Daily Painting by Carol Marine - Book review of the 2nd of 3 new art books

 The second of three art books I bought to kick of the new year is one I have been considering buying for a while. It is one which came out a while after I had begun to follow the authors 'Daily Paintings'. These daily paintings were quite popular 2 to 3 years ago as urban sketching is today, and served to motivate artists to work on their craft regularly.

 During the time that the author was doing the paintings that would eventually lead to this book I did a series of daily paintings over a period of 3 months. That is approximately 90 days, during which I painted a small picture each day in Acrylic. The result was impressive to myself, both in sheer output as well as in the working out of techniques in which I had been less confident or accomplished. I tried out different still life perspectives, played with different methods of painting trees, added shadow in a wide variety of dark colours. Learned that there is virtually never a reason to use green in a shadow other than in foliage or water, and generally became confident turning up the contrast in my compositions.

  I learned a lot from this period of studio work and it led naturally into a phase in which I was able to finish quite a large number of abandoned canvases on my shelves. Some of these have become favorite pieces of mine.

As a result of my experience with daily painting I was interested in reading about the author's experience and lessons learned. I have been reading the book less as a how to art book and more as a biographical story. She has several interesting tips and approaches I hadn't considered including her intricate and shared website, an excellent platform for sales- something I have yet to master.

One of the things I find appealing about this small book is the number of pictures, mostly hers but also from other contributing artists. They give a good idea not only what can be accomplished in a single day, but also of how to portray everyday subjects such as food or indoor areas in an interesting and attractive way.

   Some of the choices are immensely simple, such as the bowl of eggs while others, the cat or armchair, include more detail. I enjoy the mix, and in the simple ones- which are generally hers, I appreciate the use of shadow as a compositional element.


   Since my daily painting series I have been painting virtually everyday. I will sometimes take weekend days off although not always. It does seem to actually make a significant difference in both the quality and fluidity of my work.And I can recommend it to any artist. The book is an interesting jumping off point for anyone wanting to create a more regular creative routine or as the story of another artist's experience for those just wanting a little distraction and inspiration. I can recommend it.

 You can find this book on Amazon:
- Daily Painting- Carol Marine

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