#27 in series of 50 paintings in 50 days.  It's pretty obvious when I have more time to devote to painting.  This one was still completed today, but I did have more time in the studio to do it. 

#26 in series 50 paintings in 50 days.

What fun to paint.  Allowing myself to be alittle creative and not match the reference photo exactly.  I think this is exactly why daily painting is so beneficial.

#25 Halfway there! 50 paintings in 50 days food series

#24 in series 50 paintings in 50 days

#23 in series of 50 paintings in 50 days.  I think I can honestly say I have had enough donuts.  Both to paint and to eat.  I do have some other "sweets" planned, but might hit the produce department again for some more fruits and veggies.  I might even mix them up.  Wow, I am feeling brave.

#22 in series 50 paintings in 50 days.  I participated in an Art Tour today and was happy to sell two paintings, but even happier that I had people sign up for my email daily painting update.  I am happy to get these out and have people forward to others.  The size and "theme" have been very well received.  Motivates me to make sure I keep up my end of the bargain by posting daily and also have plans for the next series.  It's really fun when I speak of the motivation behind the themes and/or the arrangements I have made, I get some very good suggestions for future paintings. 

#21 in series 50 paintings in 50 days.  This one is a tribute to my children.  There is a song they laugh at every time they hear titled "Peanut Butter Jelly Time".  I cannot remember much of the song other than that phrase, but it sticks with me when I think of it.  Now I'll be saying this for days to come until another catchy song plays.

#20 in series 50 paintings in 50 days.  I love olives.

#19 in series of 50 paintings in 50 days.  No, I did not misspell the title.  Every time I think of this painting, I think of the Frosty the Snowman movie and when he comes to life, he says "HAPPY BIRTHday".  If you have never seen this movie, you are missing out - I love it!  Anyway - the real reason for today's painting is to celebrate my birthday today. Thanks for celebrating with me...

#18 in series of 50 paintings in 50 days.  Sometimes I find I get to picky with my work and will focus too hard on a certain detail that I cannot "see the forest for the trees".  This was one of those that I was not sure I was going to like the way it turned out until I forced myself to take a break and step away.  When I came back to it fresh, I discovered there were few things necessary to change.  I guess sometimes we can be too hard on ourselves.

#17 in series 50 paintings in 50 days.  I know "technically" coffee is not a food.  My son reminded me that I was not following my "theme", however I explained that sometimes coffee is my dessert and that I have a different view of coffee than some.  He seemed to accept this.  Anyway, I thought this would be fun and a nice twist to the theme.  Hope you enjoy (the coffee was superb by the way)...

#16 in series of 50 paintings in 50 days.  I love sweets, so no surprise I have more donuts.  I think this is my favorite donut - simple glazed.  Makes my mouth water just thinking about it....

#15 of 50 paintings in 50 days series.  I think next time I will do this up close and personal. 

#14 50 paintigns in 50 days series.  I am a HUGE tomato fan.  I used to ask for them for my birthday as a child and my grandparents would buy me some and tell me I didn't have to share (what a treat).  I think these remind me most of my other grandparents who grew tomatoes and sold them to Hunts for catsup.  The vine makes them more complete. 

#13 in the 50 paintings in 50 days series.  I wanted more of a challenge, and I got it!   Alot of fun though.  I will say, this is one subject my family is not fighting over who will eat.  I enjoy artichokes, but hate to say have never cooked one.  I figure there is a genius out there who invented canned artichokes and I want to reward him for his endeavors.

#12 in the 50 paintings in 50 days series.  I really like the fruit theme, have gotten some great responses.  I have several other references ready to paint.  I think tomorrow might be an avacado....

#11 in the 50 paintings in 50 days series.  I am finding it easier to paint in a limited amount of time.  I don't know if it is feeling confidence with my painting or the fact I am under "deadline/time limitations".  Either way, I like tha fact that my paintings still look like the reference even though I am not spending days on them. 

#10 in series of 50 in 50 days.  I am finding I like the simplicity of fruit.  Not alot of detail, then you can concentrate on the subtle changes in color and value.  Banana's have always been a favorite of mine.  This so pretty, had to share.

#9 in series of 50 in 50.  I had fun with the last strawberry, thought I'd give it a try and liked the reflection in the white plate.  It's amazing that same subject can end up looking so different depending on my mood when I paint.  That is what makes painting so amazing!

The nice thing about doing foods is that we get to eat them!  This is my son's favorite donut, from a local bakery.  I was there when they opened this morning.  Nothing like a melt in your mouth fresh donut. 

I am happy to say I am still at this and have many more in my head to do.  I will say this was a wonderful painting to do.  I love the color yellow and the reflections in the glass.  But I must say I think my husband may have enjoyed eating the still life more.  I forsee more arrangements with the sundae dish...

#6 in series.  couldn't resist painting my lunch.  I finished this yesterday, but system would not allow me to post text, so if you already viewed this - I am updating and sending a newsletter to those who follow my daily paintings.  guess the good news is you get 2 today.

   Here is the 5th painting for my 50 in 50 series.  This might have been the hardest subject yet.  I am a very detail oriented artist and it was killing me not to paint every single seed.  I guess alot of artists would do that, but I was in a dilemna that I worked all day and then had Bible Study at church so did not have much time to paint.  I think I would have gone "mad" if I had painted each seed, so maybe it was better that I was determined to finish it today and post it.  I might still have to touch up a few highlights - but overall I think it at least looks like a strawberry?!

I have several fruit ideas for this series and due to working today, had to select something I felt confident in finishing.  I am still committed to keeping up with this.  I might need to punch up the lights alittle later.  Will see what it looks like after a good nights sleep. 

Took a step away from fruit for this one.  A challenge to make the icing appear transluscent.  Had to step back often to evaluate.  I struggled with knowing when to stop on this one.  I think I could work on it for a whole day, but that is the beauty of the daily challenge.  It forces me to stop and move on to another piece.  I think tomorrow will be a strawberry (back to the fruit).

No. 2 in series.  I think this one is a nice companion to the apple yesterday.  They looked great next to each other on the easel at least.  I had so much fun yesterday with the apple, I did another one.  Basically I wanted to see if I could cut down on some of the steps/time it took to build up the color.  I still like doing an underpainting, but might resort to using a monochromatic study of the main color of the object.  Does save time in the long run.  Also learned not to use Res-N-Gel too early in the stages.  It started to "peel" as it dried.  Not a pretty look!!  I ended up scraping off the area where too much gel was and painting over it again.  I know the rule, "fat over lean" but hard to know which layer is really the top since I keep going back repeatedly to make small changes.  Consider today a success, I like the Pear Today and I learned something while painting. 

#1 in series of 50 paintings in 50 days. Food is the "theme" for this series.  I enjoyed the green color of the apple as well as the slight bit of red reflecting.  The challenge was to get it bright enough but still look round.  Sometimes I forget how fun it is to paint such familiar things.  Hopefully this series of 50 paintings will not only help me develop my skills, but also remind me how many things there are to paint if you just pay attention.