Evening Forest 3 - A Work in Progress

I decided to do a winter scene for this evening painting.

The sky has been put in with a little of the sky colour washed over the snow in some areas; leaving most of the foreground snow the white of the paper.

The background of the forest has been washed in and some of the tree trunks are indicated, as well as lifting a few light trunks out for birch trees.

The foreground rocks were put in and then scraped to create texture.

A few grasses and growies were put in place among the rocks and others are shown to be poking out of the snow.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have more of it completed.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Fenceline 1 - A Work in Progress

Many of the working farms in the area still have either snake fence or page wire fences with cedar posts.

Some of the larger horse farms are putting in the post and rail fences which are beautiful, but require a fair amount of maintenance.













I have put the sky in using cobalt blue and left the white of the paper for the cedar posts with a few of the grain lines running down the length of the posts.

Using various combinations of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, raw sienna and cadmium yellow I painted in the grasses of the field in front of the cedar posts.

I used burnt sienna to indicate where the page wire fence will go onto the cedar posts.

This painting will be posted at a later date once it has been completed.

White Water 1 - A Work in Progress

I came across this sketch that I did last year of a small part of Cellar Falls, which is near Magnetawan.  Hopefully, I will find the rest of the sketches as I would like to do a series of paintings of that location.

Perhaps I will be able to go back to Cellar Falls later this year when we return to Magnetawan in October.

I will post this painting at a later date once it is completed.

Anemone - A Work in Progress

Today I did a little more work on this painting (see posts on 24 Feb 2012 and 26 Jul 2012). There is still a lot to do before it is completed and I will post it at a later date.














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

Rock Beauty - A Work in Progress

I have transferred the image on the rock beauty and sponges onto the canvas. (see posting on 21 Mar 12)














I will post this painting at a later date once more of the painting is completed.

Anemone - A Work in Progress

I have transferred the image of the anemone onto the canvas (see posting on 24 Mar 2012). I wanted to start a little of the under wash before I had to leave and join the Outdoor Painters' Group.














I will post this painting at a later time once more of it has been completed.

Squirrelfish and Sea Fan - A Work in Progress

I always enjoy spending time at the CoCo View Resort in Roatan. You can do four boat dives a day and then have unlimited shore diving with many great things to see in their "backyard" including the Prince Albert wreck.














While I was returning from a morning dive and doing my last decomp stop there was a small coral head with a fairly large sea fan on the top of it. Near the base of the sea fan  was a bright orange squirrelfish.  I was attracted by the strong contrast between the fish and the sea fan.

 This is the under painting for the scene and I will post this later once more work had been completed.

Spotted Eagle Rays - A Work in Progress

This is a scene I remember vividly while I was in Bonaire completing my testing for my Advanced Scuba Diver, Computer Nitrox Diver, Underwater Navigation Diver and Deep Diver with Humberto (Pepe) Lazcano Palomo of Adventure Divers.

It was on the last dive for my Deep Diver certification coming up from 150ft (45.7m) that we saw two spotted eagle rays gliding past the closest reef and silhouetted against the more distant reef face.














Of course since I was being tested I wasn't allowed to bring my camera with me and I missed a great opportunity to photograph the rays.

The image was so vivid that I can still close my eyes and remember it. This is the under painting for what I would like to share of seeing the Spotted Eagle Rays.

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

Waterfall - A Work in Progress

This is a painting I started last year (see post on 28 Feb 11).

I wanted to put in the rocks on both sides of the lower section of the waterfall and drew in the places I wanted to have the rocks showing within the waterfall.

I still have to put the darker rocks behind the one wall on the right hand side and the ones on the left side.

I will post this painting at a later date once more of it has been completed.

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

Dixon Cove Wreck II - A Work in Progress

This is the under painting for the second Dixon Cove wreck (see post on 23 April 2012 for the first one).














This is the second of two wrecks grounded close together within the confines of Dixon Cove which is located between French Harbour and Coxen Hole.

Stories about the ships abound; some claim one ship, with a cargo of lumber, ran aground in a storm. The second ship came to assist, and also ended up on the reef. The lumber was off-loaded in a futile attempt to save the ship, and was collected by local residents.

