#158 Cucumber End

Salad for tea and this is whats left of the cucumber. Also dont forget this is your last chance to enter my competition to suggest an object and win a painting! There are some great suggestions on there and I have over 50 subjects to consider tomorrow. You have until I wake up in the morning (usually around 8 -9 BST!) to add more objects! Watercolour and pencil 19cm x14cm click here to bid.

#157 Wishbone

Make a wish! Watercolour and pencil 14cm x9cm click here to bid.

#156 Monkey Balm

'Thank you Nicky for this little pot of monkey balm' *said a little through gritted teeth* it is covered in tiny thin red stripes, the writing is all Thai (I have made my best effort at copying the text perfectly ) but apart from its painterly complexities its great stuff. Its like tiger balm, if you have ever used that, and I applied some to my temples after driving home up the M5 from Bristol. I was at Bristol City College to give a talk (two talks in fact, niether of which I could keep within the time limit!) to the Art and Design students about Dan Young, Daily. A big thank you to Nicky for inviting me (and the monkey balm) and to everyone else for listening to my stories about loft insulation and cowboys. Watercolour and pencil 14cm x 9cm click here to bid.

Don't forget to enter the competition and suggest an object!

#155 Razor

I paint more often than I shave, its official, I am lucky if I shave twice a week whereas I paint at least seven pictures a week. I must take inspiration from myself and try to shave a bit more often, if not everyday. I am cleanshaven now hence todays painting. Watercolour and pencil 19cm x14cm click here to bid.


Don't forget to enter the competition and suggest an object!

#154 Rubber (Eraser)

Its not often I translate the title of these paintings but I am aware of a few of you across the pond. I wouldn't want you to spit out your morning coffee if you thought I had painted a rubber! I haven't I have painted an Eraser. If you are on this side of the Atlantic yes, I have painted a rubber. and if you are on the other side of the english channel I have painted une gomme! I could carry on but I wont....watercolour and pencil 14cm x 9cm click here to bid.

#153 Chocolate Sandwich Biscuit

Ahhhh biscuits on a sunday afternoon does it get better...well yes it does! Its competition time click here to enter (you have to be on facebook). Simply suggest an object for me to paint by next Friday in the discussion thread, and I will paint the winner on Saturday the 1st of May.Oh and the winner will also win the painting! Good luck to one and all!

Watercolour and pencil 19cm 14cm . Click here to bid.

#152 Daffodil Flower

I painted a bulb from this batch of daffodils twice before, once in oil paint and once in watercolour to remind myself to plant them..well I did and now they have repaid me with their blooms! It is also by far the best object of the day as we brought home a huge bunch of them from the allotment. Watercolour and pencil 29cm x19cm click here to bid.

#151 Toy Tiger

Grrrrrrrrrrr! Watercolour and pencil 19cm x 14cm. Click here to bid.

#150 A Broken Stick of Charcoal

I spent a rather enjoyable glass of red wine at the Jerwood Drawing Prize private view at the Summerfield Gallery at work this evening. So I felt it only right I paint/draw a drawing related item, so I did. Watercolour and pencil 14cm x 9cm click here to bid.

#149 Olives

We had a gorgeous crab salad this evening the crab even came from Cromer which is just down the road from where I grew up in Norfolk :). These Olives probably didn't come from Cromer. Watercolour and pencil 19cm x 14cm click here to bid.

#148 Humbug

'Hang on a minute hes already done a humbug this year' I hear you all cry..and yes I did paint what I had always thought to be humbug a few weeks ago. I was and have been mistaken. It was an everton mint. I feel like a fool and as penance have painted this 'bona fide' Humbug for all. So please accept my humble apologies for all the confusion and upset this may have caused. Watercolour and pencil 14cm x9cm click here to bid.

#147 Cue Chalk

Day #147 and in honour of Steve Davis playing in his 30th World Championship Snooker tournament at the Crucible, I have painted this piece of cue chalk. I can even remember watching him make the first televised 147 break may years ago. Ohhhh I feel like I have appeased the daily painting gods today! Watercolour and Pencil 14cm x 9cm. Click here to bid.

#146 Roman Snail Shell

This is, I believe, is a Roman snail shell brought to the cotswolds by the ..well..Romans (not this one but the species!). Thay are huge and luckily not found in either our garden or our allotment. Watercolour and pencil 19cm x 14cm. Click here to bid.

#145 Tulip

I felt I had to paint one of our orange tulips before they go over for the year. I also painted them around this time last year . Watercolour and pencil 29cm x19cm click here to bid.

#144 Tiny Mug

Following up on last nights tiny spanner here is a tiny personalised mug it is only just bigger than a centimetre high. Super for espresso! Watercolour and pencil 14cm x9cm. Click here to bid.

#143 Tiny Spanner

I haven't used this today...too small. watercolour and pencil 14cm x9cm. Click here to bid.

#142 Screwdriver Bit

A good topical painting today, I have spent the day placing and hanging the Jerwood Drawing Pize with m'colleague Mark Unsworth. It is one of the events in the Fine Art Technician calender (thats what my 'real' job is when I am not daily painting!) that I have always looked forward to over the last ten years. We used a screwdriver bit not dissimilar to this one a lot today, as you can imagine when hanging 60 + pictures. Nearly done though! Watercolour and pencil 14cm x 9cm click here to bid.

