No-Bull Elephant

I have to say that elephants are one of my favorite animals in the animal kingdom.  Majestic, passionate, massive and gentle.  Mostly when I paint, I paint for other folks whether it is for a commission or for a potential sale.  I painted the No-Bull (Noble) Elephant for me.  I am a big fan of Bob Ransley's work and am inspired by the bright colors in his work.  I haven't painted this size in a very long time.  I incorporated most of the colors from my living room rug into the painting.  Below is the W.I.P.
24 x 30
Oil on Canvas
First 20 Minutes:

After 45 minutes:

An hour and 15 minutes:

I think I'm finished.  I'm thinking about it.  I'll take a better picture this week.

Mosaic Hippo

Oil on Fabriano Tela Oil Paper
7 x 9 1/2
This is the first post on my daily painting blog.  The reason I named the blog "Mosaic Hippo" is, well, because this hippo painting is the first painting to kick off this blog.  But I do have to give credit to my friend Cindy who suggested it.  My son Brendan concurred that it was a catchy blog name as opposed to "Donna Weathers' Paint Blog" or "Donna's Daily Paintings".  Yawn ... 

I work full-time, so my painting time is limited.  I try to paint every morning when I get up, and sometimes after I get home from work.  However, it is still not enough time, but it is what I have outside of the weekend, so I decided my lunch hour can be another slot of time to paint!

So, this is my first "lunch hour" painting.  I took on a Daily Challenge from Daily Paintworks. The challenge was posted by blogger artist Mary Douglas.  Basically, you choose your subject (in my case, a photo of a hippo), and limit your strokes to only painting rectangles.  Additionally, you adjust the color of each subsequent rectangle stroke.


I LOVED this challenge, and the results of the Mosaic Hippo.  I told my son how much I enjoyed it, and he educated me with a quote by T.S. Elliot that makes a lot of sense: “When forced to work within a strict framework the imagination is taxed to its utmost – and will produce its richest ideas. Given total freedom the work is likely to sprawl." — T.S. Eliot

I will be doing this challenge again!