I will probably never know the true story about either of these two wrecks, but perhaps the next time I go to Roatan I may find one of the older residents who does know the truth.

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

OSWOA - Maple Tree 6

This is the last of my summer maple tree paintings using the various greens mixed from the yellows and blues with a different red for the shadows. It was a good exercise in seeing what each of the different colour mixtures can give me.

Later I may do a series of autumn maples with the various reds, yellows and oranges.

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

The OSWOA shown here is an original watercolour paintings using Artist quality Windsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $30.00 and sold unframed.

ACEO - Sunset Reeds 1

This is one of the area's best fishing places and is located at the bottom end of Chemong Lake.

The only drawback is that it is also very weedy and you can lose a lot of lures there.

But then, when the muskies and bass are biting it does make it worthwhile.

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

The ACEO shown here is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Windsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

Carousel Horse II - A Work in Progress

Although there is still no rain in sight, at least it is a little cooler today. I decided to spend some time out in the field watching the horses and worked on another sketch of a Carousel Horse.

The legs need a lot more work but the general idea is there and I will need to do more work on it until I am happy with the final drawing.














I will post it at a later date once more of it is completed.

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

Courting - A Work in Progress

With having the show at The Lindsay Gallery next year with Carol Rutherford entitled "Above and Below the Reef" I decided I had better start working on this painting which will have a pair of my favourite fish in it -seahorses.














The seahorse that is found in the Caribbean is Hippocampus reidi, commonly known as the longsnout seahorse or slender seahorse.

Over the years I have seen and taken pictures of some of the many colours in which they can be found. They range from brown almost black to completely white in colour. The most common being a wide range of yellows.














Seahorses are also masters of camouflage and unless you are carefully looking it is very easy to swim right past them.

I will post this painting at a later date once more work has been completed.

Prairie Storm 1 - A Work in Progress

The skies remain dark and foreboding with the threat of a thunderstorm.

The field beside the house is fairly dry and the grass seems much like golden wheat stalks as they bend and sway before the wind.













I thought it fitting to try and capture the contrast between the ominous clouds and the golden colour of the grasses.

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

The Ones That Got Away - Painting the Stump

With being able to dive it is amazing what you can find in the lakes. Everything from cars, boats, snowmobiles and boat motors.

In one of the lakes in about 60 feet of water there is an ancient native village. Pottery shards from this site have been carbon tested which dates it approximately 30,000 years old. Obviously long before the lake was there.














But aside from a wealth of bottles that have been accidentally dropped or dumped overboard there are many anchors and a lot of lures caught among the rocks and attached to old cedar stumps.

Shown here are just a few of the ones I have lost over the years. Today I finally finished putting the wood grain on the sunken stump (see posts on 08 July 2010 and 31 October 2011).

I still have to wash in more of the water colour over the painting and lift out the rays of light as it travels through the water. I will post this painting at a later date once it is completed.

Autumn Birches 2 - A Work in Progress

Today on the final day of the Bobcaygeon Art Show it is going to be slightly cooler, with the temperatures only going up to 88F (31C).

One of my fellow artists decided to help me with my painting by putting in texture marks on my birch trees. I was not impressed.

I tried lifting the lines from the birch on the right side of the painting and couldn't keep any of the white paper so I changed it into a maple tree (see posting on 13 July 2012).

I will try lifting the lines and see if I can save any of the pure white  on the large middle tree to keep it as a birch tree.

I will post this painting at a later date once more work on it has been completed.

Autumn Birches 1

It looks like today is going to be another hot and humid day at the Bobcaygeon Art Show, with the temperature climbing up to 92F (33C) for this afternoon.

Hopefully we will get a breeze to keep things a little cooler in the school house.

Using a pencil I lightly drew in the boundaries of my birch tree trunks, to give me a guideline when bringing the background colour over to the white area.

First I lifted some birch trunks out of the background using water and added the birch markings on them with a light wash of colour.

Then I started adding a few maple tree trunks into the background with a grey brown mixture.

