Golden Goblet in Sunset #1

Golden Goblet in Sunset #1  

My painting in watercolor

The challenge painting this month on paintanddrawtogether website was a very clever digital composition of photos combining a beautiful, if stormy sunset, shiny cloth and dark ribbon and a very ornate golden goblet.

It was definitely a challenge.

I started out using watercolors but soon found this was not going well. I wanted a light background but I couldn't get the goblet to stand out enough. So I then tried to darken the background which wasn't a good idea . It just got too muddy looking. The cloth was a big disaster as well as the folds were all in the wrong place .Also the composition itself was off because I had placed the goblet too far to the left.The goblet itself was complicated to paint with all the filigree and shine. I shall look on this challenge as a good learning experience.

Mike reckons if you stand a long way away from it it looks okay. That's my feeling as well.

Here is the original photo of the challenge.

So after a while thinking about it I decided to start over and paint another edition but this time use acrylic paint.

I'll show you that one tomorrow.

Starry Starry Nights

Starry Starry nights-a painting Challenge

Van Gogh's    The Starry night

Every very month there is a painting challenge on the blog “Paint and Draw together” and I find it a good way to get motivated to paint. Maybe you have seen some of my past attempts.

Well in February a new challenge wasn't posted so I decided to give myself a challenge but who and what should I try to paint. It's a difficult choice to make as you want it to be a challenge. I looked at many old masters and just couldn't decide.

Then I was looking and listening to YouTube and heard one of my favorite tunes , Starry Starry night sung by Don McLean with just a lovely video of Van Gogh's paintings . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkvLq0TYiwI

Shirley's attempt at Starry night

When I saw it I knew which painting I would choose for my challenge.

It is a difficult painting to even look at let alone paint as the brush strokes go every which way and the beautiful colors swirl and blend so well and it is difficult to concentrate on just one part of the painting. 

Now I know why Van Gogh was such a marvelous artist.

I am sad he had to have such a sad life.

But what a legacy he left us to enjoy.

Post script>: From Wikipedia

 The Starry Night is a painting by the post-impressionist  artist Vincent van Gogh. The painting depicts the view outside his sanitarium room window at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (located in southern France) at night, although it was painted from memory during the day. It has been in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, part of the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest, since 1941. The painting is among Van Gogh's most well known works.

The Egg Basket

The Egg Basket

Original by Delaporte

Once a month I try to do a challenge painting that appears at http://paintanddrawtogether.blogspot.com

This month the painting again challenged the artists to do a painting in the style of the old Masters. This painting”The Egg Basket “ was by French painter Henri-Horace-Ronald Delaporte (1724/1725 - 1793). 

A beautiful still life which looks so simple.

My version

Actually it was not so simple to paint. The basket with all the intricacies of the wicker work was a real challenge. And the eggs to make them look like eggs and not round blobs had me repainting over a couple of times. I can also see that I should have made the whole thing a lot darker.

Still this is the finished example. These are fun to do and also fun to see the other finished paintings to see how others completed the challenge . They are so varied but all great to see.

If you are a painter you might want to join and give it a go !!