Strada Challenge - Days 4 & 5

 January 4th, I was still on the "colored pencils" train. I wasn't ready to face my long-neglected studio, and so I took the easy way out and drew a floral still life. This is one of those "ho-hum" paintings. 

Day 4 #stradaeasal  #marycarolart

Today - Day 5 of the Strada Challenge - was the day I finally got into my art studio, straightened off my work space, got pliers to open the tubes of paint and used my oil paints again!  It felt really good to paint again. 

oil on 8x8 canvas panel

"Fresh Cut"

Day 5 #stradaeasel, #marycarolart

The Chubby Green Mermaid

Years ago, I saw a chubby green mermaid Christmas ornament, and I bought it immediately. Each year, when I see it on our Christmas tree, I smile. I love it. It is my favorite ornament that I've bought for myself. Of course the ornaments my children and grandchildren have made for me are at the top of my list of favorites. However, as far as commercial ornaments go, my little chubby green mermaid is the bomb.

Really! Is this not the greatest ornament ever?!

So when I started looking around for something to draw for today's Strada Easel challenge, I saw this and it was settled. Earlier I had gone up to my studio and just couldn't get into getting things set out to paint with oils. I decided to stick with drawing and colored pencils. 

Here is my finished drawing - I like it. Of course I see all that's wrong with it - but still, it's my chubby green mermaid - and that's all that matters. :-) 

Day 3 #stradaeasel, January 3, 2021

#marycarolart

The Strada January 2021 Challenge

 Each year Strada Easels has a January challenge. Artists are invited to paint each day in January, post their work on Facebook or Instagram, use the Strada hashtag, and at the end of the month, the company will randomly select 5 names from the names of all the artists that completed each of the 31 days. Those five artists will receive a complete Strada Easel system.  Artists from all over the world participate which makes the odds of winning very minute. However, someone has to win! :-) 

Here are my first efforts:

Day 1 - January 1, 2021, #stradaeasel, #marycarolart

I was at my mother's home in Georgia, and I didn't have my art supplies with me. However, I didn't want to do what I did last year - which was to drop out of the challenge before even doing one drawing or painting. So I found a sketch pad (unused) that I had given my mother a couple years ago, and a pencil. Those were my only art supplies for the night. I sat in a chair in her living room and looked around. A vase of cotton boll stalks mixed with a few yellow silk flowers grabbed my attention. The vase was on the hearth across the room from me. Here's my "quick sketch" of it, with the brickwork of the fireplace behind it. I realized that I don't know how to do highlights with a pencil. A drawing class might be in my future.

Day 2 #stradaeasels, #marycarolart - Saturday, January 2, 2021

After a sleepless night (literally - my car alarm kept going off) I drove from my mother's in Georgia back to my home in Tennessee. I had to stop a couple times to just close my eyes for a few minutes because I was so sleepy! After I got home, I "could" have gone upstairs to my art studio to do today's challenge, but I couldn't make the effort. After a brief nap and a "breakfast for dinner,"  l got a sketch pad that I keep in the cabinet beside my recliner, found a box of colored pencils, and I sketched some of the prayer beads that I have. I've made probably 100 or more sets of prayer beads over the past few years. Again, I learned something new. With oils, one paints the darks in first. That won't work with pencils. So it's more one-tone than I'd like - but I did Day 2 of the challenge, and I'm pleased with that. 

Day 1 #stradaeasels, #marycarolart, Day 2, #prayerbeads