Mean Sky - A Work in Progress

For a change I decided to paint in acrylic instead of in watercolour. The differences between the two water based paints never fails to amaze me.

With watercolour the paint continues to flow across the paper when applied wet on wet creating many interesting "accidents", while with the acrylics you have to place the paint where you want it to be and use either your brush or a palette knife to move it across the canvas, it doesn't move on its own.















The sky, water and distant shoreline were painted in using various mixtures of French ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson and white.

Alizarin crimson, Hansa yellow and and white were used to create the last traces of the setting sun and the reflections on the water.

Next the foreground land and trees were been drawn in and will be painted at a later date.

Miniature Show Opens at Sasquatch Art Centre Today

Today is the opening for the "On the Small Side" Miniature Art Show and Sale, at the Sasquatch Art Center, 12 First Street, in Keene, Ontario from 1-6pm.

If you get the chance please come out and meet the artists and enjoy some light refreshments.

The show has a little of everything from abstract, impressionism, through to realism, and in oils, acrylic, watercolour, graphite pencil, and Chinese brush painting.

I have fifteen pieces on exhibit there at present and the show runs from today through until 26 June 2010.

Sunburst is an original 3" x 4-3/4” framed, watercolour available for $75.00.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and enjoy the artwork.

Gathering Storm - A Work in Progress

With living on top of a hill I am fortunate to be able to enjoy the many changing skies.

With this painting I have captured the approaching storm clouds. I just have to decide if I will have the storm coming across the lake or land.














I will post this once I have made my decision; now have to go and help set up the "On the Small Side" Art Show and Sale at the Sasquatch Art Centre, in Keene.

Evening Percheron

This is a small 2" x 3-3/4" watercolour painting I started at the All About Horses Show last year.











I am working on a number of small pieces that I have partially finished as I slowly start to get things ready for the Miniature Show at the Sasquatch Art Centre in Keene.

I will be framing this one later today and it will be available for $65.00.

Autumn Shadows - A Work in Progress

I liked the effect that I had gotten yesterday with the three primary colours of cobalt blue, permanent rose and aureolin that I decided to try another painting using them again today.

This time I wanted to see the kind of results I would get with an autumn scene as opposed to using my regular primary colours.












I still need to finish a few rocks in this piece as well, but the colours seem to allow the illusion of more depth into the painting.

I will post this painting once I have finished it at a later date.

Mountain Range - A Work in Progress

This is my first attempt at painting mountains.

I have added a new colour into my palette, permanent rose. When used with cobalt blue and aureolin, I find that these colours seem to be cleaner and add more "light" into the painting.












I will post this painting once I have finished the rocks and added a little more detail into the water.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork and I hope you will return often.

Buckhorn Artists' Group Blog - Among Friends Show

If you go to the Buckhorn Artists' Group blog you can see the daily results of the about what happened during the Among Friends Art Show and Sale.

OSWOA - Landscape

Today is the final day of the Art Show at St. Matthew's Church in Buckhorn and it was once again a warm and sunny day.

Although the crowds were smaller today than they had been on the previous two days, we still had a good turnout.

I worked on various small pieces today which I will post at a later date once I feel they are completed.

Along the Road

Another four original paintings have sold from Bonny Windover and Susan Sydney, as well as a number of smaller items from Joanne Connell Northey and Diane Collins.













Peaceful Day 1 SOLD

I would like to thank Miss Ariana Bailey of Uxbridge, Ontario on her purchase of Quiet 4 (see yesterday's posting) and Mrs. Marilyn Bailey of Toronto, Ontario on her purchase of Wary (see posting on 12 May 2010).













New Season

If you would like more information about OSWOA please go to my post on 12 March 2010.

The OSWOA shown here are all original watercolour paintings using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on either 140lb. or 300lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. They are priced at $40.00 each and sold unframed.

