Friday, January 30, 2015

Barn #25

Barn #25, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $100
Day 30 of the 30 Day Challenge. I made it.  Yesterday my brain totally quit - one day before the end.  I worked and messed and messed and worked but came up with nothing.  So my month-end total is 25 paintings.  I'm declaring victory.

I'll be taking a few days off from painting barns. But then I plan to use some of my challenge paintings as inspiration for larger works in the coming months. Who knows where my experiments will take me.

To purchase this painting, please click here. You will be transported to the 30 Day Challenge page of my web site.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Barn #24

Barn #24, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 15"x15", $500
Day 28 of the 30 Day Challenge. In this painting I am continuing with my experiments in rendering the landscape using abstraction.  My efforts this month have really made a difference in how I tackle trees and grasses, wildflowers, and skies. I feel like I have gotten a little more confident about leaving paint alone once it is on the board, allowing for serendipity to play its part.

To purchase this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on my website on the 30 Day Challenge page.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Barn #23

Barn #23, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 15"x15", $500
Day 27 of the 30 Day Challenge. I decided to go for another large painting.  I like the space for making interesting marks.  I wanted to give the sense of wildness in this field around an old unused barn.  I think the texture does that without the need for lots of individual grasses and stuff.  I like the abstract feel I'm getting with the rough brush strokes - it loosens up what would otherwise be a rather stiff composition.

To purchase this painting, please click here. You will be transported to the 30 Day Challenge page on my web site.


Monday, January 26, 2015

Barn #22

Barn #22, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 15"x15", NFS
Day 26 of the 30 Day Challenge. I went for it today. I was feeling really inspired yesterday, so after finishing the 10"x10" I posted yesterday, I started this painting, which at 15"x15", is the largest painting I have attempted this month.  I am really getting into the broken paint and the wonderful effects I am getting. There is energy, variety, texture, and mood.

This barn sits in Grand Isle, VT along one of the main roads.  I changed time of day and the season to fit my vision.

To purchase this painting, please click here. You will be transported to the 30 Day Challenge page on my web site where you can find this barn as well as the others I have painted this month.

Update (2/16/15):  This painting is no longer for sale in this form.  It has been updated and is available on my website (Barn #26).

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Barn #21

Barn #21, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $150
Day 25 of the 30 Day Challenge.I really loved the moonlight effect I got yesterday so I decided to do some more with it.  In this painting I added some trees and lowered the barn to the bottom of the painting. It is amazing how the position of an object can change the whole feel of a painting.  When the barn was higher in the square space, it almost loomed in the moonlight. In this painting the building kind of hunkers down instead. 

To purchase this painting, please click here. You will find yourself among the barns on the 30 Day Challenge page on my web site.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Barn #20

Barn #20, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $250
Day 24 of the 30 Day Challenge. I have always been fascinated with the way moonlight illuminates and alters the features of the landscape.  In this painting I wanted to capture that wonderfully mysterious silvery appearance that buildings (and other things) take on in the half light of the moon.

To purchase this painting, please click here. You will find yourself among the barns on the 30 Day Challenge page of my web site.


Thursday, January 22, 2015

Barn Window - Barn #19

Barn Window, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $100
Day 22 of the 30 Day Challenge.  Today I set out to paint an old busted up barn window with wildflowers bobbing in front of the gaping holes where there was once glass, but I got to this point and felt I had to stop. It was telling me it was done; I can do my original idea on another painting. Does that ever happen to you?

To purchase this painting, please click here.  You will find yourself on my web site amidst the many barns in this challenge.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Barn #18

Barn #18, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $150
Day 21 of the 30 Day Challenge.  With today's painting I am revisiting a technique I experimented with when I did the sunflower series during the September Thirty Day Challenge.  I apply paint with a brush using primarily criss-cross strokes creating a kind of hashed texture.  This technique allows multiple layers and variations of color to show and visually blend to create a lively feeling.  For unity I put some of the green in the sky and some of the barn colors in the grasses below.  I think this painting has kind of a wild, free feel to it.

To purchase this painting, please click here. You will be transported to my web site which is set up to handle on-line sales.

Monday, January 19, 2015

Barn #17

Barn #17, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $150
Day 19 of the 30 Day Challenge.  I took the photo for this barn on a bright spring day. It always amazes me how much strong sunlight distorts the colors of things. This seriously decrepit barn still has some of the red paint from yesteryear on the sunlit side although it's hard to see it in the glare of the sun.  The shady side has definitely lost almost all traces of paint that might once have been there. And the roof is a mess of rusted sheet metal although I don't think the metal is old print shop plates like on some barns I've seen.

To purchase this painting, please click here. You will find yourself among the barns on the 30 Day Challenge page of my web site.

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Barn #16

Barn #16, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $150
Day 18 of the 30 Day Challenge.  I've been dealing with a family crisis so I've missed a couple of days.  I will be painting and posting as much as I can in the next few weeks, but I might miss a few more days. That said, this painting is of a small outbuilding that sits in the lee of a huge old dairy barn. This building may have been the milk house many years ago.  It sits with missing windows and the door ajar, looking out over the road. 

