Artist R.L. Gibson

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Artist R.L. Gibson

Category: watercolour

DAY 1: Persist

Posted on by R.L. Gibson
"Persist" by R.L. Gibson (6"x6" watercolor on 140lb. coldpress)
“Persist” DETAIL by R.L. Gibson (6″x6″ watercolor on 140lb. coldpress)

It is time for the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge again. I am hard at work on a new xerography show, but I have found that a daily painting challenge clears my head, keeps me in touch with a different skill set and has helped me find new peers and collectors.  So, I’m all in for another month of paintings.  Last time I did abstract work exclusively.  This time no themes, no rules, just paint.

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DAY ONE: “Persist” (6″x6″ watercolor on 140lb. coldpress)

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During the February challenge, I am offering each piece at $25, including shipping inside the U.S., for two days after it is posted.  You can email me, message me on Facebook or Instagram with your email address for a PayPal invoice & your snail mail for shipping.  First message takes it.  

See you on DAY 2…

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Watercolour 100417

Posted on by R.L. Gibson
watercolour 100417 (on 140 lb. paper, 5"x7") by R.L. Gibson
watercolour 100417 (on 140 lb. paper, 5″x7″) by R.L. Gibson

Any time I get new brushes is a good day.  4 hake brushes & 3 natural bristle chip brushes later, I had a glorious day of painting.  I’ve been struggling for a while now, but today was a break through inspired by Chinese brush painting. Landscape-y, I know.  Some days are just good days.  And this…

…this was a very good day.

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Watercolour 100317

Posted on by R.L. Gibson
watercolour 100317 (8'x11") by R.L. Gibson
watercolour 100317 (on 90 lb. paper, 8″x11″) by R.L. Gibson

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So, I whined my way through the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  A couple of days before it ended, I headed to NY for an opening at the Scarlet Seven Gallery in which my work was included. As I was reading each artist’s statement, I came across the work of Susan Spencer Crowe.  Midway through I came across the words, paraphrased, “I painted a watercolour every day for 5 years.”  FIVE YEARS.  I whined my way through 30 days.

So, I have until January for the next 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge, but I am going to try to post something new nearly every day.  Most days I will just name them for the day they were completed.  I worked this one to death, but I love that cadmium orange.

Let’s see where this goes…

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SEPT 2017: 30 Paintings in 30 Days

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As a xerographist, my work tends to be, almost exclusively, representational.  The 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge offered me an opportunity to revisit abstract painting as an alternate voice.

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Here’s is a collage of all 30 Days of Paintings by R.L. Gibson…

30 Paintings in 30 Days by R.L. Gibson

DAY 30: Salvo

Posted on by R.L. Gibson
Salvo (5"x5" watercolor) by R.L. Gibson
Salvo (5″x5″ watercolor) by R.L. Gibson

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We made it to Day 30 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge!  What a roller coaster it has been. Today’s painting is “Salvo” (watercolour, 5″x5″).  Last night’s show was fun, and I’m the speaker for a conference on getting into juried shows in an hour at Scarlet Seven Gallery.  And, then I will get on the road headed for home with another stop over in Pennsylvania.  Plus, it is the final day of the challenge.  I needed the work.  I needed the process.  I needed the rollercoaster.  Maybe I didn’t need to share it all so explicitly, but I did.  So there.  I feel like I have fired a canon into the world and wait with baited breath to feel the impact. An aggressive act of happy expectation.  I am guilty of that –choosing happiness.  It gets me in trouble.  So here I am.  Here it is.  Trouble.

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As a xerographist, my work tends to be, almost exclusively, representational.  The 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge offered me an opportunity to revisit abstract painting as an alternate voice. 

Until next time…

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DAY 29: Waft

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"Waft" (6"x9" watercolour) by R.L. Gibson
“Waft” (6″x9″ watercolour) by R.L. Gibson

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It is Day 29 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge; today’s painting is “Waft” (watercolour, 6″x9″).  I am on the road today driving from Pennsylvania to an art opening in New York.  All this time in the car has left me with a lot time to think.  I’ve done a lot of over sharing during this 30-Day Challenge.  I really took this challenge to force me to show my painting to a world that only knows me for xerography & digital illustration.  I didn’t expect to react quite the way I have.  On Day 27, I wrote of being sodden with overwhelming possibility.  Today I feel lighter.  The possibility feel lighter, allowing me waft through instead of sinking under the weight.  It is interesting how subtle the difference in feeling is and how equally subtle the difference between the work is on these two days.

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As a xerographist, my work tends to be, almost exclusively, representational.  The 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge offers me an opportunity to revisit abstract painting as an alternate voice. 

How do I end the challenge?  Day 30 is upon us.

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DAY 28: Murmur

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Murmur (5"x5" watercolour) by R.L. Gibson
Murmur (5″x5″ watercolour) by R.L. Gibson

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It is Day 27 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge; today’s painting is “Murmur” (watercolour, 5″x5″).  I am on the road from Virginia to Pennsylvania on my way to New York tomorrow for an art opening.  I am excited to have eight pieces in a show, and happier still to be able to attend the opening.  But, I have whispers of other work needling me.  I have all these paintings and that equivocal, nagging doubt about media that I don’t normally show to the world.  I have a new series of xerography work just budding, but I have to walk away for days to celebrate the work already here being shown. I’ve already been hyper-emotional mess this month; the last thing I need are these pulls at my artistic self that make me feel a little crazy –like voices murmuring.  But here I am anyway.  So, I’ll just make the art.  This is what murmuring feels like, fuzzy edges.  Happy with a shadow.

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As a xerographist, my work tends to be, almost exclusively, representational.  The 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge offers me an opportunity to revisit abstract painting as an alternate voice. 

I’m oversharing again.  I’ll try to reel it in on Day 28.

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DAY 27: Sodden

Posted on by R.L. Gibson
Sodden (6"x9" watercolour) by R.L. Gibson
Sodden (6″x9″ watercolour) by R.L. Gibson

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It is Day 27 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge; today’s painting is “Sodden” (watercolour, 6″x9″).  After having such a hard time yesterday, I feel sort of, well, emotionally hung over.  Artistically, I am a little all over the place.  While I am trying to build a new xerography show, the work I’ve spent a lifetime developing, I am also trying to prove to myself that I’m not a one-trick pony by returning to paint.  Because I am struggling to redefine and elevate my new xerography, I find that any and all failure at painting causes swelling volumes of torturous self doubt.  I get so tied up in expectation that I end up a bit sodden with possibility. 

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As a xerographist, my work tends to be, almost exclusively, representational.  The 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge offers me an opportunity to revisit abstract painting as an alternate voice. 

We’re headed in the right direction… on to Day Twenty-Eight.

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