ACEO - Quiet 3-4

Today I am back at the Among Friends Art Show and Sale and working on a number of ACEO as demonstration pieces. It helps to pass the time and they are easy to leave when you have to speak with people about your work.

Helen Sheppard sold an original painting, and a number of smaller items from JoAnne Connell Northey, Lorraine Ryan and Diane Collins sold as well.

On  each of these pieces I dropped alizarin crimson, French ultramarine blue and raw sienna into the background of the painting and let it dry.

Then I painted into the area where I would place the rocks using a mixture of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna.

Using a palette knife I created the rock shapes and let them dry.

Quiet 3

The trees were painted  using French ultramarine blue and raw sienna.

A darker mix of the same colours was used for the tree reflections.

The ACEO shown here are all original watercolour paintings using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. They are priced at $20.00 each and sold unframed.

Quiet 4 SOLD

If you would like more information about ACEO please go to my post on 11 March 2010.

22nd Annual Among Friends Art Show and Sale

Today was the opening of our show and we were greeted with a warm and sunny day. It was nice to have the crowds come out to visit our show and I spent most of the day speaking with people and demonstrating.

This is one of the paintings I was working on when we had an unexpected and pleasant surprise. One of the photographers from SNAP magazine came in to cover our show and took a number of pictures.















Inviting Path

So far four original paintings have sold from Irene Smith, Barbara McGregor and JoAnne Connell Northey, as well as a number of smaller items from Lorraine Ryan and Diane Collins.

The hours for our show are:
22 May 10 - 9:00am - 5:00pm
23 May 10 - 12:00pm - 5:00pm
24 May 10 - 10:00am - 5:00pm

I am looking forward to tomorrow.

Winter Moon - A Work in Progress

A small painting that I am experimenting with on using glazes.

It still needs a lot of work, the moon is far too large but when I have more time I will see what I can do to shrink it down using layers of glaze to give it a haloed effect.

Now I have to finish loading the car with my paintings. Today I am going to hang my artwork at St. Matthew's Church in Buckhorn for the Among Friends Art Show which opens tomorrow.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Turnabout - A Work in Progress

I decided to work on this painting which I found in the same box as yesterday's posting.

The final layer of colour was added to the leaves.














With a dark of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and a touch of alizarin crimson another section of markings on the birch have been blocked in and some are completed. A few more of the smaller branches were added. Feather details have been lightly added to the tail and lower part of the wings.

I will leave this painting for now as I have to go up to Buckhorn to help set up the panels for the upcoming Among Friends Art Show and Sale which will be held this weekend.

Homeward Bound - A Work in Progress

This is another painting I came across while going through some boxes that had been packed away.

Rigging lines have been added, and some of the details to the cabin and boat.












The dark wave patterns were started, but I decided to give more thought to their placement before going any further.

I will post this painting once more work on it has been completed.

Aurora - A Work in Progress

I enjoy seeing the Northern Lights even though here in the Kawarthas, they are not very brightly coloured. I still find them fascinating and will watch them for as long as they light up the sky.

For this painting the sky was painted in using a mixture of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna, leaving some areas white.

The paper was left to dry completely, then washes of alizarin crimson and raw sienna were painted into the sky for the colours I see in the skies here and once again the painting was left to dry completely.

With a mixture of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and a touch of alizarin crimson for a dark I started painting in the one of the more detailed treetops.

I will post this painting at a later date when I have more completed on it.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and enjoy the artwork. I hope you will return often.

Birches at Dawn - A Work in Progress

The birch trees were masked out to keep the paper white.

The sky has been painted in with a base against the horizon line of raw and burnt sienna. The open area of sky with Antwerp blue, the clouds are a mixture of alizarin crimson, Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue and a touch of burnt sienna.

The distant shoreline was painted with a slightly darker mix of the cloud colour. Then the painting was set aside to dry.












Once the paper was completely dry the masking fluid was removed from the birch trees.