To purchase this painting, please click here. You will be transported to my web site where you can make your purchase.

Friday, January 16, 2015

Barn #15

Barn #15, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $200
Day 16 of the Thirty Day Challenge.  I missed yesterday - this week has been nuts.  Today's painting is of a small shed and barn located in the Lake Champlain Islands. I gave the field a lot of wildflowers for color and light.  I used really dark shadows to amplify the feeling of a bright summer day.

To purchase this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on the Thirty Day Challenge page on my web site.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Barn #14

Barn #14, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $200
Day 14 of the 30 Day Challenge.  I decided to reach for my squeegee today.  That is a trick I learned from Julie Ford Oliver's video on fracturing. I love the textures and lucky accidents that the squeegee makes; it is super when abstract passages are the goal.  In addition to the squeegee, a palette knife or two is called for - thus, this painting relies on those two tools for most of the paint application.

To purchase this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on my website which is set up to handle on-line purchases.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Barn #13 - Broad Side of the Barn

Broad Side of the Barn, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $100
Day 13 of the 30 Day Challenge. This is another view of the hilltop barn I've already painted a couple of times in this series.  In this painting, I was most interested in the patterns of windows and old paint on the barn's side - I didn't think I really needed the rest of the barn for this piece.

To purchase this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on my web site with all the other barns in this series.



Monday, January 12, 2015

Barn #12

Barn #12, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", NFS
Day 12 of the 30 Day Challenge.  There's a kernel of an idea here.  I was interested in how to use color to create the feel of a landscape and then let the barns nestle into the folds of that landscape. I think the concept works but this implementation of it isn't very strong.  So I'm going to have to revisit the idea another day.  I think the landscape elements could be spaced better for a better rhythm and division of space, and I think I can find a better way to do the barn to make it feel more like a part of the whole.  Consequently this painting is not for sale.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Barn #11


Barn #11, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", NFS
Day 11 of the 30 Day Challenge.  As I was driving home from an opening last fall, I passed this barn just as the last light of the day struck the front of main structure.  I stopped to take some photos to help me remember where the light areas were.  This painting doesn't quite capture how dark it already was save for those sunlit areas, but it's a pretty good study to use for another time. I used really soupy fluid acrylics on this one which explains the texture I got.  I wanted to see what that would look like - now I know.

This painting is not for sale, but I may have others that you would like. Click here to see the rest of this barn series or the rest of my web site.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Barn #10

Barn #10, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $100
Day ten of the 30 Day Challenge.  In this painting I used a technique that is more closely related to watercolor than my previous paintings.  I used fluid acrylics (from a squeeze bottle instead of a tube) which are less opaque than tube paints and that also spread and blend differently. I used Crescent Board that had been gessoed - the effect is of a coarse, not very absorbent watercolor paper (Crescent Board is watercolor paper that has been adhered to an archival core similar to mat board.)  I plan to return to this method - I think it could have real possibilities for adding abstract elements to a painting.

This barn belongs to a neighbor down the road. He has a bunch of barns and outbuildings of various vintages.  Since I took this photo, the small sawdust silo has been pulled down. It wasn't being used anymore and it was pretty decrepit.

To purchase this painting, please click here.  You will find yourself on the 30 Day Challenge page of my website.

Friday, January 9, 2015

Barn #9

Barn #9, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $150
Day 9 of the 30 Day Challenge.  I was feeling a little stumped today. My goal is to better integrate elements of line-work and abstraction (especially abstraction) into my paintings which are generally representational. I am enjoying the weeds and grasses that I have been adding but I feel like there should be more varied ways to get the abstraction in.  Abstracted weeds, grasses, and fence lines are a good way to loosen up a painting, but they shouldn't be the only tool in the tool box. I clearly have more work to do. But for today, this is what I have.

To purchase this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on my web site which can handle on-line sales.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Barn #8 - Winter Sun

Winter Sun, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $200
Day 8 of the 30 Day Challenge.  Today's subject is really the snow and the weak winter sun.  Light and shadows but not the way we experience those things in the summer time. This barn is in Sudbury, VT. It sits in the lee of a big hill that is covered in scrub. Judging from the looks, this is probably the oldest of the farm's buildings - there are some newer looking sheds and barns sitting to the left of this old structure.

To purchase this painting, please click here.  You will be transported to my web site where you can make your purchase or browse through my other paintings.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Barn #7

Barn #7, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $100
Day 7 of the Thirty Day Challenge. I'm still trying to figure out ways to defeat the detail gremlin - that's the little guy that sits on the end of your paintbrush and insists that you put in every little dit and dot.  Today I started with a good, accurate drawing and then proceeded to deliberately paint outside the lines. I then used lines and a few well-placed (I think) brush strokes to define the places I thought edges needed to be.

This old barn, although freshly painted and in good repair, sits in an overgrown field full of weeds.  I found it alongside a dirt road a few towns over one day last summer.

To purchase this painting, please click here. You will be transported to my web site where you can make your purchase. 

