Gilead's Daily Paintings

[Gilead]

Fish got me started. So I'm doing a daily painting exercise just to stay in shape. These are acrylics on cardboard, from life.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily01.jpg
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily02.jpg
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily03.jpg
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily04.jpg
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily05.jpg

[hopeless shade]

hey man, thats some niiice stuff! glad to see there really is a spoon, hehe.

[fishw]

good to see you at this daily thing. like the colours in the first one. keep it up!

[Gilead]

Took too long on this one, about an hour, still don't like it.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily06.jpg

Sunday.
about 45 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily07.JPG

Today. I did this one mostly because I wanted to paint something blue :)
about an hour. I need to pick simpler subjects. This was only supposed to be a half hour or less proposition.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily08.jpg

[Gilead]

Tuesday March 1st.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily09.jpg
30 minutes

Aww I broke my streak!
Friday March 4.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily10.jpg
30 minutes. Almost looks like a genuine piece of plastic fruit.

[fishw]

hey i've broken the daily thing a few times too...things crop up and it's sometimes hard to find the time. You're so gonna ovetake me with these daily things. That last one came out very well. How big you doing these by the way?

[Gilead]

Hey thanks I was pretty happy with the last one. I kinda like that emerging-from-the-darkness look. I like the lemon, but it looks pasted on to the background while the plum feels like it's actually in an environment.
These are all painted pretty close to life size so either the size you see them here or a little bigger.

[Gilead]

Saturday March 5.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily11.jpg
If I didn't tell you you'd never know how wrong I got the shape of the cup.

[Gilead]

Sunday March 6
Boy did this one turn out BAD! I was tempted to keep going until I had fixed it, but I really need to restrict this to 30 minutes since I'm capable of obssesing all day on something if left unsupervised.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily12.jpg

[Gilead]

March 7, 30 minutes.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily13.jpg

March 8, 30 minutes.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily14.jpg

[cateaic]

wow..these are looking awesome! I like what you did with the textures on "march 7" Props to you for keeping this daily.

[Gilead]

Thanks. I don't quite manage every day, but that's the goal. I liked the brass bowl too. Got it at a yard sale for a quarter. I've been cruising yard sales for still life items.
I have a real hard time with painting even though I do it for a living. I start out strong and then get lost. No confident brush strokes. I tend to pick and scrub and ruin everything then have to fight to get it back. Fortunately acrylics dry fast so I can go back over it. I had the same problem with oil painting, but it was harder to fix. The end result is usually ok, but I go through too many steps to get there. To me the result never looks spontainious, because I know it was not.
This daily painting thing is (for me) just an exercise to work out these and other problems.

[Gilead]

Server was down for a while.
March 10
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily15.jpg

March 11
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily16.jpg

[Mindflaw]

hi

Liked your plum... but I thought it was a cherry :bashful:

May I suggest you put in some more objects in your paintings so you get some composition practice too. It might go against your main reason about using only 30 min a day, but you could like paint one object a day? like showing the progress and in some way also how objects change the comp. and perhaps the feeling in a painting. It's acrylics so you could start with a e.g fruit in the background then the next day put another object in front of the fruit or whatever. And since you already go some acrylics you could paint thicker to cover objects without "cardboard problems". You know get an evolving painting instead of one day one object....well just a suggestion :blahblah:

[knockoff]

Those are really nice. ":)

[nupayntor]

some really nice work here.....love the cherry and the bottle the best....

nupayntor

[Chichigo]

Nice stuff. I wish I could be dedicated enough to actually paint something everyday. Ha. Not gonna happen.

The spoon is so very dali-esque. :confident

[Gilead]

Chichigo: thanks. Dali-esque? You mean it looks melted?
Mindflaw: Cool idea, I'm somewhat tempted to try that, but it would require setting the whole thing up together so that I get all the shadows and reflected light. The cats would never allow that to just sit there for days at a time. For now I'll probably just do this.
March 12. A rock. More difficult than I thought.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily17.jpg

March 13 Unfortunately much of the strength of some of these comes from the black background.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily18.jpg

March 14 Much less contrast here and the painting is a lot weaker.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily19.jpg

[hopeless shade]

what are you going to do with all of these? you could cover a wall with them, hehe, that would be fun. theres something about that pot that i definetly like...

[Gilead]

Ha! I dunno maybe someday I'll be so famous that people would pay a dollar for them. In the meantime they're just piling up on top of the file cabinet.

[Gilead]

March 15, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily20.jpg

March 17, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily21.jpg

[Gilead]

March 18, 45 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily22.jpg

[Gilead]

March 19, 30 min.
Not sure I really like it, but hey this is all about experimentation. I was going for bright color and big juicy brushstrokes.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily23.jpg

March 20, 30 min.
This one I like, but I made it larger than life. The muralist in me can't remember how to draw small.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily24.jpg

March 21, 40 min.
The red smears are from the water soluable colored pencil I use to do the sketch.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily25.jpg

[Gilead]

march 22, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily26.jpg

[Gilead]

