Studio blog of Julie Galante – painting ridiculous things in Scotland
Today I started an expressive drawing class. The first exercises were about loosening up and making marks. We were to draw an object from several angles, so I chose a little wooden figure model I have in my studio, as it was the most organically-shaped thing I had on hand. The idea was to work … Read more
It’s November 1st, which means Art Every Day Month is upon us once more. I’ve been taking part almost every year since 2008, posting my daily creations here on my blog. Last year I did a small oil painting each day; this year I think I’ll mostly be sharing things from the online course I’ll … Read more
So here we are at the end of Art Every Day Month, and what a lovely month it has been. I started out painting cocktails and desserts, and ended with moody Scottish landscapes. Given that at the beginning of the month I had no plan whatsoever (beyond making & sharing art every day), it was … Read more
Stepping away from the smooth white skies of yesterday, I decided to play around with some thick impasto abstract skies today. Which do you prefer? The paint on these reminds me of frosting, like what you would put on Christmas cookies. Mmmmm frosting. Maybe I should go back and paint another cupcake or two. It … Read more
In my mind’s eye, when I think about the imaginary landscapes I want to paint, they almost always look like a variation of these paintings: white skies, low horizon, dark land, sometimes a strand of bright color in between. I’m very compelled by this basic structure. Is it interesting enough for an entire series of paintings? … Read more
Last week I bought some plaster of paris, mixed it with pva glue, and smeared it on some canvases. Today I picked up the canvas I had made the bumpiest, and decided to paint this Edinburgh street scene on it. This was a challenging task – the surface was so uneven, I had trouble creating … Read more
I love these tiny little 10x15cm canvases – I can easily paint several of them in a day. Right now I seem to be a little obsessed with Plockton, a Scottish Highland town we recently visited. (Yesterday I wrote about our trip to Plockton on my travel blog.) Going back through the dozens of photos … Read more
Less than a week to go in the month, and then I will probably go back to painting larger pieces. So what do I want to create in these last few days? I decided I need to push myself a little more – to make images that are unexpected, not my usual creations. One way … Read more
It’s the last week of AEDM already! I’ve been having so much fun, playing around with new subject matters and styles, interacting with the other participants. Thank you so much for all your insightful and supportive comments. I’m energized going into this week, and I hope to come up with some interesting paintings to share … Read more
Short on time today so just a quick little oil sketch of Edinburgh (10x15cm). That’s supposed to be the castle over on the left, and Princes Street on the right. Not my best work! That’s OK – if you’re not having some ups and downs during Art Every Day Month, you’re doing it wrong. Yesterday … Read more