I can get such clean colors with the knife. Lots of possibilities with this tool.

Day 169

Palette Knife Color Notan 3, 4 x 4 inch oil on canvas

© 2012 Kathleen Coy

Today's painting is another little notan, where I'm just playing around with light and dark patterns and color with no real objective other than to make something pleasing, and to practice painting with the knife. In case you missed it, I'm doing a few of these little studies this week for my daily paintings because of time constraints, as so far they only take about fifteen minutes each. 

Day 168

Palette Knife Color Notan 2, 4 x 4 inch oil on canvas

© 2012 Kathleen Coy

I think I'm going to do a few more of these little color notan studies this week, because I have some commissions I need to work on right now and the fact that these little abstracts don't take much time is a big help. I like this one better than yesterdays. Actually I like it quite a bit, but don't worry - I have no plans to become an abstract painter. These are just experiments, and another way to practice my knife handling. 

On another note, I've listed the mini-landscapes from days 157 - 160 in my Etsy store, for only 60.00 each, including the little display easel. They would make a nice gift (or maybe a gift to yourself.)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/118306819/mini-original-oil-painting-by-kathleen

https://www.etsy.com/listing/118307164/mini-original-oil-painting-by-kathleen

https://www.etsy.com/listing/117005661/mini-original-oil-painting-by-kathleen

https://www.etsy.com/listing/118307409/mini-original-oil-painting-by-kathleen

Day 167

Palette Knife Color Notan 1, 4 x 4 inch oil on canvas

I only had a few minutes today to do my daily painting, and decided to just work out an abstract design with the palette knife, simply playing around with no expectations. It was a somewhat meditative and nice and quick little exercise. To really save time, I could have taken the easy way out and simply painted the canvas black and said I was "exploring the blackness," but I couldn't bring myself to do it. (Haha!)