As I slowly creep into being 30% done with my 100 Day Project, I feel a mixture of disappointment and excitement. I feel like I have had the best time on this project...but only when it feels somewhat successful. It's really hard to let go of the perfection and be consistent. I have lots of creative ideas in general, but when it comes to using these Oblique Strategy cards as prompts, I can get stumped or I have the desire to "outdo" myself on previous days.
I have been quite busy with commissions and design projects, but right now I am between commissions, so I really do feel like it is time to be consistent on this.
This week, I felt a transformation with the Day 24 and 25. First off, that meant that I was 25% of the way through! The other thing with Days 24 and 25 is that I was stretching some of my technique. It wasn't like I was doing things I hadn't done before, but the transparency and layering was happening much more. With the black hole painting, I woke up, had coffee and worked on it for several hours. That's the ideal way I want this project to go.
I think this daily project is starting to inspire bigger works. I began this project for pure fun, so it's really interesting to me that I am starting to see some direction. I want to make a return to treehouses, houseboats and mysterious places. I am noticing this group's theme seems to be nature.
Day 21 Don't be afraid of things because they're easy to do
I painted these ice cubes in 95 degree weather, after working out and riding my bike to and from the place I worked out at. Nope, not too easy.
Day 22 Where's the edge? Where does the frame start?
With this piece, I wanted the white of the paper to match the white of the internet so that it felt like it was really floating whether on Instagram or this blog. It ended up being a little gray since I didn't go in and Photoshop it.
Day 23 Abandon normal instruments
Immediately when I pulled this card I knew I would head to the backyard for some natural instruments. I used aloe and red geranium to make this leaf drawing. My tool was the stick which I dipped in water and stabbed through the geranium petals (the purple color). With the aloe, I just smoothed it onto the paper and smeared with my fingertip as needed (the yellow color). I was surprised by the color outcome.
Day 24 Discover the recipes you are using and abandon them
Ah, it's ones like this that make me feel like I need to do a 180. Thoughts like, "Should I not use watercolor? Should I make something big? Should I use different colors? Should it not even be a drawing or painting?" pop up and make me really think. In the end, I thought that I often paint the moon and use a lot of blues, so this one is all warms and black with a sun. One of my favorite parts is that you can see the sun rays through the mountain, since they were painted first.
Day 25 Use an old idea
I looked at my shelf of art papers and remembered I had this gridded green paper that we always had around the house when I was a kid. My dad worked at NASA, so engineering books, engineering paper and those green plastic drafting rulers. I think I was inspired by the previous day's sky theme with the sun.
Day 26 Who should be doing this job? How would they do it?
I had a vision of this scene right when my eyes closed for sleep. I thought I would paint it and thought that Foster Huntington would be the right person for this job. A few years ago, I painted treehouses and I always meant to keep going with that series. I think it's time to get back to it as I am planning on working on some larger paintings this summer.
One interesting thing is the next day I was watching Particle Fever, a documentary on the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, and remembered it has the same hexagonal shape. Everything is connected!
Day 27 Define an area as 'safe' and use it as an anchor
I had a few different ideas for this one, but nothing stuck until I decided to take our house, which feels safe, and put in near Anchor Island (in Maori Puke Nui), New Zealand. It looked fairly bland at first and needed more layers in the sky and contrast in the water. It still looks a little saccharine for me, but sometimes you need to just call it done. This is probably why I am drawn to painting the night sky. It's dark and more emotional than a day sky, at least the way I paint them. I've made houseboat paintings, before, but this one gives me the idea to create a larger one.
Day 28 Water
This scene above is from the backpacking trip I did over the weekend. It was refreshing to see these ponds in the landscape, even if they were few and far between. The looked like oases in the middle of the dry grass.
Day 29 Allow an easement (an easement is the abandonment of a stricture)
This one came with the following note:
This Bay Area basement apartment is 150 sq. ft., haunted and smells like rotten oranges. Only $4,999 a month. Serious inquiries only.
This is a response, of course, to the insane housing prices in the area right now. I know a lot of people who have to live back home with their parents or have roommates because they can't afford an apartment or house here. Have a pet? Forget it. It's even harder unless you make $100,000+++++ a year.
Day 30 Which elements can be grouped?
Of course #30 is inspired by the backpacking trip I did over the weekend. I drew up my supplies and with the exception of toilet paper, clothes and food, I got just about everything I brought with me.
Only 70 more to go!