Soybean field

Daily painting #30

9x12 watercolor on Arches coldpress

Today's painting: a simple design using large blocks of color

Red Candle

Daily PAinting #29

7x10 watercolor on Arches hotpress

Available for $50

Today's painting is an exercise in simple design with line and low and high values of color.

1937 Prague Community kitchen

Daily painting #28

12x16 watercolor on Arches hotpress

Today's painting is done from a Roman Vishniac black and white 1937 photograph of a scene in a community kitchen for the poor. Vishniac's photograph is beautiful. Copyright Mara Vishniac Kohn.

thankyou for looking

At Cheder, the schoolroom 1938

Daily painting #27

12x16 watercolor on Arches hotpress

Today's painting of a scene taken from a Roman Vishniac 1938 black and white photograph of young school boys and their teacher at "cheder" in Slonim, where they learned companionship and some book learning. Slonim, I learned today, was occupied by Russia, Germany and Poland. THe records show that there was a thriving Jewish community in 1938, 8,000 Jews and in 1941 there were 31 Jews. In reality, the colors of the little boy's clothing were more subdued woolens as you would see, in the remarkable Vishniac photograph, from his book A Vanished World.

thankyou for looking. Copyright Mara Vishniac Kohn.

1938 Three Talmud students

Daily painting #26

12x16 watercolor on Arches hot press

Today, Painting from a scene taken in black and white photography in 1938 by Roman Vishniac. THese young boys are students going home after a day of study.

Vishniac's photographs speak to me on many levels and that is why I am happy to study them and interpret them as paintings. Copyright Mara Vishniac Kohn.

thankyou for looking.

1937 Marketplace in Eastern Europe

Daily painting #25

12 x16 watercolor on Arches hotpress

Today's painting goal was to use a black and white photo as the subject for a painting. This is the third Roman Vishniac black and white photograph, copyright Mara Vishniac Kohn, that I have used for this type of painting goal.

The caption in the book, A Vanished World states: The market in the main square of Lask, 1937. THe Jews had to set up their stands on the left side of the market place.

thankyou for looking.

Warsaw street scene from 1938 Vishniac photo

Daily Painting #24

12x16 watercolor on Arches hotpress

I continued today, the exercise of painting a scene in color from a Roman Vishniac 1938 black and white photograph. The man with the cart belongs to the Jewish porters artel which was a cooperative venture. Vishniac's photograph is beautiful. Copyright Mara Vishniac Kohn.

Warsaw 1938 Little Jewish boy with a toothache

Daily Painting #23

Approx 9 x 81/2 watercolor on 140 lb Arches cold press

Today's daily painting was an exercise to use a black and white photo for the subject.

THe photograph is actually a remarkable black and white photograph by Roman Vishniac, who, from 1934-1938, recorded unforgettable images of Jewish life in the cities and villages of Eastern Europe. In 1940, when Vishniac came to the United States, he managed to smuggle out, with great difficulty, 2,000 0f the 16,000 photographs which he took.

Some of these may be viewed in his book, A Vanished World

photograph copyright Mara Vishniac Kohn.

thankyou for looking!

september leaves on blue background

Daily painting #22

9x12 watercolor on Arches cold press

Today for a subject I used one of the sprigs of withered oak leaves that are beginning to fall on the ground. I placed the sprig on a piece of white paper that I had tinted yellow and blue and added a small pastel box for the grouping. The red border actually is optimal using a 2" red mat. Or the white border can be entirely cropped. It's a simple decorative piece for a bit of color and shapes.

thanks for looking!

The Wooden Toy Truck

Daily painting #21

9x12 watercolor on Arches Hot Press

Available for $200

Due to very high winds, an interior composition was chosen today. THe exercise was to obtain a spatial quality of the interior using perspective and balance of color to create a sense of depth and space. It's definitely easier to concentrate on painting without swarms of mosquitoes and bees. I like wooden blocks, wagons, trucks and dolls, don't you?

thanks for looking!

Shapes and design exercise

Daily painting #20
9x12 watercolor on 140 lb Arches coldpress
Available for $20

A simple exercise using simplified shapes.
thanks for looking!