March 24, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily27.jpg

March 25, 15 min. I painted the shadow first and then made the orange too big, which is wrong, but it makes an interesting illusion of popping out at you.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily28.jpg

also March 25, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily29.jpg

March 29, 20 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily30.jpg

April 1, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily31.jpg

April 3, 35 min. really scruffy. I start out with a bold new purpose and then wind up retreating to my safety zones.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily32.jpg

[Gilead]

Just kinda' talkin' to myself here aren't I? That's ok I'm used to it.
March 4, 35 min.
Had lots of fun with this, got to do more of this kind of thing
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily33.jpg

March 5, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily34.jpg

March 6, 45 min.
Well I finally ran out of cardboard scraps so I have to look for other junk to paint on. This is the cover of a hard bound sketchbook like you can get at Borders. I taped off a small square and painted inside that. Once I pulled the tape I did the last grape to overlap the box. That's me always going outside the box. :)
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily35.jpg

[Nike]

Hi there!
Great stuff, very inspiring!
looking forwards to seeing more!

[Jo B 1]

But seriously - very good stuff here - some great quick renders with lots of truth and light. I like this it is very inspiring :wink:

[Gilead]

Thanks so much for the responses. It means a lot to hear good things from other artists. Lots of people compliment my work on a day to day basis (I do murals and signs) but sometimes I wonder if they can actually tell good art from bad. Sometimes I KNOW they cant so their compliments are a bit flimsy.

March 10, I don't actually know how long this took I was...well... interrupted. My cat jumped up on my lap while I was painting, dragged her tail accross my pallette sweeping up big gobs of paint, freaked out and started running through the house spinning in circles and spraying paint everywhere. So I had a bit of a clean up to do in the middle of things.

This is a little glass panda though it doesn't look very glassy. I was tempted to throw in some extraneous reflections just to give it a glossy look, but they really weren’t there so I didn’t do it.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily36.jpg

[derangedbunny]

hey man, realy nice thread...and work. It's cool to see progression in one's work. I know that these are just studies, but perhaps you should push composition. i.e. croping, etc.. otherwise, great work man! I'll make sure to keep an eye on this thread. ps. love the panda!

[Gilead]

derangedbunny Thanks and you're right just because they're studies doesn't mean I cant make them more presentable, it's all part of the package.
April12, 45 min.
I had a heck of a time getting the little crystal to look right. Well it still looks wrong actually. I know how to fake it if I was painting a sign or something from my imagination, but I was trying to paint what was in front of me and it was very hard. Also acrylics are sticky and that makes it hard to paint so small
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily37.jpg

[Gilead]

April 13, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily38.jpg

[Gilead]

April 15, 30 min.
My name is Gilead and I am a D&D'aholic
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily39.jpg

[Gilead]

April 17, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily40.jpg

[Gilead]

Wow did I ever let this slide! That's ok no one here, but me.
This is a little vase that a friend of mine made in his ceramics class and gave to me when I tried to buy it from him. Maybe I'll give him the painting.
May 3, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily41.jpg

[Danilo]

Great! Lot of compliments. I like those with Caravagio lightning:)
Also this one is good: http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily12.jpg

Keep it up!!!

[Mindflaw]

Wow did I ever let this slide! That's ok no one here, but me.

Hehe I'm a sneaky lurker... you're never alone... good thing you got back to this keep it up

[FabianV]

The still life studies are really candy to the eye..keep it up Gilead! Personally id like to see your shading skills being applied in Concept fantasy art ;) It could be really interesting than just life studies :confident

[Sems]

These look really good but the wine bottle is defiently your best, looks lamost like a photo :)

[Gilead]

Well calling these "dailys" is a bit inappropro at the moment. I'll try to do better I really will.
This is a 10 inch scale toy Lone Ranger horse. He's older than most of you... The Lone Ranger was a TV character back in the 60's...TV was this thing we watched back before video games...Toys were these plastic things we played with before video...Oh never mind it's all too complicated!
May 22, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily42.jpg

[Gilead]

Danilo, Wow thanks now I can say that critics have compared me to Caravagio!

Mindflaw, Thanks for lurking, I'll try to provide more to lurk at.

FabianV, Well true there's not much concept/ fantasy going on here, but the hope is that the skills I'm gaining here will be applied to future fantasy paintings.

Sems, Thanks, but I think it's the miniturization that tightens it up. The original is life-sized and looser looking.

[Darolan]

Rock on ValHallen!!!

Pretty impressive thread. I really admire the frequency at which you're posting. We all know how hard it is to really make time everyday to do the thing we love most (why is that?) Anyways, I was just scrolling through the whole thread and if you look at the fruit pieces of en februari and compare them to the one of april 18th (best one so far in my opinion) the progress in such a short time is phenomenal.

[Judy Warner]

I've been doing something like this since I saw the idea on the net--a couple of people are selling these (in 4x6 size) for $100, and seem to sell a lot. I bet you could sell some of yours, they look just as good to me.

I was doing them on old matboard centers from mats I cut. I wish I could buy "cardboard" like what comes on sketchpads--but it's easy to find cheap small pieces of matboard at frame stores.

I like the way you get the juicy brush stroke look, and the shine--how do you do that with acrylics??

[mentler]

You have a great feeling for form!!

