Strada easel challenge week 2

How has your week been? Are you sticking to those New Year Resolutions?

Mine was to find time for a painting every day through January so I entered the Strada easel painting challenge to keep me motivated.

The first full week back to the normal routine was challenging to find time and energy to paint every day, but somehow I managed it! I am exploring lots of different ideas and glad to be painting regularly again. Lots of practice ahead of creating some larger paintings for two exhibitions coming up in May.

I hope you enjoy this week’s paintings, all painted from life within 2 hrs

Day 8 ‘Yellow bunny’ Oil on panel 8x8”

I have a bag of favourite toys from my (almost) grown up kids that are waiting to go into long-term storage in the loft. I couldn’t resist getting this little cutie out one more time!

Day 9 ‘Banana and grapes’ Oil on panel 8x8”

Back to fruit and trying some red/black grapes today. We always have these in our fridge, but I have never tried to paint them before: it’s amazing how many different colours there are when you look at something intensely!

Day 10 ‘Blueberries’ Oil on panel 7x5”

I enjoyed the grapes so threw in some blueberries and switched to a yellow background for a change, I’ve not painted blueberries before either!

Day 11 ‘Red pepper on green’ Oil on panel 7x5”

Keeping with vibrant colours I thought I’d mix it up with a green background and the most colourful veg I could find in the fridge. Oh, and this is the first time I have attempted a yellow tomato too 😁

Day 12 ‘Red fruit in a bowl’ Oil on panel 8x8”

I loved the colours in yesterday’s painting so attempted a more complex set up this evening, kept loose due to time constraints

Day 13 ‘Little white hyacinth’ Oil on panel 7x5”

This hyacinth has been sprouting quietly on my window sill and today was it’s chance to shine! It was a gift last year and a welcome surprise to see it flowering again - a hint at spring despite the freezing weather outside

Day 14 ’Onion and garlic’ approx 6x5” on oil paper

Sticking with bulbs today. The onion would not stay still until I found this little pot; but it did add to the complexity! My thoughts are beginning to turn to planting plans, are yours? 😊

Day 15 ‘Red grapefruit’ approx 6x5” on oil paper

The inspiration was my morning breakfast, I used to have sugar on these to make them palatable but these days I love fresh grapefruit just as they are - yum. Subject eaten soon after 😋

I’ll be giving one of my challenge paintings away to a lucky email subscriber at the end of the month, so if you haven’t signed up yet just click on the link below:

http://eepurl.com/gFyHgb

The winner gets to choose their favourite to keep, which would you choose?

You can find the week 1 paintings in last week's blog.

Strada easel challenge week 1

I'm kicking off my painting practice this year with the Strada easel challenge - painting from life every day throughout January to earn an entry into the prize draw for a Strada easel at the end of the month. Here is how I have got on for the first seven days - I am hoping to see improvement over the month!

Day 1 - Sprouting onion: found in the bottom of my fridge whilst having a post-christmas clear-out. I loved the way the leaves are emerging from the shrivelled bulb. Oil on canvas paper approx A5

Day 2 - Football bauble: I decided to paint one of the baubles from the christmas tree before putting them back up in the loft for another year. This one is pretty unusual - a little football and boot chosen by my son when he was younger. Oil on canvas paper approx 6 x 4"

Day 3 - Carnations and a thistle: I was given a lovely bunch of flowers for christmas and decided to have a go at painting some of them before they dried up. Oil on canvas paper approx 6 x 4"

Day 4 - Red carnation: I had another attempt at the carnation but the colour still wasn't as vibrant as I'd like! Oil on canvas paper approx 6 x 4"

Day 5 - Orange and banana: Back to work and with less time to paint I decided to choose a simpler subject this evening. Oil on canvas paper approx 6 x 4"

Day 6 - Mouse and orange: Sticking with the orange and upping the difficulty slightly by adding in this cute and fluffy white mouse. Oil on canvas paper approx 6 x 4"

Day 7 - Mouse and banana: I really enjoyed painting the mouse yesterday so painted him again though with a different snack this time :) Oil on canvas paper approx 6 x 4"

At the end of the month I will be giving away one of the challenge paintings to one of my VIP subscribers, who'll get to choose their favourite. If you're not already a subscriber then you can quickly join using this link - as long as you are a member before 1st February 2022 you will be entered in to the prize draw. Good luck!

http://eepurl.com/gFyHgb

See you next week

Art Giveaway Winner

Watch the video to find out who is the lucky winner of this month's painting giveaway! The little painting 'Through the Gate' will now be packaged up to go to its new home, once the winner has been contacted.

These giveaways are just one of the perks of being an email subscriber - join up here:

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