Twin Corn Cribs Mondamin Iowa

Daily painting #19

9x12 watercolor on 140lb Arches hotpress

A rapid pencil sketch traveling home after sunset was the reference for today's painting of these twin corn cribs built by the uncles and father of my late dear friend Milt, who always encouraged me to try and paint scenery.

My goal was to use deliberate bold washes of color for the shapes to depict this evening scene.

thanks for looking!

The Grand Lodge Arts Center

Daily painting #18 SOLD

9x12 watercolor on 140lb Arches hotpress

The Town and Country Arts Council of Harrison County offers a wide range of venues for local artists to provide theatre and arts for all ages in the rural communities of western IOwa and eastern NE. The Grand Lodge Arts Center was the old Masonic Lodge in Modale that was purchased in 2002 with a grant and with donations, has been restored into a beautiful theatre for the community. THe second floor needs work and there's a cake auction Sept 29 at the annual Logan applefest to get the needed funding.

THis painting is for a flyer for the cake auction.

thanks for looking!

Windy September in Loess Hills

Daily painting #17

9x12 watercolor on 140lb Arches hotpress

Available for $100

Several pencil sketches later, this scene was chosen today to depict the Loess Hills. Very hot and the wind stirred up the fine loess soil. In this scene notice the small trees. They are Eastern pine and they have encroached upon the hills. There's only a small fraction of prairie left in western Iowa. If you're interested in restoration of the prairie, the first good place to start would be with Lin and Dave at the Country Homestead. ALso, the north west Iowa group of the Sierra CLub.

This painting was executed in my studio from my pencil sketch. The shapes are primitive to accomodate my skill. The overall composition in my mind, succeeds in portraying a typical Loess Hill image.

thanks for looking!

Wild Sunflowers

Daily painting #16

9x12 watercolor on Arches hotpress

available for $50

THe wild sunflowers are everywhere in the Loess Hills. Fields of them and single stalks along the road. "Recording" them today was my goal.

Once again,you can see the road was carved through the loess soil. I used repeated washes to build up the "negative spaces" around the sunflower stalk and tried to keep to the large color masses to depict this scene.

thanks for looking !

County Hwy 20

Daily Painting #15

9x12 watercolor on Arches hotpress

available for $50

I began today's composition when something about the way the trees partially hid the receding road caught my attention. Also, the simplified design seemed doable while taking the brisk wind into consideration. Again, I was able to utilize the protection of the car so that I could be "on site"

thanks for looking

The Old Lutheran Church, Soldier Iowa

Daily painting #14

9x12 Arches Hotpress

this piece is available for $50

Today, when the pencil sketch was completed, the winds prevented painting on site.

For me, this is a significant piece because it was painted in my studio using the pencil drawing as a reference. I reasoned that the cold weather is coming and in order to continue the challenge of painting landscapes, I may need to execute the work in this manner, so I gave it a try. What did I learn? THis is a decent method to create a painting if setting up outdoors is too difficult.

The Old Church is one of the many beautiful images of the Loess Hills area in western Iowa.

Road through the Loess Hills

Daily painting #13

9x12 watercolor on Arches

I wanted to depict some of the personality of the Loess Hills and therefore chose a corner where the road had been carved through the hills, leaving the exposed "loess soil" This landscape began with a preliminary sketch which provided a good reference. THe weather changed to overcast with strong winds, but put some finals touches on the the painting in the comfort of the car!

Morning View to the Northwest

Daily painting #12

9x12 watercolor Arches Hot Press

Available for $100 Looks quite beautiful with a black mat

A landscape study. THe conditions were easier because the bees were knocked out from the cooler night and didn't appear until the last hour or so. Western Iowa has gentle rolling Loess Hills.

Began with a sketch that simplified the shapes for the composition and served as a handy reference tool as I painted. Paid attention to color and value.

thanks for looking

The Old Post Road

Daily painting #11

9x12 watercolor

Determined to make a landscape study on this bright windy day.

I was surprised at the deliberation required to "find a spot". The process felt like a scene from one of the old "silent films", trying to fix things in their place. Settled on using my car to block the strong wind and made a makeshift table.