We need to get some activity on this thread ~ not enough viewers

[Velo]

Hey Gil, nice progression and inspiring dedication (though you're slipping a little, need more cheerleading from the peeps here on CA perhaps! rah rah rah!). My suggestion is to explore other colors for the highlights, I see alot of white that looks untinted. Also, some of your highlights get rather globby and large, if you control their size and shape better it will give you the opportunity to explore more interesting/realistic color choices without the highlight looking funny, you can get away with more in smaller doses. Basically the objects will probably do one of two things in the highlight (because light has properties of tint as well as shade and is never (or rarely?) white) - lighter and cooler, lighter and wamer. So a yellow could be modulated to a white-tinted with tiny bit of orange, or a white tinted a little green. I think there are other possibilities as well, one teacher I had told me to always make my brightest highlight tinted with a little of the complimentary to really make it zing. Yeah, typing this is making me realize that I have been taught not to use white for the highlights but I have some questions.. I'll ask and let you know if I find any more clarification or insight. :)

[Gilead]

Wow look at all the people! Thanks everyone for coming by.
Darolan, Thanks, I don't know why it's so easy to procrastinate on the stuff we love the best. Probably we think it's fun so it can't be that important, and there's always something important that needs doing. I'm glad that you see improvement. i can't really see it, yet.

Judy Warner, Thank you, you really think I could sell them? I figured I'd have to be more famous to get people to buy something like that.
The brushstrokes are juicey because I use a large brush and thick paint. Just glob it on. My oil painting teacher was Ukrainian, they still work in a style much like the French Impressionists. Lots of paint!

mentler, Thank you, I finally figured out how to put links in the bottom of my profile and the traffic has increased somewhat since then. But feel free to steer people this way any way you can.

Velo, Thanks for the cheerleading, I need it. You're right the white highlights can be a gimmick. It's a gimmick I use all day long when I paint signs and murals, but I need to learn to control it here.

Same horsey different pose.
May 25, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily43.jpg

[Judy Warner]

check out

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:28zxuQTCAvwJ:duanekeiser.blogspot.c om/+duane+keiser&hl=en&start=3

and

http://shiftinglight.com/

These two guys are doing the same thing, and appear to be selling all their cards--very small size.

[Gilead]

May26, 30 min.
More yellow in the highlights this time.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily44.jpg

[Gilead]

This was my dad's first knife. Approximately life sized.
May 28, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily45.jpg

[Gilead]

This was from yesterday. The paint was so thick I thought it'd never dry enough to lay on the scanner.
May 30, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily46.jpg

[Gilead]

We were in Sedona on Wednesday and cut a sprig of this tree to take home and paint. It's called a loqwatt. Or so we're told, I'm unsure of the spelling. They're tasty, but you cant eat the skins or seeds and there's not much left after that.
June 2, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily47.jpg

[the_allejo05]

very impressive..i would watch more my colors..try to match as close as you see in front of you..watch your grays..nature is more subtle ;)

[glikster]

wow... the fact that you keep painting is so inspiring!
I love the first little gems piece. And all of your paintings read!
I will keep coming back.

[Gilead]

the_allejo05, You're probably right, but I wonder if you could give me a specific example?
glikster, Thanks, the gems were fun. I will, doubtless, do more.

This cup and saucer were engraved for my wife's grandparent's 50th anniversary. They've both passed on now so my in laws gave us the set. I did a painting of it which I plan to give to them hence the extra time. The background is not a black as it looks here.
June 6, 1 hour
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily48.jpg

[Dan1989]

Absolutely great! The form structure is great on most of these, and the colors are usually correct too. Keep doing these for sure.

[Gilead]

Dan1989 thanks, form is often the best one can hope for in 30 minutes. This one had way too much detail, but it was fun.
June 14. 40 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily49.jpg
In my day we did the Rebel Yell

[glikster]

Wow. Instantly readable.

Keep em coming!.... but you don't need me telling you that... ;)

[AlpacaMan]

Why these daily paintings of yours has made me want to explore how to paint with oil paints.These paintings your doing are all very good and interesting :^^:

[Gilead]

glikster Thanks I'll try to keep them coming.

AlpacaMan, Thank you and I'm glad if I've inspired you in any way. You do know these are acrylics though right?. I took an oil painting class and the style of painting I'm using is similar to what I learned in class, but there's quite a lot of difference in how the materials behave.

June 16, 30 min.
Another try at those pesky little spikes.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily50.jpg

[Gilead]

June17, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily51.jpg

[AlpacaMan]

Ya these paintings have really interested me in trying out painting.I'm more of a sketcher then a painter but i think it could be lots'o'fun.
I was wandering what are all the different steps when painting a still life with acrylics?If thats not to much to ask?




Thanks and keep up the work :)

[Gilead]

AlpacaMan You talked me into it. I did a demo post called "Painting Demo" for this painting.
To see this demo click here: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=46622

June 21, 2005 45 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily52.jpg

[glikster]

Oh yeah! I'm in too! I wanna see the demo! I tried painting with acrylics once back in high school and it was a horrible experience for all involved. We eventually were legally seperated and the acrylics got the dog. But I'm willing to give it aother go!