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Barn #6

Barn #6, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $100
Day six of the 30 Day Challenge.  Today I started with the lines and worked from there. Some of the early lines got painted over as I went along and a few were put back in at the end.  I'm still trying to figure out how much line-work to use and when so this painting was a good exercise. As I go along, I'm finding that lines are hard to integrate well.  I feel like I still have a lot more work to do on that score.

This barn is down the street from where I live.  It's got missing and broken boards on the sides, many of the window panes are missing and the door is permanently ajar. It hasn't seen any paint in quite while. It is still used to store some hay, and it provides shelter for the heifers in the side yard. The milking barn and the main herd are on the other side of the river.

To purchase this painting, please click here.  You will find yourself on my web site which is set up to handle on-line sales.

Monday, January 5, 2015

Barn #5

Barn #5, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $150
Day five of the 30 Day Challenge.  Today I decided to go totally abstract. I started with what I visually understand to be a barn - red-orange paint, weathered boards, a big, gaping door with glimpses of equipment in the dark, gaps and holes and oddly new patches here and there. I used a palette knife to get the roughness and texture, allowing the paint to blend on the board for the most part.

To purchase this painting, please click here.  You will find yourself on my web site which is set up to handle on-line sales.

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Barn #4

Barn #4, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $100
Day four of the Thirty Day Challenge. This is my second attempt for today. My first attempt went from drawing to tight realistic painting in no time at all - yikes! So I gessoed over it and set it aside.  I knew I needed to really focus on the abstract part. I chose the tumbledown barn next door to my house because of its simplicity, hoping that would allow me to get put more emphasis on its surroundings which are pretty overgrown and lend themselves to abstraction.  Progress was made.

To purchase this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on my web site which is set up to handle on-line sales.



Saturday, January 3, 2015

Barn #3

 
Barn #3, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $100
Day three of the Thirty Day Challenge.  Although I think this barn is OK, I feel like I lost track of my theme which was to include line-work and abstraction.  Both of those sort of got lost in the reality of the barn.  This barn is located in North Hero; the folks that own it raise and milk goats these day. I'm sure it used to be a cow barn back when milking cows was how you made a living in rural Vermont.

To purchase this painting, click here. You will be transported to my website where you may make your purchase.

Friday, January 2, 2015

Up on the Hill

Barn #2 - Up on the Hill, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $250
Day two of the Thirty Day Challenge.  I'm pretty excited about this painting. I feel like the abstract foreground just happened by itself, and the line-work in the foreground is a lot of fun.  Everything just worked. This is definitely the direction I had in mind when I set up my theme parameters.

This barn sits atop a high, grassy hill in Peacham, VT.  It hasn't been used in some years - most of the windows are gone - but like many barns, it was built to last and it will probably still be standing up on that hill after I am gone.

To purchase this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on my web site which is set up to handle sales. This price is good for the duration of the Challenge. After the challenge is over, prices will be reset to their regular levels.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Barn #1

Barn #1, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x12", $100

Happy New Year all!  I hope you have a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2015.  

 Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days Challenge
 Today begins a new Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days Challenge.  What a great way to jump start the new year. For those of you unfamiliar with the Thirty Day Challenge, the idea is to create and post a new painting each day for 30 days.  The idea was started by Leslie Saeta who graciously hosts the Challenge on her blog, Slices of Life. This is my fourth Thirty Day Challenge - the first one was a dismal failure, but the last two in January and September 2014 were excellent.  To see the paintings from the last two challenges click here (January 2014) and here (September 2014).

Choosing a Theme

To make the challenge more manageable and more useful, I try to have a theme. Last January my theme was simply learning to paint with palette knives.  In September, my theme was sunflowers.  This time, my theme is barns.  My plan is to continue my exploration of the intersection between realism and abstraction and the use of lines in my work.  To that end, I plan to incorporate elements of abstraction and line-work in each of my paintings. And, although this painting is rectangular, I am planning to make most of the rest of them square.  Making them all the same aspect ratio helps with composition and space allocation and provides an element of unity to the series, as do the other common elements. The interesting part will be watching the evolution over the course of the month.

Today's Painting
As happens frequently when I start a new subject, the first painting is a bit tentative.  I used a type of hatch mark application of the paint to get a mixed but not mixed appearance to the various areas of the painting. I used abstract swooshes of paint to get the feel of weeds and grasses in the foreground and used lines to give definition to individual weeds and certain architectural elements. I found that the size of the barn made it kind of difficult to make many interesting paint marks - I learned today that a bigger image/space gives me more room to make the paint look interesting.

This painting is painted on Crescent Board which has an archival core with watercolor paper adhered to the surface.  I applied gesso to the watercolor paper before beginning my painting. It can be framed without glass. 

About the Paintings
Most of the paintings that I create during the challenge will be for sale.  Some, for obvious reasons (you'll know them when you see them) won't be.  All purchases are handled on my web site (www.annavreman.com). I will have a special page set up for this Thirty Day Challenge. Pricing will be at a sneak preview level for the duration of the challenge after which they will be priced at normal gallery levels. Also, in general, paintings purchased through my web site are unframed - this facilitates shipping and also allows you the latitude to choose what looks right in your home. I do frame some work upon request, but I only make a limited selection of frames for cost and time reasons.