Thursday, January 30, 2014

Day 30 of 30 in 30 Painting Challenge: Animals: "Elephant Paintings"

Original 8x10 Pastel Painting For Sale - "Elephant Paintings" : $50.00+ $6.95 Shipping and  Handling
Hello Everyone!

It's January 30th, 2014 and Day 30 of the January Leslie Saeta 30 Paintings in 30 Days Painting Challenge, and you know what that means . . . Yup! It's the last and final Day of Leslie Saeta's January, 2014 Painting Challenge! Yaaaaaaaaaay! Hoooooooraaaaay! And Yipppppppeeeee! I did it! 30 entire paintings in 30 days! But I have to be honest with you, although it's been a lot of fun, it's also been so difficult! I'm amazed that I was able to find the time to create 30 Paintings!: In between the laundy, the dishes, cleaning my little girls bedrooms, helping my little girls with their homework, cooking, and still having family time, I still managed to find some time to paint! Amazing! Balancing family life with my art life has been the most difficult part of the challenge. There just never seemed to be enough time. But whew! The challenge is finally over and I can finally take a break, relax, and enjoy my family! Yay!

Today's painting is titled "Elephant Paintings." This painting was inspired by an email sent to me by a fellow artist named Joan Princing who purchased one of my paintings. In the email she sent me, she expressed how much she loved the painting when it arrived, and also why she loved it so much. The painting that she purchased was of a baby and mother elephant whose trunks interlocked, both holding a leaf in between them. She explained that when her daughter was younger, the two of them would often go to the zoo. During one of their visits Joan purchased a t-shirt which featured an elephant's painting (that is, a t-shirt painted by an elephant). When Joan got home from the zoo with her daughter, she affixed that particular t-shirt to a peice of cardboard and framed it as art. The painting that she purchased from me, "Baby and Mother Elephant", now hangs beside that particular elephant's painting.

When I read Joan's story I was fascinated by it in many ways. I wondered "Wow! An elephant painting? That is amazing! I would love to see it!" So I went online and ran a search on it,and pulled up images, video clips and articles about and of elephants painting. And I saw elephants painting flowers, and trees . . . And some elephants in the photos I saw, actually even painted elephants!--That is, paintings of themselves! So cool!

But how do they do it? Well according to the articles that I read, elephants don't actually know what they are painting. They just take cues from their trainers who stand closely and nearby to the elephant, pulling on his ear. If the trainer wants the elephant to paint up, the trainer gently tugs the elephants ear upward, if down, then downward, if left, then leftward . . . you get the idea, right? Also the trainer assists in changing and cleaning the brushes. The elephant has no part in it. So that's the mystery solved. But elephants are still amazing!

If you look closely in today's painting, you can see the trainer, tugging on the little elephants ear, as the elephant takes direction from his trainer, which type of stroke to make next. Pretty cool 'eh?

Well, my friends, that's all for now from SamDoum Art! Thanks so much to all of you who continue to visit my blog! I really appreciate it! Take care and God bless!

'Til later fellow art lovers!
-SamDoum

A Look Back on the 30 Day Painting Challenge: Animals

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Day 29 of 30 in 30 Painting Challenge: Animals: "Elegant Horse"

Original 8x10 Pastel Painting For Sale - "Elegant Horse" : $50.00+ $6.95 Shipping and  Handling
Hello everyone!

Its Day 29 of the Leslie Saeta January 30 Paintings in 30 Days Painting Challenge and I have my new 29th animal painting for you today! This one is of a tanish-brown elegant horse whose photo I found online. She's such a beautiful little horse, so I just had to paint her picture!

Tomorrow will  be the last day of the challenge! Can you believe it? After tomorrow, I, and all of the something of about maybe 400 other artist who've participated, will have completed 30 paintings in 30 days non stop! So exciting! We did it again!

This is only my second Leslie Saeta Challenge, but I do plan to keep doing them because the more I paint, the  better I continue to grow, as and artist. My father was telling me the day before yesterday that he could see that my painting skills have grown, and I owe that to Leslie Saeta because painting everyday has allowed me to develop my skills even more. And as they say, practice makes perfect!

Anyway, that said, I just wanted to thank all of you who have supported SamDoum Art. Whether you continue to visit my blog just to check up on whats going on with SamDoum Art, whether you leave comments in the comments section of this blog or Facebook, or whether you have "liked" any of my paintings on Facebook, I just want to let you know how much I appreciate you! Thanks so much for helping me to get the word out about SamDoum Art! Please continue to "like", "share", and "comment"! Thanks so much!

Well, that's all for now from SamDoum Art! Take care and God bless!

'Til later fellow art lovers!
-SamDoum

A Look Back on the 30 Day Painting Challenge: Animals
 
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