A Rose a Day - my collage with all 21 paintings

These are the 21 paintings I managed to do during January 2015 for the challenge "30 Paintings in 30 Days" hosted by Leslie Saeta. This was a wonderful opportunity for me to paint more, almost on a daily basis, and I would like to thank Leslie for this! Next time I should organize better, and prepare more before the challenge actually start. I hope you had as much fun as I did!

A Rose a Day #21

Although this is not the last rose of the series, it will be the last one I can manage to post for the challenge. I have one more large (10x14 inches) in work, but I will only work again on it next Friday, during the workshop.
With this one I was exploring again the dark background, but on a larger size painting (10x7 inches).

A Rose a Day #20

I experimented with very dark background with this one, and I like it very much! Again ACEO size (2.5x3.5 inches), Camel artists' watercolor on Saunders Waterford 140 lb CP paper.

A Rose a Day #19

Yet another ACEO (2.5x3.5 inches) pink rose. Camel artists' watercolors on Saunders Waterford 140 lb CP paper.

A Rose a Day #18

W&N and Daniel Smith watercolors on Saunders Waterford 140 lb CP paper, ACEO size (2.5x3.5 inches).

A Rose a Day #17

I started this one a few days ago, but only managed to finish it yesterday, as it is a much bigger size painting, of 10x10 inches. I have problems with scanning these paintings at home, because my scanner is limited to A4 size and I have to scan on parts and then put them together, but sometimes it is not easy to get the exact tones all over the parts - in this one, the separating line between the two parts is visible, and I need to redo the process with more controlled conditions when I have more time. Also the colors are not as strong as on paper, for some reason it appears a bit washed-out, especially the background.

W&N and Daniel Smith watercolors on Saunders Waterford 140 lb CP paper.

A Rose a Day #16

Another ACEO size (2.5x3.5 inches) little rose. W&N and Daniel Smith watercolors on Saunders Waterford 140 lb CP paper.

A Rose a Day #15

This little pink rose bud is painted with my usual palette (Daniel Smith and W&N watercolors) on Saunders Waterford 140 lb CP paper, ACEO size (2.5x3.5 inches).

A Rose a Day #14

I am a little bit behind the schedule, as I should have reached #20 by now, but I still hope I will manage to get them all done before the end of the month. However, I enjoy so much painting each one of them, and the journey counts more for me than the actual number.

W&N and Daniel Smith watercolors on Saunders Waterford 90 lb CP paper, 7x5 inches.

A Rose a Day #13

W&N and Daniel Smith watercolors on Saunders Waterford 90 lb CP paper, 5x7 inches.

A Rose a Day #12

Another take of the painting with a big brush without any drawing , with a yellow rose this time and a soft cobalt blue background. I like it very much, and I must exercise more.
W&N and Daniel Smith watercolors on Saunders Waterford 90 lb CP paper, 5x7 inches.

A Rose a Day #11

Quite some time now I was looking to have some changes in the way I handle watercolor, to have more freedom and let more the medium work for me (so called happy accidents). I was about to get rid of some roses that were in my vase for some time, when I saw this little bud with some petals and a "dry" pink color.
I place it on a white paper, then took a big brush (I know, no.10 is the small brush of others!) and started to directly put paint on the paper. Now it is my favorite of the series!

W&N and Daniel Smith watercolors on Saunders Waterford 140 lb CP paper, 10x7 inches.

A Rose a Day #10

Trying to get free of pencil lines and detailed paintings with small brush. This is done from a photo I took about a year ago - a dark red rose against the blue sky.

Camel artists' watercolors on Saunders Waterford 90 lb CP paper, 5x7 inches.

A Rose a Day #9

I chose a square format for this one, which works better for the macro on the open rose, but I am not very happy with the work on the dark petals.
Camel artists' watercolors on Saunders Waterford paper, 7x7 inches.

A Rose a Day #8

Another trial at the opening bud, with a big brush on this small size paper (5x7 inches). I need to experiment more with approach.

Camel artists' watercolors on Saunders Waterford 90 lb CP paper.

A Rose a Day #7

Yet, another pink one, and a bit wild!
Camel artists' watercolor on Saunders Waterford 90 lb CP paper, 5x7 inches.

A Rose a Day #6

Just a little closed bud this time, painted without any pencil drawing. Much more difficult than I was thinking it would be.
Camel artists' watercolors on Saunders Waterford 90 lb CP paper, 5x7 inches.

A Rose a Day #5

Camel artists' watercolor on Saunders Waterford 90 lb CP paper, 7x5 inch.

A Rose a Day #4

Camel artists' watercolors on Saunders Waterford 90 lb CP paper, 5x7 inches.

A Rose a Day #3

Camel artists' watercolors on Saunders Waterford 90 lb CP paper, 5x7 inches.

A Rose a Day #2

Camel artists watercolors on Saunders Waterford 90 lb CP paper, 5x7 inches.

A Rose a Day #1

30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge: A Rose a Day

Among other things, one of my resolutions for 2015 is to paint and study art more, on a daily basis. When I saw the call of Leslie Saeta for the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge for January 2015 I registered for it, to push myself towards my goal. I knew I won't be able to really start on the 1st of January, but I hope I will manage to recover for the first 5 days very soon, by doing more than one painting in some of the days.

After considering various themes for my first challenge of this type, I finally decided to go with flowers, which I like very much to paint, and make a Rose little painting each day (most of them will be 5x7 inches).

The following posts of my blog will be dedicated to the challenge and I will post the paintings without many comments about.

Did and didn't do in 2014... and Happy New Year!!!

During the last days of 2014 I was looking back to how the year was, and what I did and didn't do from my long list that I had done back in January 2014. I am quite happy with my achievements, although there are a few things left behind. I definitely painted much more than in any of the previous years, and making more paintings and studies is again in the top priorities for the new year too. One of the most important achievements is my work towards better understanding watercolor pigments and the various studies that helped me test my materials.
The watercolor workshop for elderly, which started in September 2014 and will continue until end of June 2015, is something that gives me joy every week. I managed to buy materials for a group of 10 ladies, and at least 7 of them are following the workshop regularly and work with much enthusiasm both during the classes and at home, which is much more than I actually expected. When we started, I was only hopping to have 2-3 of them getting really into the watercolor fun.

What was on my list for 2014, and didn't went so well: I didn't paint so many marine, landscape and portrait paintings, I didn't paint much outdoors, I didn't manage to approach a local gallery to see my options for sales in the city, and I wished I had more time for the two blogs and a regular newsletter.

I wish you all the best for 2015!!!

And here is one of the latest paintings I did in 2014, my card for the winter celebration and the New Year wishes!