My Art Every Day Month Project

Published on November 2, 2011

So, as many of you already know–it’s officially Art Every Day Month again! Wahoo! And this year I have decided to take on a project.

My project is to be a student of color for the month of November.

And I plan to do this through painting still lives–something I have not done since my art school days.

Something that I actually used to rock at–but just like any skill–if you don’t practice and attend to it–it will begin to slip away.

So last night I started with two oranges sitting on a blue chair and my first painting is the one you see above.

I was not too happy with it.

It felt contrived, ridiculous, and flat.

So like any good student, I started a second one.

Now, we’re talking.

This one isn’t finished–but already it’s starting to feel better. It’s starting to speak to me–and I actually understand the colors a little better.

I think in the first one I was trying to be too literal. Trying too hard to “paint a still life”. In the second one–I’m letting me come through a bit more.

And I should add, when I say I’m a student–I’m serious about this.

When I came up with this idea at the beginning of last week–I went on Amazon and purchased a bunch of books on color as well–and one of them came yesterday–so I made time to read too!