Color and value principles were used to approach this scene. PAinting this was a substantial challenge.

thanks for looking

Where I hang a hat

Daily painting #10

9x12 watercolor on 140lb Arches hotpress

Available at $55 A black mat pops the colors

Interior study . Altogether, a composition that does well by watercolors. I decided on additional washes and blending to remove the watermarks for a matted finish.

thanks for looking

Preparation Canyon study

daily painting #9

this is a 9x12 watercolor on 140 lb Arches hotpress, it looks very handsome with a black mat

available for $30

please email me if you'd like to buy this painting

there's an interesting story about this painting. today's goal was a "woodland " landscape so I packed up and hiked to a brackish creek for a water and woods composition.The reflection of 2 large logs made a ready design.

Worked hard to simplify composition to values and shapes to depict density of the woods. all this while the "swarmy bees" nipped at me. THe floppy hat, neckerchief and the OFF were no match for the swarmy bees. Due to 50% determination 25% stubborness and 25% foolishness, I endured and got a good bite in the right eye! Oh, but there were hummingbirds amongst the orange jewelweeds.

Landscape and focal point study

Daily painting #8

6 x 9 on Watercolor on hotpress, that includes approx 1" border, so the image is 4.5 x 7

Available for $30, email me if you'd like this

the bugs were wild, even with Deet, but I kept on with the outdoor challenge!

Today's landscape study included adding objects in the scene with the goal to depict spatial depth. THe focal point is the clothing on the line which was a little low off center and emphasized by the horizon line and the vertical lines of the structures. Also note the perpendicular lines of the roof and driveway balanced with the bit of fence post to the right...and the trees yonder provide scale for distance.

the clothes remind me of the Beatrix Potter illustrations, and sure enough, as I was finishing today's painting, I heard one of Peter Rabbit's kind scamper off.

thanks for looking

September Soybean field

Daily painting #7

approx 6.5 x 9 watercolor on hotpress

available for $20 plus shipping

email me if you would like this

THis was a study of clouds and landscape. I added the building as a little interest to the overall composition. I worked on 2 other studies which helped to resolve color issues that surfaced as I was working on this landscape. PAinting outdoors and "chasing the light" is new to me, not easy but I'm glad I took the chance on it.

thanks for looking

Landscape and mood Study

Daily painting #6

Watercolor on 9x12 Hotpress

Available for $20. email me if you're interested

Another interesting moment to take an artistic leap. Because of the previous 5 days paintings, I had the courage to try and capture an atmospheric mood that was occurring early this morning, created by a break in a grey sky. 3/4 into the painting, the sun peeks became lively. This altered the original idea a little until I decided to stay with the original moment and call the study completed.

The soybean fields are quickly becoming yellow.

Loess Hills Landscape Study

Daily Painting #5

7x10 watercolor on hot press

Available for $50.00 plus shipping

Another very warm day. I chose a landscape for my painting today. Trying to attend to values, and general composition to depict the hills on a bright day. I plan on seeking more landscape subjects. I'm glad I took the chance to paint this scene.

Tree Grouping Landscape Study

Daily painting #4

This is a 7x10 watercolor on 140lb Arches hot press

I decided to choose a subject outdoors. I attended to composition, values, masses and color. It was a good exercise and I'm glad I took the chance. It's giving me a more clear perspective about my painting abilities and that's got to be good.

Loess Hills Pottery

Daily painting #3
SOLD
This is a 7 x 10 watercolor on hot press.

I began this painting yesterday and completed today. The goal was to render some realism of the objects. I like the greenish and blueness of the pottery pieces. The Loess Hills in western Iowa were formed over thousands of years of windswept silt from the banks of the Missouri River.

thanks for looking

Pine tree with pottery study

Daily PAinting #2
This is a 7 x 10 watercolor on 140lb Arches hot press.
Available for $40.00 plus shipping

The subject is a Loess Hill Iowa motif and with attention to concepts of values, color to create sense of depth of field and perspective and composition.

The Corn Crib

Daily painting #1

SOLD

This is a 7 x 10 watercolor on hotpress

Yesterday on September 1st, one day after discovering the concept of Daily Painters, I began the process of creating a painting a day. I began with watercolor of a "corn crib" in Iowa, built by the uncles and the father of my late dear friend, Milt.