#141 Pencil Sharpenings

My pencil needed sharpening...so I sharpened it....then drew the sharpenings. Watercolour and pencil 19cm x 14cm click here to bid.

#140 Mapping Pin

This was one of those moments you have to just go with; I couldnt settle on an object to paint this evening so I sat down in the studio and there (with nothing else around it), on the little platform I use to put the victims..umm I mean objects, was this little map pin. So, I painted it. Watercolour and pencil 14cm x9cm click here to bid.

#139 Coffee Machine Handle

It was this morning that I realised that, apart from a handful of days, I have used this everyday of this daily painting project, making at least one cup of sweet, strong espresso coffee using my fantastic little coffee machine. I have spotted a few objects that may have been used every day this weekend watch out for more of them! watercolour and pencil 29cm x19cm click here to bid.

Right then, to the important business of the prize draw for members of my facebook page to win the painting of a pack of post-it notes from day #110, I assigned numbers to you all and used a random number generator from the interweb, and the winner is.........Irene Weller..Congratulations to you!! More competitions coming up, I thouroughly enjoyed that one!

#138 Three Seeds

One runner bean seed, one squash seed and one corgette seed. Debbie sowed these and I painted them. Watercolour and pencil 19cm x14cm click here to bid.

Also is very exciting that tomorrow is the big prize draw for all you facebook fans if you havent joined yet the 'Dan Young Facebook Page' join via the link on the right. I will make the draw tomorrow evening before I paint so, the winner will be revealed in tomorrows post.

Good luck everyone!

#137 Guitar Tuner

Now this might not be the most interesting object I have painted but this project isn't just about interesting objects..oh no its also about things I use during the day of the painting. Today I have tuned my guitar! The slightly flat f you see recorded here is from me whistling into it. Watercolour and pencil 19cm x14cm click here to bid.

#136 Mirror Plate

I was wondering what to paint today and then realised I had unscrewed 80 of these today from the backs of 40 photographs at work today. I have 20 more left to do tomorrow, next week I will be screwing on about the same amount to another set of picture frames. Next week I will make sure I have the right size screw bit for my electric drill driver so I dont have to do it by hand. Watercolour and pencil 14cm x 9cm click here to bid.

#135 (#500) Two Watercolour Palettes

500 days 500 paintings...well 501 paintings..at least..and I did some others along the way. Anyway to commemorate the 500th day I have painted two pictures; above you can see the watercolour painting (continuing this years series) and below is the oil version of the same thing as a nod to last years oil paintings. So, click here to bid on the watercolour and here for the oil painting. and heres to 500 more!!

#134 (#499) Drawing Board Clip

These are great little clips for clipping your paper to your drawing board, however I dont use them for that I use this one to hold the piece of white paper down that all the objects sit on while I paint them. That is, until I paint a cake and it leaves a greasy stain. I now need to go into my rejuvination chamber for twelve hours in preparation for tomorrow's double painting celebration night! In case you haven't heard, tomorrow marks the 500th day of me making a painting a day so, I am going to paint two pictures of the same object. One of them in watercolour (like this one!) and the other like last years oil paintings. Just need to select the right object....Watercolour and pencil 14cm x9cm click here to bid.

#133 A Hinge

I always seem to be sorting the studio out at the minute, I hope it isn't a case of procrastination....anyway, I stumbled across this hinge, not sure why I bought it but I did ages ago and it found its way into a strange box of odds and ends with hinges, knobs, picture hooks, screws etc. You know the kind of box I mean most poeple have one I seem to have about 14! watercolour and pencil 14cm x9cm click here to bid.

#132 Half an Easter Egg

Rather fortuitously today is Easter Sunday and we get to eat chocolate eggs and chocolate eggs come in two halves Here is one half although I didnt quite manage to keep it in one piece. Happy Easter. Watercolour and pencil 29cm x 19cm click here to bid.

#131 Wing Nut

I have spent most the afternoon clearing the studio out and when I came to paint this evening there was this wing nut sitting on an empty shelf, almost waiting to be painted. watercolour and pencil 14cm x 9cm click here to bid.

#130 Hot Cross Bun

I have eaten two symbolic objects that relate to good friday; we had fish for tea and I spent most of the afternoon laughing, drinking coffee and eating hot cross buns. I plumped for the hot cross bun it feels like a tradition now I painted one last year and, hopefully, I will paint one next year too. watercolour and pencil 29cm x19cm click here to bid.

#129 My Wallet

Its Maundy Thursday and I feel like a themed painting! Today is the day of the last supper and has many customs throughout the world, here in the UK the reigning Monarch gives 'maundy money' in red or white purse to deserving senior citizens, one man and one woman for each year of the soveriegns life (watch out Ma'am this could add up and be quite expensive and time consuming!). Regular followers may have noticed that I am not the Queen and the keen observers amongst you will also notice my purse (or wallet as I prefer to call it) isn't red or white. But never let the facts get in the way of a good painting! I painted the same wallet last year on day #333 but this time its open! I didn't make a note of how much was in it last time I painted which is a shame, this time there is seven pounds and fifty pence inside it and coincedently thats the starting price for the auction. Which I have just realised is half normal price! Watercolour and pencil 29cm x19cm click here to bid.