8 x 24″ Acrylic and ink on paper
Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days
Connected beams
One atop another
Building their way up
To the sky
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Big daddy: 42 x 72″. For those of you who don’t like division 3.5 x 6′
Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days
Three or four years back I switched from painting with oils to using acrylics. I had painted with oils for years, and in fact loved them. I loved the way they could be manipulated and pulled across a canvas. I loved that mistakes could quickly be wiped off and new attempts made. I loved their rich color and their unique smell. But as I became more prolific (or at least semi-prolific) with painting, I realized that while that smell was great in small doses, all of the chemicals, oils, and varnishes were too much for my allergies to take. So I made the switch.
It took a bit of time to adjust but after finding good thick paints and some great slow drying mediums, I decided that acrylics are really pretty fantastic. I’ll admit that they seem to be slightly less forgiving, but if medium is added you can work with them long enough to make changes and do some good blending. Good paints and mediums also seem to give acrylics a richness, not as great, but similar to oils. And the biggest perk to acrylics is that if no medium is added, their drying time is super-fast. This means that a person as impatient as myself does not have to wait long to build up color. Needless to say I am an acrylic convert.
There has only been one area in which I have wondered whether painting with acrylics would work as well as painting with oils- and that is on a large scale canvas. Because of the quicker drying time, I worried that creating the blended washes I love so much may not be possible. I decided that I’d set out to see on a 42 x 72” canvas.
Verdict: It can be done. I realized quickly that it takes a TON of medium to make it happen. But a nice blended wash is possible. (I completely forgot to get a pic of the initial background, so my half painted, taken with my camera phone piece below will have to suffice.)
With the blended orange and yellow as my background, I quickly built up my design on top and I’m pretty pleased with the result.
11 x 14″ Ink, Hoya flowers and stems
Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days
As some of you may know, we jetted (actually trucked) off to the mountains of Wyoming this past weekend for a wedding. Our friends Mary and Nathan were nice enough to let us stay at their house Friday night, which is always a treat.
Mary has a bit of a green thumb and so I often check out her plants. She has a crazy amount of them that all magically seem to be thriving. As I was looking at her collection of greenery, I noticed this amazing plant called a hoya. It had waxy green leaves and spectacular bundles of flowers that were attached to long penducles (stems).
One of the rounded bundles had died, but was still attached to the plant. Mary pulled the dead flowers and stems off and turned to me knowing this was something I could use. I was pretty excited about the new treasure, as was the boyfriend – “Thanks Mary, more trash.”
Yesterday I used the dried stems and flowers along with some ink to create a somewhat deconstructed version of the hoya. Enjoy!
4.75 x 4.75″ Watercolor and ink on paper
Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days
Solid footing on wrungs
A win in sight
Serpentine shoots thwart forward motion backward
Roll again
This little piece is available for purchase here.
Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days
I’ve come to realize the more broad in scope the thoughts in my head, the more apt I am to create non representational or abstract work to reflect on them.
Yesterday, I had a variety of things floating around in the noggin. Here is an attempt to recount my train of thought:
It began with me thinking about how our lives seem to move in intended and unintended directions (this is a recurring thought/theme for me). I thought about how fast life moves, even when it feels like it is just plodding along.
I started to think back on events that have happened over the past few years and then attempted to think back to earlier memories. They were much less distinct and as I tried to round up my first memory, I realized I have no idea what it is or when it would’ve occurred. Unlike Chunk in the Goonies , who I would guess has a plethora of memories at the ready, I’ve never been able to pull a ton of details from my life (good or bad).
I realized that while life may be made up of individual years and acts and memories, for me anyway, there are only spots of solid memory and a lot that fades to the background.
Side note: The actress Mary Lu Henner, who has a phenomenal memory. She and others like her have hyperthymesia. I wondered if I’d love to have such a memory or if it would be overwhelming.
4.75 x 4.75″ Ink on paper
Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days
I dig abstract work – both looking at it and creating it. There is something fantastic about morphing lines and forms to create a new visual representation of the original. The abstraction takes on a personality and energy all its own.
The viewer interaction that goes along with this type of work is also interesting to me. The “Oh! That’s a ____” or “It kind of reminds me of a ____” moment is always fun. It can be even more entertaining when the viewer sees something unintended by the artist. Perhaps a person asks whether or not I purposely created a face within an abstracted bird. Or, I remember one time, after working diligently on a drawing, someone asking me if I meant for a certain area of the drawing to appear phallic. “No,” I said. But after she’d pointed it out, that seemed to be all I could see. I think I even ended up changing it because it was so obvious.
For day 113’s piece, I created a water/stream/river abstraction. As I worked on it, it morphed into something less water-like. New shapes and forms finished off the piece.
I hope you enjoy letting your mind find new and interesting things within the drawing. If you’re lucky (or not) you may just find a penis.
4.75 x 4.75″ Ink on paper
As most of you know, I’ve got this little goal of creating a piece of art everyday for 365 consecutive days. A good chunk of my pieces are completed within a day, but some of my larger projects take a few days to complete. When that happens, I make sure I create a smaller piece along with working on the big guy, so as not to feel like I’m cheating.
Some of you may also be familiar with my stunning ability to underestimate how long something will take to complete. Yesterday, as I put up my drawing and got ready to call it a night, the boyfriend looked at what I had accomplished. He quickly asked me what I planned to create for day 110’s work. I assured him I’d be able to finish up the piece I had been working on in a few short hours the next morning. He gave me a look of disbelief. Actually, I like to think it was more of a “You are the most fabulous person in the world and I love you dearly, but don’t be ridiculous” kind of look. I glanced down at the barely inked up paper and reluctantly admitted he was right. -Not out loud of course. Out loud I told him I would create a second piece but that “I would not need to use it.”
I hate it when he’s right.
If you can’t live without this piece, you can buy a print or the original.
Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days
My grandma Minnian, who has long ago passed away, was a big collector of stamps. She wasn’t your traditional stamp collector though. The ones she kept were those she received in the mail on letters. They are worthless in terms of monetary value, but are fabulous miniature works of art, records of history, and a great reminder of her.
In the past I’ve incorporated them into a few projects and thought I’d pull them out again (along with some other stamps folks have given me along the way) for day 98’s piece.
Using remnants from my day 89 cut paper piece, bits of cards and envelopes, and grandma’s stamps, I collaged this 8 x 10″ design. I love the bold colors and lines in the work, but feel like I haven’t quite figured out the perfect way to use the stamps. I guess this just means I’ve got some more experimentation to do.
Original piece available for purchase.
20 x 36 (I think. Need to double check the height when I get back to the studio). Acrylic on canvas
It’s interesting to look back on life and all the things we’ve experienced and chosen to do. Sometimes the direction we take is well thought out and planned. Other times it is spontaneous as we roll with the punches and perks of life. In one step we move left, and in the next right. Some of us know where we are headed. Others of us are simply there to enjoy the ride.
Of the thousands of paths to choose from, somehow we all make our way.
Original work available for purchase.
8 x 10″ watercolor and ink on paper
Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days
Along with some friends, we volunteered to help out at the Laramie Enduro ( a 70+ mile mountain bike race that brings riders from all over the US to little ‘ol Laramie, Wyoming) yesterday. This has become an annual event that we love to take part in.
This piece was created after returning home and thinking about the wonderful day spent in the wilds of Wyoming.
Micah Richardson 