They have been washed with the colours from the sky and some of the markings and smaller branches have been added were added using the same mixture that was used in the shoreline.

I will post this painting again at a later date once I have painted in the snow covered lake.

Buckhorn Artists' Group Blog - Heather Grant

Today I posted Heather Grant's biography and a piece of her artwork to the Buckhorn Artists' Group blog.

Roses and Rose Cascade - Two Works in Progress

The roses had been masked out first to protect the whites.

Various mixtures of Antwerp blue and French ultramarine blue and greens made by using the two blues and raw sienna were set in small containers.

A dark was mixed of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson and set aside.

Rose Cascade

The paper was wet and the blue mixtures and green mixtures were poured over the entire background and rolled around. As the paper started to dry and there is more control over the paint the dark mixture was poured mainly around the flowers and then splattered over some areas.

The paintings were then set aside to allow the background to dry completely before the masking fluid was removed.

Using a wash of alizarin the roses that were going to be either pink or red had the first layers of colour applied.

Raw sienna was used on the orange or yellow roses as a base layer.

On the white rose a pale wash of French ultramarine blue was used to indicate where the darkest shadow would fall across the petals of the rose.

Roses

Up to the first three layers of colour have been applied to some of the rose petals.

Tranquil Afternoon - A Work in Progress

While going through some boxes I came across a number of partially finished paintings.

This one had the sky, distant shoreline and water completed. The under painting on the rocks and the closer trees had been completed.

I finished the trees and added some dead tree trunks in among the trees on the island to complete that part of the painting.















Dark shadows and some definition were added to the rocks, giving them shape. Once the painting had dried I removed the masking fluid from the water lilies.

It is fitting that with the Art of the Turtle Show being held tonight that I work on a painting with water which would be an ideal habitat for turtles.

The show was well attended with all paintings meeting or exceeding the reserve price and the highest price paid in the live auction was $480.00.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and look at the artwork.

Frozen Birches - A Work in Progress

This is an interesting exercise using a monochrome for the background and painting in the negative.

Using only Antwerp blue the entire background area with the exception of the center tree was painted with a light wash.

A little more pigment was added to the wash and the next layer was painted leaving the original tree as white paper and the next two closest trees with just the original wash.

Each layer was built up by adding a little more pigment to the wash to darken it and leaving a few more trees.

Each layer leaves the original trees untouched and leaving smaller and darker trees.

The painting was left to dry and using pure pigment with a small amount of water the "whip" marks were painted into the background birch trees as well as the smaller branches on the trees.

I will post this piece at a later date as more of it is completed.

Wary

This is a little watercolour plein air painting I did while watching my horses out in the field.

My Quarter horse mare, Sunsets L'il Eclipse kept approaching to see what I was doing. She would stand a short distance away watching me, then snort, turn and trot away with her tail bannered.

I will frame this painting later today. It is available for $65.00. SOLD

Windblown Poppies - A Work in Progress

Today was the last meeting of the Buckhorn Painters Group until September. This was one of the paintings I worked on while I was there.

The poppies had been drawn onto the paper and then masked out.

Once the masking fluid was dry the soft background was created by wetting the paper and then pouring in a medium mixture of raw sienna and rolling it around on the paper to cover the area behind the masked out poppies and leaving some areas of white showing.

While the paper was gradually drying a green of raw sienna and Antwerp blue was poured into the middle of the cluster of poppies. Using a flat brush it was moved outwards from the poppies to give the impression of foliage.

As the paper was drying French ultramarine blue was added to darken the green mix and a few more leaves were painted into the lighter green with a little more detail to give some definition to the poppy leaves. The background is now completed and the painting was set aside to dry completely before removing the masking fluid.

Each petal is painted in stages. The base colour is a wash of alizarin crimson and the areas where the bright white highlight will be is left completely without paint, allowing the paper to be my white.










