Moraine Lake

The motivation for this one comes from a day trip to Canmore with the family. I was holding the baby like a football and walking while Di and the boys finished their hot chocolates. She wouldn't stop crying unless I got her away from her mom. She slept once I started walking, and my walking took me into a gallery. It was fascinating how the price of paintings depend mostly on their size. Di and the boys found us and started looking at the artworks too. Di expressed an interest in a big piece. We are so not in a position to buy a big piece of artwork right now.

When I got back to work in Ontario, I started wondering if I could do a big acrylic. My thing is usually watercolour. But a huge watercolour is beyond my competency. Acrylic materials are dirt cheap at Jysk. So I thought I'd give a little acrylic a try before getting a big canvas.

It's not like acrylic is super easy to get a good result. But there is the chance to paint right over mistakes. That's so not the case with watercolours where every brushstroke is permanent.

I added the grass because I thought it needed something in the foreground. But then I changed my mind after a few days. Also getting the perspective right on the canoe required more attention than it got initially.

I'm reasonably happy with this work as it is below. But something may start to annoy me as the grass did. Maybe it needs to be hung upside down or sideways for a few days too?

So producing a big work like Di wanted isn't totally out of the question. The challenge now is if I work on it in my free time in Ontario, how will I get it home to Calgary. Or if I work on it in Calgary, it would be taking precious time away from the family.

Perhaps putting an oversize piece on the flight home isn't as expensive as I imagine?

If I Really Was a Painter?

I'd have to sell my paintings for about a grand each to actually quit looking for a "real" job. That's pretty lame. That is my productivity or laziness is pretty lame.

I wondered how much my paintings actually do make? So I averaged all the non-vetta paintings I sell on iStock per month by the number of paintings, and i make $1.50/painting/month. Obviously i could adapt my style or subject to try and be more marketable. But that is quite a bit of guesswork.

A buck and a half seems like such a low number, but maybe consciously being marketable and then adding a lot of paintings every month would quickly add up to a reasonable number?

If i worked 20 eight hour days per month and made 1 painting per hour, after a year the portfolio would have over 2000 paintings. If it was still performing at $1.50/painting/month, that would be encouraging enough I think, to continue.

But there a lot of risk around the $1.50. That number of paintings might water down each painting's performance? On the other hand I might have to consider other venues for selling paintings, like etsy.

Okay I'm going off on a huge what-if tangent when the biggest uncertainty is actually my own discipline and painting 8 hours a day. To actually make painting my job. As long as I don't compromise looking for a "real" job, It might be interesting to see if I can be a real painter in the meanwhile.

Fire Abstract

I'm REALLY happy with the way this one turned out. I used a combination of paint and colored chalk. I smeared the chalk on while the paper was still wet, and then brushed that into the painting again. Then i laid clear film on the lower half of the painting for texture. If i could duplicate these results i'd make 100 more paintings like this.

Actually I've been working on a different technique today. Results were not expected but I'll save that for when I post that work.

It's been a good day overall. I've kept the tv off even though i don't watch it closely when it's on. Today seems more productive than usual. I'm thinking tv is more of a distraction than i've admitted. I've even worked out somewhat intensely, which is a huge turn around to the trend.

Silent Auction

My esposa was urging me to tell our friend about my plan to have a silent auction to raise money for breast cancer. We were all watching the hockey game lastnight and it did not seem like the appropriate time. I don't want to be painted with any saintly light, when especially i'm so far from accomplishing my goal. On the other hand, it might be nice for our friend to know we all want to do what we can to support her and ensure a win. It might also be nice to take her to Divine in Okotoks and surprise her with what i'm doing. I don't know when or if i should tell.

Our friend saw the surgeon yesterday but i didn't converse with her about it as much as the esposa did. Apparently she's considering a double mastectomy even though one breast is clear and has an independent likelihood of developing cancer from the other one. This consideration is probably a reflection of how stressful and how out she wants this thing. Indeed she and her partner said their lives seemed to be flashing before their eyes, referring to so many decisions they were facing.

I wish hours of hard labour was all it took beat this thing. Then i have no question we'd win. At any rate i'm sure everyone will do what they can. I've decided to set aside non-negotiable hours to devote to painting.

Blue and Red

Blue and Red
Originally uploaded by philsajonesen

This isn't too exciting. Just a little experiment to see how the different blues and reds look one wash over another. It also gives me a pretty clear idea which reds and blues are cooler and warmer than others.

Motivation wise, i have a couple things to keep me busy and productive. Recently we learned one of our close friends has breast cancer, so i wanted to do something positive. I talked with my friend Darren Nixon who has a restaurant, Divine and some available wall space, so i talked with him about having a silent auction of my paintings to raise money to fight breast cancer. So i need to keep focused and get productive.