[Gilead]

glikster, that's too funny.
Too see demo click here: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=46622

June 22, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily53.jpg

[AlpacaMan]

hhhhhhmmmmm strawberries :dur:

[Mindflaw]

good to see you back at these at a more regular basis again, but I understand that this thread has been a little neglected by you since... hm scantily clad women is a more intresting subject :bashful: anyway nice demo you made...like those strawberries too

[Gilead]

Mindflaw, What can I say? It appears that you can see right through me.
It's also true that I can take my sketchbook pretty much anywhere (and I do) so I can work on the babes anytime I get a moment. The paintings aren't so easy.

June, 23 30 min.
I know it's the wrong time of year, but I was cleaning the closet and there they were.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily54.jpg

[AlpacaMan]

Ya i was wondering what type of paint do you use when painting??In my basement i've found some paint called 'Anitas all purpose arcylic craft paint"Is this good or what brand would u recommend?

THANK U so much for ur help thus far and keep painting those awesome paintings :)

[Mindflaw]

Excuses, excuses, excuses :nohope: ...nah just joking...anyway a minor crit your last one seems like you lost the volume they look more like menthos

keep 'em coming 8)

[Gilead]

Mindflaw, You're right I lost a lot of shadow when I went for the bright opaque colors in the middle.

AlpacaMan, I've never heard of that brand. Generally craft paints are cheap because they have very little pigment. In other words if you put down a brushstroke of red craft paint next to a brushstroke of red artist quality acrilics the second one would be much more intensely red. Craft paint may also fade faster.
I like thick tube paints for this syle of painting. I use Utrect because there's one fairly close by and they're cheaper. Liquitex is ok too. I have very little experience with the others. If you like your paint to be thin and liquid try Createx airbrush paints or Golden's.
Anyways go ahead and use your craft paints, but I wouldn't buy any more. As you run out of one color or another and replace them with a good quality paint you will see the difference right away.
Good luck.

June 26, 35 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily55.jpg

[AlpacaMan]

Ok thx.Ya im just going to use up my ones I found then buys some of the ones you listed if I can find them.

Thanks again.Those tomatos are very good :)

[Gilead]

They were delicious.
One thing I did different here was to draw my sketch all scribbly with a ball point pen and then paint over that. I saw it done in a book about oil painting by...Creevy? I think.
June 28, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily56.jpg

[Gilead]

Well I was at Mom & Dad's house all weekend for the 4th of July family gathering. Had to come home today though so my wife could go to work . That's retail work for ya.

Mom's house is a painter's dream and nightmare. There's just too much to possibly paint. The house is full of artfully arranged antiques while the yard is all gardens of potted plants, rose bushes & lattices with climbing vines. Not to mention the house itself which is a sweet little victorian bungalow with trees and fences. Stand anywhere in the house or yard turn 5 degrees and there's another painting already set up and ready to go. I could do half hour paintings all day long for a year and never get it all. But someday I may try.

I took my art supplies along this weekend knowing that I'd have very little opportunity to use them. Niether of these two paintings are finished, but it was the best I could squeeze in between neices, parades, meals etc.
All good times none the less.

July 1, 40 minutes
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily57.jpg

July 3, 20 minutes
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily58.jpg

[Gilead]

This is off the program, but yesterday someone asked for advice on painting rocks so I did this pic as a sort of tutorial.
You can see it here: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=47519
July 5, 1 hour.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/rocks1.jpg

[Gilead]

July 7, 45 min.
One of these days I'll learn to pace myself. At least I managed not to eat my model before I was finished... which is more than you can say for Maxfield Parrish... but seriously though folks...
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily59.jpg

[Mindflaw]

Like the fruits...but I guess the flowers are better executed considering time spent since they have more forms and stuff to capture..nice demo btw :rendered:

[Gilead]

July 08 15 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily60.jpg
a few minutes later:
30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily61.jpg

[JustinBeckett]

Hey man, nice stuff, maybe try varying it up though, dont just paint all still life, try for some other things or maybe some more advanced still lifes..

[Gilead]

JustinBeckett, well I'm restricting myself to 30 minutes here, but I have been thinking about trying some simple lanscapes like out on the yard or something. Mostly this is just for exercise not to produce great art.

My wife grew up in the Phillipines. This knife is one of many souveniers from there.
July 18, 20 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily62.jpg

[Gilead]

July 19, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily63.jpg

[Gilead]

July 20, 30 min. Tools of the trade.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily64.jpg

[Gilead]

July 21, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead1/daily65.jpg

[Icey]

these paintings look very good! Specialy the fruits!!
I see you work a lot!!

I should pay more attention to this section of the forum. A lot of interesting things goin' on here :D

[Gilead]

Icey, Thanks. I checked out your sketchbook, You're improving as well. This is my favorite part of the forum

[Magic Man]

I'll say this much, I absolutely love the simplicty in these, quick to the point and with a wonderful texture, there's something about using a medium so linked to the past greats that somehow humbles you and gives that historical connecton - I'm assuming these are in oils.

i miss the day when I can get back into the oil medium, the wonderful smell of that linseed oil, the dropped painbrush on the floor, the light headed feeling of smelling turps in an a completely (although...perhaps not accidentally)inadequetly ventilated area.

I'd implore you to stretch yourself more now Gilead, lets start to see you push forward, look to the classical masters for inspiration, for upon viewing the greats you will succumb to the sheer technical envy of the likes of Rembrandt, Michaelangelo and the like.

Good luck, m.