Using mixtures of burnt sienna, raw sienna and alizarin crimson the background colour was brought over to the trunks of the main birch trees to give them shape and definition.

Gradually building up layers of background tree trunks, branches and leaves to give depth the background.

Growies were painted into the foreground and slightly more defined leaves were added to the small branches.

Finer markings were put onto the birch tree trunks using various mixtures of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and raw sienna.

A couple of branches were added to the two smaller birch trees.

After looking at the painting for a little while, I added a wash of new gamboge ad alizarin crimson to give the painting a little more of an autumn glow.

This original 4" x 6" watercolour painting is available for $40.00 unframed.

Autumn Birches 1 and 2 - Two Works in Progress

Today I was the half day at the Bobcaygeon Art show.

It was hot and humid as was expected but we were fortunate in the school house that with all the doors and windows open we did get a little bit of a breeze going through the building.

With it being Friday and most people are coming up to the cottage today there wasn't a huge number of people in attendance, but many did come out to enjoy the concert.


Autumn Birches 2

These are the two of the pieces I started today and will be working on while at the show.

I forgot to take a photograph of  this one before I started adding the markings on the birches, but it is pretty much the same as the one where I did remember.

I will post my progress as I work on them over the weekend.


Autumn Birches 1

Setting up the Bobcaygeon Art Show

Today I worked on getting together all the paintings I am going to take to Settler's Village for the Bobcaygeon Art Show.

This is my third year in the schoolhouse with Tom Young another member of the Buckhorn Artists' Group.

Our paintings go well together. I usually bring smaller pieces which can be set on the desk tops and the seats, while he brings larger pieces for on the walls and easels.

It is a wonderful venue for us to able to display our artwork in the many over a century old buildings.

The rules we have to follow are very simple; use the existing nails for hanging paintings and do not damage any of the artifacts.













Even though they are calling for high temperatures of 86-93F 30-34C) and humid weather this weekend I am looking forward to the show as there are always many interesting things going on in the Village.

Sea Fans - A Work in Progress

I have just received confirmation from The Lindsay Gallery that Carol Rutherford and I have been accepted to exhibit our work next year from 30 July - 24 August.













So I decided that I had better start working on some of the underwater paintings for the show and pulled this one out that I had started a while ago (see post on 20 October 2011). I have sketched in a number of different coral reef fish that would be found among the sea fans.

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

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

Northern Lights - A Work in Progress

Since we are having the June KAGS Executive meeting this afternoon, I decided to go and take the life drawing class in the morning and while I waited for the rest of the Executive committee to arrive I thought I may as well work on one of my many unfinished pieces.

Since I didn't have a lot of time, I added a few more rocks and trees to this painting (see postings on 09 December 2010, 21 February 2012 and 29 May 2012).

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

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Reeds 2 - A Work in Progress

I was just playing with various mixtures of green and made some of the reed leaves that are often found on the edge of lakes and marshes.

I indicated the water with a bit of blue paint and using dry brush put in a little of the background with burnt sienna.

I will post this painting at a later date once it is completed.

Winter Barn - A Work in Progress

As I looked at some of the paintings I have not finished I decided that I would work on this one that I had started quite a while ago (see posting on 27 April 2010).

After looking at it for a little while I started working on the tree trunks.














I completed the three main trees and will have to draw in where the fence line goes and add a few middle ground trees.

I will post this painting at a later date once more of it has been completed.

Blue Sky A-F - Six Works in Progress

Blue Sky A

Today I decided to cut up some watercolour paper in the size of 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" for ACEO. Once I had cut a dozen pieces to size it was time to start painting.













Blue Sky B

Using mixtures of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I painted in skies and clouds and into one I added a little raw sienna and added a few tree shapes into the bottom of one painting.














Blue Sky C

Some of the backgrounds had very little cloud and were almost clear blue sky. Lighter and darker mixtures of the two colours were used to give different tones to the skies.













Blue Sky D

I will posts these backgrounds sky paintings as I complete them at a later date.














Blue Sky E

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













Blue Sky F

OSWOA - Getaway 2

As the sun sets in cottage country the lights are turned on inside the buildings and give off a golden glow keeping the darkness at bay.

