I decided to divide the 36 6x6 tiles into groups of 12 to hang on the wall.  I like them both as horizontal and vertical pieces. It is really interesting to look at the differences in the patterns created by the webbing as well as the different color combinations.  I have a nice base to build my Nature series paintings from. 

I'm working on frames 12x36 to insert these into.  I mounted them on masonite which I had on hand and am using some frames I have as well.  I still have to seal them.

Latest body of work

I could hardly wait for the wind to stop blowing so I could paint outdoors.  Luck was on my side this morning.  I took my 6x6 AquaBord tiles, already prepared for the spraying and began one by one to create different colors from my Dr. Ph. Martin Hydrus watercolors (I have all 36).  It was really lots of fun deciding which colors went together best and what I might paint as a focal point for each one based on the background which I was creating.

Now the second stage of creativity begins.........  I really am liking the neutrals but always am drawn to colorful ones.  Do you have a preference?  Would love to hear your comments......

Two paintings started using acrylics. The first is a landscape scene in Mallorca.  The yellow and white flowers along the roadsides and in the fields are very colorful along with red poppies.  I'll be figuring out next where to include them.  The fig trees which are just coming into bloom with their purple flowers are also to be added to this landscape.  I'm having so much fun with this medium!  Have to wait to get back home to complete.

I had tucked my photo from Yaquina Head Lighthouse in a book I brought along to read so decided to start a painting of it since we couldn't go out to plein air paint yesterday.  There are several wonderful lighthouses here which I plan on visiting as well but went ahead and started a painting on canvas of this awesome Oregon lighthouse which we visited last year.

In the next couple of days I hope to have my new website up for viewing.

Just found out that two of my paintings have been juried into the Lake Oswego Festival of Arts Special Exhibit, FIRE & WATER: Contrasts in Expression by Jurors, Jeremy Lepisto, Robert Burridge, and Jeffery Butters. I have entered for many years and am so excited and honored to be a part of this Exhibit. The Festival runs June 20-22nd at the Lakewood Center. I hope to see you there.

Please check out my website: www.diana-nadalart.com
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Please check out my blog: www.dianagnadal.blogspot.comSee More

My March - April newsletter is ready to be sent to subscribers who have signed up on my website (go to the Join Email List page). This issue’s giveaway is the winner’s choice of a Fine Art Miniature or one of my 6x6 original paintings. The random drawing will occur on April 30^th.



Each subscriber will receive a number when they sign up and on the drawing date, I use random.org to pick the winner. The newsletter comes out every two months. It highlights what is going on in my studio as well as topics which I hope will help art afficionados be better informed about watercolor and other media.http://www.diana-nadalart.com

Below are several of the paintings created during the 30 Day Challenge which I have been putting some finishing touches on. Thanks to the critique group artists for their input. Please visit my website: 
www.diana-nadalart.com

 Butterfly Girl:  Changing the background color to a complementary one makes her pop more. Adding a little more detail to her hands and her right arm and hand helped with that perspective. 

 Peacock Strut:  Moving the dark tree/rocks to the right and extending the lighter rock behind the peacock and bringing the rock further across the page eliminated the weird angles.  I generally played around with the peacock feathers and body. 

 

Last Leaves of Fall:  Adding an additional leaf cluster at the lower right corner gives me a better composition (rule of threes). 

 



Since the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge I have been discussing with fellow artists about the benefits of doing such a challenge.  I think we will have a few more from Oregon next year participating.  I definitely learned a lot about many of the participants by visiting their blogs and websites after the Challenge.  It gave me a lot of inspiration and ideas on how to improve my blog and website.  Thanks to each of the participants for the encouragement by just posting your art.

I have been working on several of the paintings since the Challenge ended and will post them here.  I let them sit for a few days and then began to see if my favorites could be improved.  Below are the ones I have finished "editing" as Leslie calls it.

 Barbados Day 8 - modified to show the ocean waves and the palm tree (lightest) revised to bring the eye back into the painting to emphasize the sunset colors.

 Day 15 Dragonfly.-- the body was too detailed and more darks needed to be added against the background.


Day 12 Man in New Fedora -- the background was too busy and competed with the man so I had to simplify it by several washes of color and water.New completed paintings from 30 Day Challenge

Diana Nadal Collage--30 Paintings in 30 Days

  Day 31  30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge with Leslie Saeta
 It's really fun to see what I painted over the challenge.  My love of color and choice of subjects to paint is demonstrated in this challenge. There is a real emotional component to what I choose to paint and that is all over the map.  I'll have to settle back down now without the daily pressure to produce a painting -- that part will be awesome.  Missing your comments each day is the negative.  I will try to post as I start a painting and bring my viewers along the path to completion.  Thanks Leslie for hosting this challenge and thanks to everyone who "liked" and posted comments.

Glorious Morning Glory in Basque Country

 Day 30  30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge with Leslie Saeta
Dr. Ph. Martin Hydrus Watercolors on 14x11 Claybord cradle (3/4")
$175.00  www.diana-nadalart.com

I was so pleasantly surprised to see how colorful were some of the towns were in Southern France known as Basque Country.  We were visiting a farmer's market and I noticed some beautiful flowers outside one of the shops near the market.  I've been waiting to paint them and decided to try the claybord one more time. 

Yeah, I have finished my Challenge and sent my summary to Leslie for her Radio broadcast this morning. 

I listened to Leslie's Saeta's radio blog this morning and found it very interesting to hear all the comments that they read. 

I was remiss in thanking Leslie for doing this for all of us who participated.  I know a lot of my artist friends might decide to take the challenge on in the future.  I'm looking forward to painting today and putting together a collage of my paintings done during the challenge for tomorrow's post. 

Thanks to the participants who also motivated me to paint after looking at what they had posted.  I wasn't as good a "commenter" as I should have been.  Next year I will approach this differently so I have more time to enjoy all the posts and give and take of comments.

Have a great day painting!

Diana

Web in the Vineyard

  Day 29  30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge with Leslie Saeta
Watercolor painting on 140 lb. Arches cold press   14 x 11
$175.00  www.diana-nadalart.com

The sunlight shines throughout this painting, including the spider web.  As we get close to the end of this challenge I had a little trouble today focusing on a painting.  I needed some sunshine on this rainy day though and it perked me up enough to paint.

St. Emilion Inner City Ruin

 Day 28  30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge with Leslie Saeta
Watercolor 16x20 Fabriano Artistico 300 lb Hot Press
$395.00 www.diana-nadalart.com

We couldn't wait to return to St. Emilion in the Dordogne region of France and see more of this city which sits on a plateau of limestone where mining was done beneath the city for many years.  This painting is one building where just the walls remain. Through the doorway is a park. The vineyards, the wine caves, the wine, the city itself make this one of my favorite destinations.