[Gilead]

Oh wow look somebody's talkin' to me!
Magic Man, Thanks loads. Actually these are acrylics. I personally don't like the smell of oils or most of its other fine points though there are things that are more easily done in oil than acrylic. I like using them outside.
I push myself further everyday, but this thread is just exercises. The old masters would scoff at my work for sure, but I'm coming along.

A little different. This is the view out the window of my study. It was cloudy and windy.
July 31, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily66.jpg

[Gilead]

Well the sun was setting in the west and a storm was passing by in the east and the clouds were just amazing. so I grabbed my paintbox and easel and stepladder and climbed up on the roof to paint clouds.
The wind was ripping accross my pallette and drying the paint almost instantly while trying to blow the easel off the roof so it was a bit of a fight, and the results are positively awful! No no don't argue they're bad. But I intend to keep trying this so I'm posting these to mark my progress. I hope.

Aug 2, about 10 minutes each. In which time each scene had changed 5 times in both shape and color.
These two facing east.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily67.jpg

http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily68.jpg
This one facing north.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily69.jpg

[Gilead]

Got up on the roof again to paint some clouds. Darn things wont hold still.
Aug. 15, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/stellar1/daily70.jpg

Thought maybe I'd do better painting this tree to the south of me as it caught that late afternoon glow. But the sun dropped just as I was getting going so I didn't get much chance to paint this one the way I wanted to either. Nobody told me painting was going to be HARD. I thought it was easy money.
Aug. 15, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/stellar1/daily71.jpg

[fishw]

mate, i gotta get out and do some cloud studies! it's good to see you're so much better than me at doing these regularly. keep going!

[Gilead]

fishw, I'm really glad you got me started on this, It's been a great practice. Regular? Not so much lately.
We don't get clouds here most of the year and I may have let the best part of the season pass me by so I'm gonna' do clouds everyday while I have the chance.

Aug 15, 10 minutes. All I could manage today.
http://members.cox.net/stellar1/daily72.jpg

[fishw]

We don't get clouds here most of the year and I may have let the best part of the season pass me by so I'm gonna' do clouds everyday while I have the chance.


damn, you're lucky. we don't get blue sky most of the year here! nice work man.

[IILooney]

April 15, 30 min.
My name is Gilead and I am a D&D'aholic
http://members.cox.net/gilead/daily39.jpg

Ahha, the dodeca, octa and icosahedrons. I always enjoy some sacred geometry, even if it is only dice. I also have to say that you capture transparency very well. You are indeed a true artist.

[Shatterdome]

Wow, I really like this exercise you're doing...this is something I should consider. I've only just recently bought some oils and brushes to try traditional painting and get away from the computer, and I really enjoy it, probably moreso then the PC, just more control and nicer textures....not to mention you can do it on your roof :D

One thing I want to ask is how to you get such nice photos ? maybe it's just the shiny oils, but man I can never get even a decent picture of my paintings...anyways nice work here....i'm glad to see your studies of clouds...I love clouds and I think they are one of the most amazing things to look at and attempt to capture. They can be so full of vibrant colour and contrast and also have so many varied shapes etc....nice stuff, definately got me thinking....also do you think pieces of cardboard would hold up as well with oils ? anyways, keep it up :)

[Gilead]

Wow I should look in here more often. Sorry. I havn't been doing any paintings so I havn't noticed the replies.

fishw, Yeah for the most part I'm not complaining.

IILooney, Why thank you very much.

Shatterdome, It's a great exercise though as you can see I've been slacking off lately.
These are all pretty small so I can just scan them, but of course that'd be a problem with oils. The best way that I've found to photograph art is to do it outdoors either on an overcast day or early enough in the morning that the sun's not too bright yet.
I only painted on carboard because I had a bunch of it and wanted to use it up on something. I wouldn't seek it out particularly. I understand it kinda drinks up oil paints and makes it too dry to work with unless you gesso it first. Also It's not archival.

[Gilead]

Yup I'm still alive.
September 21, 2005 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/stellar1/daily73.jpg

[Gilead]

Sept. 22, 30 min.
http://members.cox.net/stellar1/daily74.jpg

[van]

Good to see more stuff, man. :) Excellent work.

[Fl3wk]

Gilead
your work is inspiring me to start up painting again; which is quite funny really. There are all these wonderful paintings of enviroments and people, and the one that inspires me to pick up a brush again is some fruit! Well once I get some acrylics that is.... *sigh*

If i do something similar to what u do (paint like u are in this post) maybe I might get something out of it :S

[Gilead]

van, thank you

Fl3wk, I strongly reccomend this exercise. After all if you cant paint a shiny metal cup, you probably cant paint a suit of armor. If you can't shade a pear then you can't shade flesh either. It's all good practice for the kind of work you want to do whatever that may be.

October 3, 40 minutes.
Took a little long, I just could'nt get the petals to look like thin flat things instead of a big chuncky thing.
http://members.cox.net/stellar1/daily75.jpg

[fishw]

coming along very well dude! try doing more stuff outside, it's great fun. i've been doing some recently (i'll get 'em up here some time), and it's a great challenge to capture not just how something looks but the atmosphere too. i spent quite a while painting in the rain on saturday, and somehow still loved it.
keep up the good work, you're kicking my butt with your superior dedication.