These glowing pin points of light are soon reflected into the lake leaving a rippling trail across the gently moving surface.

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

The OSWOA shown here is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Windsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $30.00 and sold unframed. SOLD

ACEO - Tree Tops 6

These are some of the trees along the fence line at the bottom of one of the back fields that I painted on location.

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

The ACEO shown here is an original watercolour paintings using Artist quality Windsor & Newton paint on 300lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

Cedars 1 - A Work in Progress

It is another hot humid and hazy day. The weather continues to be unseasonably warm even for this time of the year.

We do need rain as some of the trees are starting to droop and their leaves are turning brown.

These are some of the cedars on an island on Chemong Lake.
I did this watercolour sketch while out on the boat. There is still a little more work needs to be done before the painting is complete. I will post the finished piece at a later date.

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

Buckhorn Artists' Group Blog - Show Updates

I have updated the Buckhorn Artists' Group blog with a listing of shows some of the various artists in the Group are exhibiting their work in during the month of July.

If you get a chance come out and visit them at one or all of the shows.

Echinaechia - A Work in Progress

Today was the final day of the Cobourg Waterfront Festival and there were plenty of things going on including a performance by the Canadian Forces Parachute Team known as the Skyhawks.

This is another of the paintings that I have started while at the show.

I would like to thank new collector Ms. Lauel Herring of Omemee, Ontario on her purchase of Drifting Leaves.

I would also like to thank Mrs. Jann McIntosh of Baltimore, Ontario on her addition of Sundown 4 to her art collection (see post on 23 July 2011). Thanks also go to another new collector Ms. Beth Madole of Cobourg Ontario on her purchase of Changing (see post on 29 September 2010).

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Confirmed Shows for 2012 - July

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.

The Lindsay Gallery, Lindsay, Ont.
LindsayGallery
26 Jun - 28 Jul Annual Juried Art Show of Fine Arts/Visual Arts
Opening Reception 28 Jun from 7-8:30pm.
20 Nov - 21 Dec Christmas Show
Opening Reception 22 Nov from 7-8:30pm.
30 Jul - 24 Aug 2013 Above and Below the Reef
Opening Reception 01 Aug from 7-8:30pm.

Cobourg Waterfront Festival, Cobourg, Ont.
Waterfrontfestival
30 Jun, 1-2 July The Lions Club Art Show and Sale

Settlers' Village, Bobcaygeon, Ont.
SettlersVillage
13-15 Jul Bobcaygeon Fine Arts Festival

St Matthews Church, Buckhorn, Ont
BuckhornArtistsGroup
11-19 Aug 22nd Annual Shades of Summer Art Show

MacKelvie Gallery, Keene, Ontario
PioneerVillage
30 Aug - 04 Oct Lang Pioneer Village Museum, Keene, Ont.

Fenelon Falls Fairgrounds, Fenelon Falls, Ont.
KawarthaArtsFestival
01-02 Sep Kawartha Arts Festival

Kawartha Artists' 2nd Annual Paint Out
14 Sep Griffins Greenhouses, 3026 Lakefield, Rd. Peterborough, Ont. 10am - 4pm and
14 Sep Horlings Garden Centre, 3056 Lakefield, Rd. Peterborough, Ont. 10am - 4pm
15 Sep Elmhirst's Resort, Keene, Ont.10am - 4pm
16 Sep Peterborough Riverview Park and Zoo, Peterborough, Ont. 10am - 4pm

Kawartha Artists’ Gallery, Peterborough, Ont.
KAGS
23 Sep - 11 Oct 12 Our Town
Opening Reception 23 Sep 12 from 1-4pm.
28 Oct – 15 Nov Outdoor Painters' Group Show
Opening Reception 28 Oct 12 from 1-4pm.
01-22 Dec 12 and 03-10 Jan 13 Christmas Show
Opening Reception 09 Dec 12 from 1-4pm.

Algonquin Park, Whitney, Ont.
Algonquin
03 Nov 12 - 26 Jun 13 Algonquin Palette