My Favorite Paintings of 2012 ...Desert Landscapes

'Desert Impressions I'      4x4     pastel     $40 in my Etsy shop

Welcome to my second annual countdown of my 5 Favorite Paintings of the Year.  These are not necessarily m y best paintings but they have a personal meaning for me. They represent an accomplishment of a goal or a turning point or perhaps were just the most fun to paint.  Each day for the next five days I will share one of them and explain why they made the list.

Looking back on 2012 and my paintings I can sum it up with one word...Experimentation.  I continued to do a daily painting now on my 6th year.  But this year in a way I was all over the place with my work.  I tried different pastel techniques. I worked in acrylics. I started painting in oil.  I didn't seem to have a direction but my direction was to play and experiment.  My motto of the year was "What would happen if I tried....."

I'm not sure I made any real progress towards taking my work to the next level but I do know that I painted a lot and  I learned a lot and that at some point I will benefit from the year of experimentation!

'Desert Impressions II'     4x4      pastel

The two paintings I am sharing today are quick studies only 4x4 inches each.  Why did they make the list?  I like the loose feel in both of them and it is a result of the surface.  These are both done on a home made surface. I used pieces of matboard and applied some clear gesso with a brush.  The clear gesso gives just enough tooth and the random brushstrokes creates a textured surface.

This was a successful experiment for me.  I have always enjoyed my own surfaces but didn't like the mess of mixing pumice and gesso. The clear gesso was quick and easy and worked great on all of the papers I tried in on including Canson.  I will be using this surface more in the coming year!

What paintings form 2012 mean the most to you?  Have you thought about why?  It will give you clues to the direction you may wish to go in 2013!