[Gilead]

Superior dedication? I'm not too sure about that. I wish I'd keep up with this better. It's actually the high point of my day when I do them. It never feels like a chore. I do my chores, I tend to put off the fun stuff until I feel like I have "the time".
Oct. 10, 15 min.
http://members.cox.net/stellar1/daily76.jpg

Oct 11, 20 min.
Hey it was high tech when I bought it.
http://members.cox.net/stellar1/daily77.jpg

Oct 11, 30 min.
Are you an optomist or a pessimist?
http://members.cox.net/stellar1/daily78.jpg

[antihero]

Gilead, this is some really cool stuff. I dig your color-placement on the recent glass-painting.
Those are probably all from life? If so, thats really cool. I feel like i allways learn then most when drawing/painting from life.

As an advice, i'd probably tell you to look at some composition-stuff. Try to not just put your objects in the middle of the picture.

Apart from that, i'd just say, keep them coming.
(i'd insert a "thumbs-up" smiley, if ca had one... ;) )

[MarkHarchar]

Gilead, what do you paint on, canvas, illustration board, masonite, other? I'd like to try this type of excercise, but need cost effectiveness.

[Gilead]

hylandr2, most of these are just on cardboard like the back of a sketchbook or something. The most recent ones are on white cardstock, just because I have a stack of it and have no other use for it.

[Gilead]

Well it's been forever and a week, but here I am again. I have no legitimate excuses I've just been remis. But no more! It's my new years resolution; a painting a day, a babe a day and keep up with my regular work. Is that too much to ask? ...time will tell.

I bought this bowl at the "First Fridays Art Walk" in downtown Phoenix last month. I like these suble glazes, but they sure are hard to paint. I mean it was a random effect when the potter did it so replicating it was awkward, but I'm happy with the outcome.
Saturday December 17, 2005. 1 hour.
http://members.cox.net/tdavis19/daily79.jpg

[Gilead]

It's supposed to be my bathroom faucet in case you couldn't tell.
Sunday December 18, 30 minutes.
http://members.cox.net/tdavis19/daily80.jpg

[Gilead]

December 21, 2005. 20 min.
http://members.cox.net/tdavis19/daily81.jpg

[krakel]

hey gilead i like your consistency and your feeling of form- you seem to lack knowledge of perspective though.. Maybe you should do some studies in another sb? I dunno.. I still like your work. I also think you could spend some more time on some paintings. Dont just put them away in frustration(If thats ever the case) I think your faucet is a good example for that. keep posting


peace

[Gilead]

;) my faucet looks like frustration or lack of perspective?
I've been purposfully holding these exercises down to a half hour so I don't obsess over them all day.
I'll try to be more concious of persective though I'm generally avoiding backgrounds in the interest of simplicity.
Thanks for stopping by, much more to come.

[Gilead]

I've been working on this for the past couple days. No special reason just felt like doing a daily painting on a slightly grander scale. It's 14" X 18" masonite
http://members.cox.net/tdavis19/daily82.JPG
It's not finished I just wanted to post something since it's been a while.

[seth1]

Looking nice man! The flash runins some of your values and highlights! Try and take it outside with the sun might not get so washed out.. Keep pushing this painting further then you think you can take it!

[MarkHarchar]

Hey Gilead,
Now that I started my own set of painting exercises, I may actaully be able to discuss the topic with valid information. Before, I was just lurking.

First off, the last piece is coming along very nicely. Shadows-wise, do you make your shadows from a specific color or does it depend on the color of the subject and the surface that it is sitting on? Also, what type of brush do you use to create the soft edges on your shadows?

[Gilead]

seth1, thanks, photograghing paintings is the hardest part. There are some photographers who specialize in just that. It would be worth it to hire one if I were selling in galleries or something.

hylandr2, shadows are deffinately a different color depending on the surface and the lighting. In fact everything is. A red apple on a blue table would have to be painted differently than the same apple on a yellow table. A lot of the table color will reflect onto the skin of the apple changing it's color and darkness too probably.

In general shadows are darker at the source and fade out at the ends.
They need to be a darker version of the surface they are on, but will also contain compliments-that is-opposites of that color. A shadow on a yellow tabletop may be somewhat purple since purple is the opposite of yellow. The overall effect of this will be a brown shadow, but using purple instead of brown gives the shadow more life and brilliance.

They may also contain a contrasting color to the object casting the shadow. For example a red apple may have the appearence of some green both in the shadow side of the apple and in the cast shadow. If you look really hard you can see these things, but it all depends on the light whether it is there or not.

I use filbert brushes for almost everything, because my painting teacher did. If I still get too hard an edge I just wipe the edge with my finger to blend it. I do this a lot so it's probably good that I dont do a lot of oil painting.

last night I deepened the background color and changed the arrangement of the leaves. I'm not sure that was a good move, but there it is. For some reason flat things such as leaves, flower petals, paper and fabric are the hardest things for me to paint. I always wind up with something chunky looking.
http://members.cox.net/tdavis19/daily83.JPG

[Judy Warner]

does anyone have suggestions on painting the ellipse at the top of bowls, bottles, etc. I can draw a reasonable ellipse, but have a huge problem painting all the value changes, and keeping the ellipse the right shape. It seems especially bad when the lip has a turning or an extra layer, if that's what you call it. What order do you follow? if any---Judy

[blacky]

Good to see you practice such things.
Especialy was impressed by your attempt to draw clouds and scy.
But that was also something that displayed your weaknesses (from my point of view) as some of this stuff lacks some depth , have a loock at W. Turners works (on scy) or Cesanne and Matisse (on fruits) for example. Just my 2 cents.
So long...