A little more alizarin crimson is added to the wash to darken the colour slightly and the next layer of colour is applied leaving the palest areas with just the base wash of colour. To the third layer of paint a small amount of cadmium red is added to the alizarin crimson which seems to give a richer more vibrant colour. More cadmium red is added to the colour mix and another layer of colour is applied.

A little bit of the green mix is glazed over the red and is painted in the areas where the darkest colour will be located and to show some of the reflected greens from the background colour. Some of the highlights are painted in with cadmium yellow to give a soft golden glow.

A very dark purple mixture of French ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson and burnt sienna is used for the dark center of the poppy.

The stems and buds are painted using various greens made from mixtures of Antwerp blue, raw sienna and French ultramarine blue.

The poppies are in various stages of completion as layers of wash are gradually built up on each petal and stalk.

As I finish more of the flowers I will post this to the blog.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my artwork and I hope you will return often.

OSWOA - Experimenting with Templates

For this piece make a wash of raw sienna and another of alizarin crimson. Pour the colours onto the paper and roll it around to blend slightly in some areas. Then set the painting aside to dry.

While waiting for the paint to dry cut a template from a piece of paper in a ragged shape. Place it onto the dry painting and holding it in place paint around it using various shades of green and add some blues and reds for interest. Once the background has been finished set aside the template and it can be used again.

Mix together raw sienna and alizarin crimson, with a touch of burnt sienna. Gradually paint in the petals on the flower to give them shape.

Add a little more burnt sienna to the mixture and paint the shadow of the trumpet. Using pure burnt sienna paint in the pistol, and add a little of the greens to indicate the stamen around it.














Hibiscus

Using some of the green mixtures make two or three detailed leaves around the remaining yellow and peach shapes.

If you would like more information about OSWOA please go to my post on 12 March 2010.

Hibiscus is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is available for $30.00 and sold unframed. SOLD

ACEO - Midnight 1-4

Nothing like going to the barn first thing in the morning with the temperature being  24F (-4C) and having a light dusting of snow on the ground in May to darken your mood.

Especially after all the nice weather we have been having and getting a lot of my plants out into the ground which now have to be covered to try and keep them alive.

Midnight 1

So today I decided to work on night scenes, which I usually enjoy doing and have plans to do more.

I  as before I worked on all four pieces at the same time beginning with the sky, using French ultramarine blue and a touch of burnt sienna.

As I started into the water at the bottom of the paintings I added Antwerp blue into the grey mix.

Midnight 2

With a slightly darker grey mixture I started painting in the back ground trees and distant shoreline.

Gradually darkening the colours as I work closer to the foreground and adding more detail.

I then added a wash of pure Antwerp blue into the water to slightly change the colour into a green grey and make it look more like water.

Midnight 3

If you would like more information about ACEO please go to my post on 11 March 2010.

The ACEO shown here are all original watercolour paintings using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint 300lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. They are priced at $20.00 each and sold unframed.



Midnight 4

Rhythm

It's the 8th of May and it is snowing. I have brought all my plants that haven't been put in the ground inside the front porch, and covered most of the ones outside that have been planted.

Since the weather is making it too miserable to do very much outside I may as well turn on the music and play with colour like I did yesterday. With this one I am using alizarin crimson, Antwerp blue and raw sienna on wet paper and allowed the colours to mix together on their own.









This original 4" x 9-1/4” framed watercolour is available for $165.00.

Thank you to returning collectors Ling and Olsen Choi of the Franklin House Inn, Bethany, Ontario on their selection of this Spring Thaw (see posting on18 March 2010).

Harmony

Whenever I find myself getting too tight in my painting it is time to take a piece of watercolour paper and play with colour.

So while waiting for a client to bring in some artwork to have framed I decided to use three colours: Antwerp blue, raw sienna and alizarin crimson.









I dropped water onto the paper in some areas leaving it dry in others and brushed in paint. I allowed the colours to blend on their own creating an interesting effect.

This original 4" x 9-1/4” framed watercolour is available for $165.00.

