Multiple day painting challenges are popular among PSWC Members. Here is a series of challenges for 2023.
February 19th – 28th, 2023: Portraits with a Twist! 10-day challenge- Create a portrait in a realistic or impressionist style, then twist it up in the abstract style. Register below for the February Challenge. Congratulations to all who completed the challenge and our drawing winners: Tamra Sanchez, DuAnn Wright and Renee Carter!
April 16th – 25th, 2023: Palette Play 10-day challenge- Using an analogous or monochromatic color palette plus one pop of color, try painting subjects you don’t normally paint like a building, an old truck, a windowsill. Congratulations to everyone who stuck with the challenge and our winners Karen Glancy, Teresa Steinbach-Garcia and Francesca Droll!
July 16th – 25th, 2023: Lazy Nights of Summer 10-day challenge- Nocturns and deep shadows will be the challenge for this month. From neon signs to fireflies, lots of life happens when the sun sets.
October 1st-21st, 2023: 21N21– The big challenge, 21 paintings in 21 days. Great way to get some holiday gifts done or ready to sell. You may even create the painting you enter in MOOS in 2024!
Prizes: 3 $100 prizes chosen at random from pool of artists who entered every day.
Here are the rules:
- Members Only
- Any subject
- Any size – though we recommend 6”x6” to 9”x12” for the sake of speed
- Mostly pastels
- Must post every day to be entered into prize-drawing
- Quick studies are OK
- New work only
Posting Rules:
- Please post on our PSWC Facebook Page with a commentary about the painting (a paragraph is plenty)
- Include Hashtag at end of post #PSWC10in10 or #PSWC21in21
- You may comment on other artists’ paintings, but this is not a critique. No negative comments.
Suggestions for process:
- Limit painting time- We suggest 30-45 minutes.
- Limit palette- Try a limited palette. Experiment with temperature and hue
- Try different pastels- Work with hard instead of soft or soft pastels instead of hard. Try pastel pencils.
- Change subject matter- If you paint plein air, try a still life or a portrait. Try Abstract.
- Experiment with underpainting- Try a wet underpainting with water or denatured alcohol. One artist in our society underpaints with splashes of ink.