[Gilead]

Well I finished this one the other day and havn't done anythig else so I thought I'd post it. It's been really hard to photograph.
http://members.cox.net/tdavis19/daily84.JPG

[MarkHarchar]

Very nice. I like how you have the shadow of the right hand apple fading into the background shadow.

[Gilead]

Well after a long pause here I am.
I bought this pot at a farmer's market. It was made by a 16 year old kid. I hope he keeps at it because he has a marketable skill.
Feb. 13, 2006. 30 minutes. acrylic on cardboard.
http://members.cox.net/tdavis19/daily85.jpg

And another one.
Feb 13, 30 minutes.
http://members.cox.net/tdavis19/daily86.jpg

[MarkHarchar]

Wow man, that pot looks like I could reach out and grab it. If it had a shadow, I'd be poking my screen again and again...

[Gilead]

Hylander2, thanks, Yeah I'm tempted to go back and throw a shadow in there it needs it.
Feb 15, 2006. 30 minutes.
My sugar bowl.
http://members.cox.net/tdavis19/daily87.jpg

[Gilead]

This is a powder horn carried by my ancestor during the American Revolution. That's not the same as saying that he FOUGHT in the revolution you understand. He was the original draft dodger. He was a Tory and therefore sworn to the crown, but he liked America so his loyalties were split. So he nipped off to Canada when the fighting started, but he carried this powder horn during the war by gosh!
February 16, 2006. 30 minutes
http://members.cox.net/tdavis19/daily88.jpg

[Fl3wk]

Do you use additives to slow the paint drying time? I seem to hate how acrylics dry so quickly.

[Gilead]

No actually I LOVE the fast drying time of acrylics. It makes it possible to go over things again in a hurry. If I don't like the way something looks I can white it out and change it several times if need be.
Most of the blending that you see on these is not wet into wet, but more glazing and scumbling. That is: thin transparent colors over another color or dry opaque colors dragged out thinly or dry brushed over another color.
I do think I need to get some retardant to slow down some of my colors from drying on the pallette before I get a chance to use them. That happens sometimes.

Now when it comes to trying to blend fleshtones on a small figure painting, I find myself switching to oils, but that may just be an amature cop-out on my part.

[MarkHarchar]

I just found these oils that are water soluble and soap and water clean up. The traditional artists will probably scoff at me, but I am going to give them a try. I'll let you know what I find.

[Gilead]

Yeah I'll be interested to know how you like them. I think there's a discussion or two on that subject buried around here somewhere if you're willing to dig for it.

[Gilead]

My toy
Feb 17, 2006. an intense 30 minutes. 11" X 14" latex on board.
http://members.cox.net/tdavis19/daily89.jpg

[MarkHarchar]

Very nice. So how many on this board actually knows who this is supposed to be?...LOLOL

[Gilead]

Well "Gilead's Daily Paintings" has been far from daily for some time now, but the exercise has been enormously helpfull to me in my professional work. A couple weeks ago I did some signs for this little grocery store called Sunflower Market. They have an old fashioned look and wanted my signs to remain in keeping with their image. So I did these outdoor signs to look a bit like old fashioned orange crate art.
http://gileadart.com/daily90.jpg
http://gileadart.com/daily91.jpg
http://gileadart.com/daily92.jpg

They liked them so much that they asked me to come back and do another one on the wall inside.
http://gileadart.com/daily93.jpg

http://gileadart.com/daily94.jpg
The hope is that once the corporate guys have seen it they'll have me come out and do all their stores.

[DarbusMaximus]

Great works, you've inspired me, I've painted three and posted on here, I enjoy painting. Thanks for the inspiration

[Gilead]

Hey everybody! Guess what? Paintings!
I've really missed doing this so today I just decide to hell with all the excuses and went out to do some plein air painting.

Gilbert Arizona is a city who's history is evaporating faster than water on a hot sidewalk. I'm not exagerating when I say that you can drive past a hundred year old farm one day and when you come back the next day it's entirely wiped off the face of the earth and there's a hundred acre constuction site in it's place. All the fields and livestock are being replaced by endless expanses of identical, stuccoed-styrofoam houses.
My desire has been to get out and paint pictures of the last remaining pockets of old Gilbert before it is all gone.

I have wanted to do this for years, but I have always held off, thinking that I needed to wait until I was a talented enough painter to do these places justice. Now most of what I would have painted is gone and forgotten. Where's the justice in that? So I'm just going to do it even if I'm not the best man for the job.

I started with this old shed, actually a carport or tractor shed once I think. There used to be a lot more stuff all around it, but now it sits out all by itself. The silos are a bit further down the road, but I took some artistic license because the composition needed it.
http://gileadart.com/painting04.JPG
It was a bout 108 degrees and no shade here.