Setting Sun

This is an original 5-1/2" x 7-1/4” framed watercolour available for $95.00. SOLD

It is nice to just sit back, relax and watch the sun go down.















It allows you to enjoy the beauty of nature and fills you with a sense of peace and tranquility at the end of a busy day.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Carved Leather Flower Plate

This is a companion piece to the one I had posted yesterday. There had originally been four of them but I have sold the one with the pine tree and moon and the cabin in the winter a number of years ago. I will have to look for the photographs of those plates.

















This is a leather hand carved, laced and painted 10" diameter plate for $150.00. It will be at the show I do with the Buckhorn Artists' Group on the Victoria Day Weekend.

Carved Leather Leaf Plate

This is a leather hand carved, laced and painted 10" diameter plate which I did many years ago and have recently found again.

It is one of the many things I would like to get back into doing again. Perhaps one day when I find more time.


















I will be exhibiting this piece at our 22nd Annual Among Friends Show on the Victoria Day Weekend at St, Matthew's Church in Buckhorn, Ontario.

This carved plate will be offered at $150.00.

Buckhorn Artists' Group Blog - Penny Little

Today I posted Penny Little's biography and two pieces of her artwork to the Buckhorn Artists' Group blog.

If you have been following the postings to the blog you will have already seen the painting she is submitting to the Art of the Turtle show to be held on 14 May 10.

Confirmed Shows for 2010 - May

This is a listing of confirmed shows that I will be exhibiting my artwork at this year. I will update the list as more shows are added.

Showplace Performance Centre, Peterborough, Ont.
30 Mar - 04 May Solo Show

Peterborough Public Library, Peterborough, Ont.
Turtles
14 May The Art of the Turtle

St. Matthews Church, Buckhorn, Ont
Buckhorn Artists' Group
22-24 May 22nd Annual Among Friends Art Show
07-15 Aug 20th Annual Shades of Summer Art Show

Sasquatch Art Center, 12 First St., Keene, Ont.
30 May - 26 Jun On the Small Side Miniature Art Show and Sale
Opening Reception 30 May 10 from 1-6pm.

Kawartha Artists’ Gallery and Studio, Peterborough, Ont.
06-24 Jun Spring into Summer
Opening Reception 06 Jun 10 from 1-4pm.
11 Jul - 05 Aug People, Places and Things
Opening Reception 11 Jul 10 from 1-4pm.
05-23 Sep Driven to Abstraction
Opening Reception 05 Sep 10 from 1-4pm.
24 Oct – 11 Nov Outdoor Painters Show
Opening Reception 24 Oct 10 from 1-4pm.
05-22 Dec & 04-13 Jan 11 Christmas Show
Opening Reception 05 Dec 10 from 1-4pm.

Art in the Garden, Peterborough, Ont.
Garden Route
25-26 Jun Griffin's Greenhouses, 3026 Lakefield Rd., Peterborough, Ont.

Settlers' Village, Bobcaygeon, Ont.
09-11 Jul Bobcaygeon Fine Arts Festival

Kingston Kennel Club Show, Kingston, Ont.
24-25 Jul

The Lindsay Gallery, Lindsay, Ont.
23 Nov - 18 Dec Christmas Show
Opening Reception 25 Nov from 7-8:30pm.

I look forward to seeing you at some of these shows.

Workshop with Margaret Roseman - Landscape

Today was the final day of the workshop with Margaret Roseman.

For the first part of the morning we worked on thumbnail sketches and tried different values on the same sketch to see which one would be more effective.

We worked on the contrast in our sketches, until we had a couple of workable sketches for the basis of our landscape paintings.

Winter Bridge 1

The first was a winter scene of a bridge, and the second of a sunset on a lake. I will post both of them when they are finished.

I worked on two different paintings.













Peaceful Evening 1

I will post each of these paintings at a later date once they are completed.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and look at the artwork. I hope you will return often.