January Painting Challenge: Sunlit Room

Vicki chose our subject this month and I had the perfect reference all ready, one I'd been wanting to paint.

I worked on this little detailed painting over the course of several days, painting layers to get the effects I wanted.

I had fun painting this little cutie in her polka dotted dress!

(left) "Party Balloon"
Original framed oil 8"x6"
©2013 Diana Moses Botkin

There are three of us doing the monthly Challenge now. I'd like to add one or two new members to replace Mark, who will no longer participate. We will miss him!

I started this Challenge four years ago to ...well, challenge myself and the group. I wanted it to be for fun, painting something we might not normally think to do.

We take turns picking the puzzler and post on our blogs on the 15th. You can see all the Challenges at my sidebar. If you would like to apply to our little merry band, please contact me with your blog link and email. I would love to see your work and share with you what the Challenge entails every month.

Here are Vicki and Suzanne's stellar paintings for this month's theme: so bright and sunny!

(left, below) "Exhibition Hallway Late Afternoon" Oil on Panel, 12"x6" ©2013 V.N.Ross
(right, below) "Light" Oil on canvas, 6"x6" ©2013 Suzanne Berry

Lucky Thirteen

"Heart-to-heart"
Charcoal/chalk on 
cotton charcoal paper
Approx. 11"x17", unframed
©2013 Diana Moses Botkin

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Diaries and pets are sometimes the easiest to talk to, no?

Sharing one's deepest thoughts can be a challenge. Challenges can useful, though, like my self-imposed test of doing thirty pieces for January.

I'll show you another challenge here tomorrow: my monthly Moses Botkin blog Challenge. There are three of us who are still committed to do this every month. It's a pleasant theme that was chosen by one of the members so I hope you'll look in tomorrow and see what we've painted!

A Dozen Down

(left) "Mona Lisa's Legs"
Oil 6.5"x11", unframed
©2013 Diana Moses Botkin

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What do you suppose daVinci's Mona looked like as a figurative model?

I'm guessing she was more plump than this young lady, but perhaps if Leonardo was working nowadays, he'd chose someone lean and muscular.

The challenge this month to do a new piece every day has been good in many ways. The daily practice has been instructional to me and even though other tasks are not getting done, it is good to set aside a large chunk every day to paint and draw.

Some days I have started paintings but needed to work on them longer. The drawings served on those days as faster pieces to post for completed work.

My inventory list is off to a good start this year. Last year I was much slower with work and did not have this many pieces done until March. Granted I had been working on a commission and another pretty large painting, so those took up a lot of my painting time.

Speaking of inventory: have you seen my newest article? It's about making an inventory list: how-to, advantages, and practical hints. You can check it out in the latest issue of Professional Artist Magazine.

Number Eleven

"Stepping Out" 
Charcoal/chalk on brown art paper
16"x11” 
©2013 Diana Moses Botkin 

You'd never even know this woman had legs in that long garment unless she showed them off a bit.

Ten of Thirty = One Third Done!

"Compact Model" 
Charcoal/chalk on Canson
9"x12.5” 
©2013 Diana Moses Botkin 

Hooray! I'm a third of the way on this thirty day marathon.

I'm starting to enjoy it and not feel so stressed about what I'm drawing or painting every day. And I can tell that the daily practice is having a good effect.

Number Nine

"Dream a Little Dream of Me"
Charcoal/chalk on grey Canson paper
8"x11", unframed
©2013 Diana Moses Botkin

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Okay I almost named this "A Hard Day's Night" but the Dream title won out, even if this one is number nine. (Maybe if the drawing had been white on white.) "Fever" also came to mind. I'm thinking it would be fun to fit song titles as art titles for a series, sometime. Or maybe for one of our monthly Challenges?

Eight Down... Twenty-two to Go

Yes, I'm still at it: creating a new piece every day for my January challenge. Granted, they are mostly small (as my daily paintings typically have been in the past), but so far I'm keeping up. I do have larger ones in mind to do, so we will see if I can get them done.

"Deliberate"
Charcoal/chalk on cotton charcoal paper
11"x8.5", unframed
©2013 Diana Moses Botkin

Number Seven of Thirty

"Brightness" 
Original pastel on Canson
6.5"x8", unframed
©2013 Diana Moses Botkin

Several titles suggested themselves as I was working on this one. "Headache" seemed too negative, however, as did "Woe is Me".

But I was really quite tempted to go with "I dreamed I was at the prom and forgot my Maidenform Bra".

Six Down ... Only Twenty-four More to Go!

"Sweet Dream"
Oil 8"x10", unframed
©2013 Diana Moses Botkin

Where is this young lady relaxing in her blue evening gown? What's she dreaming about? Or is she the dream?

Day Five of Thirty

On January 1, I shared here at this blog that I'm challenging myself to do 30 new pieces in 30 days. Here is the fifth piece.

This project is quite consuming, but "it's all good" as my kids sometimes say.

Although the laundry is piling up and I'm not cooking much in the way of meals, I feel much more on top of my game with this project. It's forcing me to think of what I'm drawing or painting every day and that next good piece.

Sometimes ideas simply present themselves, sometimes they are inspired, and sometimes they have to be sought, I think.

"Gliding Arms"
Original charcoal and chalk drawing
approximately 7"x12", unframed
©2013 Diana Moses Botkin

Number Four of Thirty

The serpentine curve and lines of this pose make me appreciate the natural grace of the shapes our Creator has put in His creation. 

"Arm Stretch"
Original charcoal and chalk drawing
approximately 12"x8", unframed
©2013 Diana Moses Botkin

Day Three of Thirty

"The Lone in Winter"
Original pastel on blue paper
Approximately 12"x10", unframed
©2013 Diana Moses Botkin

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Alternate titles for this could be "Winter", "Naked", or "Somebody Give That Girl a Sweater". What would you name this one?