Eliot's Art Blog

My oil painting art practice was born this year. I painted for the first time in January and consistently practiced throughout the year. While I have long had a creative drive in me, it had previously been passive and casual – now I’m focused on dedicating time to get better.

Creations

While I’m ending the year with only one “finished” painting, I made 41 studies ranging from 6×6 up to 9×12. Here are some of my favorites:

I painted a variety of still life paintings, some from life, others from photographs. Many of them were on cheap 6″x6″ canvas panels.

Some of the most fun I had was painting outside. I took a plein air workshop with Paul Kratter in Carmel and also spent time painting around the East Bay.

This painting of Baylands Nature Preserve is the first time I painted a landscape and liked what I had created. I really like the simple shapes and suggestion of trees in the distance.

The first time I finished a painting and felt ready to sign it was this one of Amoudi Bay. There are still things I’d change or even add, but I like where it’s at and feel ready to say it’s done.

Colors

I explored different color palettes – from a limited palette of just titanium white, burnt sienna, cadmium yellow, and ultramarine blue, to an extended palette with many more colors.

I am currently preferring a split primary palette with ultramarine blue, cobalt, alizarin permanent, cadmium scarlet, cadmium yellow light, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, and white. Most recently, I’ve been experimenting with adding in either Naples Yellow or Nickel Titanate Yellow for a cooler yellow.

Looking forward, I’m definitely interested in keeping my list of colors short, though I’m interested to continue experimenting to find the colors I prefer to use the most.

Surfaces

This year I’ve mostly stuck to economical surfaces with the cheap canvas panel packs from Blick being the most common. For sizes, I’ve stuck to a fairly small and limited set of 6×6, 6×8, 8×10, and 9×12.

Looking forward, I’m interested in exploring other aspect ratios, like double squares, and going larger when I’m excited about an idea. I’m also interested in painting on linen, potentially making my own canvas panels to save on cost.

Courses and Workshops

I had the privilege of taking 4 in-person classes (weekly painting at my local community arts center), 1 in-person workshop (plein air with Paul Kratter), and 1 online workshop (Landscape Essentials with Kim VanDerHoek) this year. The in-person experiences have been the best and it’s nice to have an online course when things get busy with family life. The number one thing I learned is that while the courses give me ideas and inspiration, the best way to learn is by just painting.

Looking forward, I plan to continue with the in-person classes at my local community center, take more in person workshops next year, and peruse 1 or 2 online courses as well.

Recap and looking forward

I had so much fun picking up a brush for the first time this year. I learned that it makes me so happy to put mix paint and put it on a canvas.