Winter Light, Night, Serene, Adventure
It simultaneously feels like week 1 of my 100 Day Project was just yesterday and like it was over 2.5 months ago - which it was. At this point we are almost at the finish line with my prompt list and personal 100 Day Project Challenge - #100dayswithlonelypine - you can read all about it here! I'm clearly more than a bit behind with writing about my weekly projects, but hopefully I will catch up before we reach Day 100.
Maybe.
So here is a wrap-up of my first 4 weeks.
Week 1: Winter Light
I love the light in winter. The colors are softer and more washed out. It can be bleak and to me, there is beauty in bleakness. I wanted to capture the pastel colors and the starkness of winter light with my first week; the beauty of the frosted light with the faint pink of the setting sun, the soft gray of clouds, and the white hills against the dark blue/gray of the bare trees.
I think overall I was successful! I had a great time playing with dripping white ink in the wet paint for the snow and experimenting with a limited pallet. This was my first successful attempt at working through a painting (or paintings) from initial concept/idea to finished piece and I must say, it was both refreshing and much less stressful than my usual method of going straight from my head to finished piece on paper and having to scrap it multiple times because I didn't have anything worked out before assuming I could just create a finished piece.
Week 2: Night
Growing up, I used to turn the lights off in my room, light a candle, play The Nutcracker soundtrack and just look at the full moon hitting the snow and illuminating it with the sky full of stars. I've started to realize that I am content to sit and stare at outside - either through a window or just sitting outside myself - for hours. No need to make noise or always be doing something , just to be in the present moment in nature.
For Night, I wanted to bring those cold, moon-lit nights starring at the bare trees out of my window to life. I absolutely love how the moon turned out and am glad that I decided to fill the forest in with trees. I have another one of these paintings in progress on a different paper type and also one that is just all snowy forest in my art journal that I will someday complete. Someday...
Week 3: Serene
When I think serene - I think about the color blue. I don't know why - I feel serenity in many places - forests, meadows, near the ocean, etc, but for some reason, blue immediately pops into my mind and overpowers everything.
For this week, I wanted to do something a little more minimal and am pleased with the 3 finished paintings! Full disclosure - I completely mucked up the bottom right painting when mounting and varnishing it. Oops! I'm in the process of repainting it, or attempting to for a super exciting project I'm going to spill about after my 100 Day Project is over.
Week 4: Adventure
I used a friend's reference photo for this one. I will admit, Week 4 was rough for me. I had a few ideas that I was considering but as the week wore on, I just wasn't feeling it. So I went with a straight painting from this reference image in the final hours.
What a beautiful spot to wake up. What a difficult tent to paint! So many folds!
Camping/Backpacking is the type of adventure I've been craving for some time now and am hoping to go at least once a month for the remainder of 2021. I went out in January, but due to a stress fracture, was couched (get like.. like being benched, but couched!) for February and most of March. I did go out at the end of March and have another trip coming up this weekend and a 2 night trip planned for May. So I think I might be able to maintain this pace!
The first 4 weeks of my project flew by. I am glad I decided tackle the 100 Day Project this way for 2021. It's much less pressure than feeling like I HAVE to paint every day. I will definitely be revisiting this format both for the 100 Day Project in 2022 and maybe as a monthly prompt list for the rest of the year - I love having a concept to work around and know I'm going to miss that when my 100 days are up.
I knew as the weeks continued, that I would find a breaking point or at least some points of struggle and boy did I find them. Though I do feel like my creative energy has remained pretty steady for the last few months and am so glad it is back after 2020's disaster of a year.
Prints of most of my paintings will be available in my shop soon. Stay tuned for wrap-ups of the rest of the weeks of the project and some more detailed posts on processes and materials!
Want to know more about something? Let me know in the comments or email me at lonelypineart@gmail.com!