I've been looking at other blogs and this morning, my sister, Joanne Hanson, told me to check out Marc Hanson's blog (no relation to my sister). He is completing an April Painting Marathon. By my calculations, he's done an average of 3.7 5" x 7" paintings a day for the month of April. How can this not make someone a better artist? In the book, The Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell, Gladwell points out that talent is a myth and that in order to become the best at what you do, you've got to do it at least 10,000 times.
I like the idea of a challenge that will push my abilities and have been mulling over several ideas for a project along the lines of A Painting a Day but with my own spin on it.
Egret Study 6" x 8" oil on board
Drum roll please....
On May 15th I will begin a 30 day project titled Summer Bird Count.
My goal will be to paint at least one 5" x 7" oil a day, hopefully more. I will paint a variety of species but will repeat some of my favorites. They will be quick studies capturing attitude/color/light. Some will be painted in the studio, some plein air. My friends own a B & B in Oak Creek Canyon, The Canyon Wren Cabins, that probably has more birds per square foot than any other spot in Sedona. So some of the paintings will be done on location in their gardens.
This will be a challenge for me as, although I paint many birds - they are painted in detail. I want to become proficient at spontaneous little birds studies.
Starting on May 15th, the Summer Bird Count paintings will be posted here and on my website - available for sale, unframed.