14" X 11" acrylic on board. About an hour.
http://gileadart.com/daily095.jpg

Here's an ideal old fashioned farhouse that has parked the old tractor near the street for decoration. Accross the street it's miles of stucco.
But at least I had shade.
I started both of these with a board that I had already toned with a sort of faux finish. It helps to start the painting with a middle tone and I like for it to have some visual texture as well.
http://gileadart.com/painting06.JPG
24" X 18" acrylic on board. About 2 hours.
http://gileadart.com/daily096.jpg

[Judy Warner]

I know just what you mean about the disappearing landscape--here in the east we have McMansion colonial style, the more points on the roof the more expensive. I am trying to paint the remaining barns around here--not that any are used for farming anymore.

You've done a great job capturing these places. Judy

[MarkHarchar]

Gilead, these have a very nice feel to them. I especially like the tractor. It has a bit of an old rusted look to it. I think you need to push your darks farther though. The whole key of the painting is middle to high which is giving it a white washed look. You need dark darks to have light lights. What color white are you using because a less translucent white like titanium instead of flake or what have you may help. Painting has been my direction lately so stopped by when I saw the update.

If you are looking for historical, head out to PA. There are still more coal breakers, railroads, barns, tractors than you know what to do with. :)

[Gilead]

Judy Warner, thank you, I'm glad to hear that you are doing similar things in your area, someone has to do it. Are you posting them here?

hylandr2, thanks, you're right about the contrast I seem to balk at being too extreme sometimes, but it's often called for. I've been using house paint for my white, well for most of it in fact, but I'm going to stop that because the tubes travel better on a bicycle.

Here's this mornings "daily" painting.
It was raining this morning and I almost let it dissuade me, but I figured what the hell. So I hopped on my bike and went out. It rarely rains for very long in Arizona and today was no exception. Then the flys came out. Ah the sacrifices we make.
The horses didn't hold still for me, but there were several of them so I was able to use different ones as refference once the initial sketch was done. Except the pony, he watched me for a moment and walked away, so I had to fake more with him.
Acrylic on board 12" x 16", about an hour.
http://gileadart.com/daily097.JPG

[Gilead]

About an hour and a half painting of a juniper tree near a secret place that I always used to run off to when I was a little boy. Don't ask how long ago that was.

[Gilead]

So I'm taking this painting class...sort of. The actual painting class was cancelled, but I know the instructor and he said that I could sit in on his drawing one class and paint in there as a sort of independant study.
The downside is that I have no other painting students to share ideas and insights with, and there are no painting lectures.
Yhe good thing is that I can pretty much tailor the class to my own needs. I get a fair amount of good one on one guidance, and he used to be an illustrator himself so he understands what I want to know.

Here's the first few paintings.
This one was the same thing the drawing students were working on.
18014

This time I gout out of the way and set this up for myself just to practice metal effects.
18015

This was from tonight's class.
The unique thing here is that He had me do this with a smaller flat brush and just "chisel" in the various flat planes one at a time as I saw them. It's a very different look for me because I usually do this sweeping, scrubbing blending type of thing when I paint and there was none of that here.
18016

[MarkHarchar]

Gilead, I am really glad to hear you kinda got a painting class. What is your medium? Oil or Arcylic? The last one really impresses me. I like what you have accomplished with it. It is a bit stylistically different than your other stuff, but really solid. It is hard on this page to tell, but make sure that you keep you edges soft when they should be. They look a little hard on the vase, but it could be the page. It the object doesn't have an edge like a table or sword, keep it SOFT.

Let's see more!

[Gilead]

Well I've been inspired to start this practice anew.
This was about an hour and a half (I've gone rusty) acrylic on board 8" X 10"
37992

[Gilead]

10/21/06 about 45 min. acrylic on board 8"X10"
38656

[Gilead]

Well it took about a thousand days, but here I am at #100 in my daily painting series! Whoohoo!

This one is 12"X14" which is a bit too big for my scanner so the outer edges are cropped. It took about 2 hours.
39091

I'm getting away from my 30 minute rule. I always do that whenever I think I may sell something. I get all obsessed about thinking it has to be perfect and I loose the spontenaity. On the other hand if I'm going to sell things I want them to be good...

[MarkHarchar]

Gilead, that apple looks good enough to eat. Those brass peices are also rendered beautifully. One question, how did you paint the background, because on my screen, it looks a little flat?

[Gilead]

Acrylic on board 8"X6"
55385

[Gilead]

Acrylic on board 8"X6"
55793

[pavelpangrac]

Hi, good paintings. Do you paint only still lifes or also something else like portraits etc. I am very intersted in overlaping of themes. I'm a figurative painter and I have big problems to paint landscapes and what is hidden to me is still life;) I tried to do it many times, but I think, I was not born to be able to do it, but I wish it...maybe somewhere in the future:wink:

My sketchbook (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=83245)

Or my web page (unfortunately still only in Czech language):O (http://www.pangracp.com)

[Gilead]

pavelpangrac, thank you.
You have some very nice stuff on your website.
I paint other things, but not very well. Still life seems to be my current specialty. I belive, however, that learning still life will help you in all areas of painting. Just practice a lot and keep them simple. Start with just a single object, like a pear, and just try to see everything there is to see about it. The longer you are looking at it the more you will see.

Here's another.
Acrylic on board, 8"X6"
56484

[Gilead]

Here's a couple from Christmas weekend.

69506

69507