Suppertime? - A Work in Progress

Today I was working on a number of sketches and wanted to put something down on canvas so I transferred the image of the Jackknife fish to this background that I had started earlier this year (see post on 15 March 2012).














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

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Reeds 4-6 Three Works in Progress

Today I was over at my friend Heather's along with Irene and the three of us worked on our paintings.

Where we are set up on Heather's kitchen table we are able to look out the window and see the inlet and a section of Lake Chemong.

I decided that I wanted to paint the reeds and bull rushes from the inlet.


Reeds 4

Mixing up Antwerp blue with a little burnt sienna gives a wide range of lovely green greys which make a wonderful under paint for the calm water of the inlet.

I worked back and forth on all three of these paintings.

I started with the paler background colour of the slowly moving water with the sunlit reflecting off of it.


Reeds 5

Then each painting was set aside to allow it to dry.

A slightly darker mixture was made by adding more pigment and a touch more burnt sienna.

To the first one I added in the mass of reeds. With the second one I added a little raw sienna to the mixture and started to indicate the brighter coloured reeds.



Reeds 6

I will post these paintings at a later date as they are completed.

Setting up in Algonquin Provincial Park

It is another wet and rainy day with the temperatures hovering just above the freezing mark. If it gets a little colder we may end up with the first snow of the season.














Algonquin Panel 1

Today I had to go and set up the show at the Visitors' Centre in Algonquin Provincial Park. I am hoping that the fallout from Hurricane Sandy will hold off until I return home. The trip up was relatively easy with no heavy downpours of rain or high winds.















Algonquin Panel 2

I took 43 paintings with me that I felt would allow me cover my 32 feet (9.75m) of wall space and I hung 30 of them on the four panels that were mine. This allowed me to leave the remaining 13 paintings at the Centre in case some of the paintings sell during the course of the show which runs until 26 June 2013.











Algonquin Panel 3

When I was packing up the empty boxes to take back home with me I noticed that the rain had turned to sleet and realized that it could be a nasty trip home depending on whether or not I would run into the high winds and if the sleet iced up the roads.












Algonquin Panel 4

About half an hour into my return trip the sleet and rain stopped and the roads were much nice to drive. It wasn't until I reached Apsley that the rain started again, this time it was a down pour which kept the wipers going continuously, but I was fortunate in that the high winds that were expected never materialized.

Blue Sky G-L - Six Works in Progress

Today I couldn't get into working on and completing a painting so I decided to play with blue skies on small pieces of watercolour paper cut to 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" for ACEO.



Blue Sky G

On some I used French ultramarine blue with a hint of burnt sienna for the shadows in the clouds and then to warm the painting I added a touch of raw sienna.



Blue Sky H

On others I used Antwerp blue with the wash darker at the top and lighter as it goes towards the bottom of the sky leaving some white wispy areas for clouds.



Blue Sky I

A couple of the paintings I did vertically using different washes of the blue colour and painting it in with streaks of colour.



Blue Sky J

Another was done with putting more blue into the base of the sky and lighter with more clouds shapes toward the top leaving pure white paper for some areas of the cloud.














Blue Sky K

Another using Antwerp blue in the sky and adding a little raw sienna to warm the sky.














Blue Sky L

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

OSWOA - Ablaze with Colour

Today is another cold and wet rainy day, with the temperatures hovering in the mid 30's (2C). Hopefully there won't be any snow overnight.

This is a painting I had started last year see post on 16 August 11).

It didn't need a lot more work; a few more branches on some to the bare trees in the background and a little more colour into the background leaves.

I brightened the colour of the reflections in the water and darkened the foreground reflections slightly.

I felt more work was needed on the foreground tree so it was darkened and given a little more definition.

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 Winsor & Newton paint on 300lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $40.00 and sold unframed.

ACEO - Evening Sky 1

Today I hung my paintings at KAGS for the Outdoor Painters' Show.

If you would like to meet and visit with the artists please come out to the opening on Sunday 28 October 2012; or if you have a chance come out to see the show which continues until 15 November 2012.

When I returned home I wanted to do some painting and since the sun was setting I set up my paints on the kitchen table and painted as I watched the sun set through the window.














The sun was still visible in the sky even though it was hidden behind the clouds more often than not; but there was a wide variety of colours to be seen.

I decided to put this sunset on the lake with the many sky colours reflected back on the surface of the water.

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. SOLD

Studying - A Work in Progress

Today I was at the still life class at KAGS and our theme was studying.

It was an interesting arrangement with old books, a candelabra, a human skull, some dried leaves and a trio of quince.

It took a long while to get the drawing put down on the paper as there were a lot of details to capture especially on the candelabra.

Rather than start one of the elements that I would not be able to finish, I worked on the quince.

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

Training Bridle - A Work in Progress

This is the start of a drawing of a Western training bridle that I did while at KAGS today at the Portrait class.

I just couldn't get into doing a portrait of the model while she sat wearing Western attire.

But I did like the Western bridle with the snaffle bit that was hanging from the back of the chair.

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

Autumn Leaves 1-3 - Three Works in Progress

Today I painted with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painters.

We had Sharon Taylor as our guest instructor, who did two demonstrations for us. One was of an autumn landscape with large maple trees and the images being reflected into water. The other was of leaves painted in the negative.

Autumn Leaves 1

These are the three I started for painting in the negative. I plan on doing one with oak leaves, another with maple leaves and the third one I still have to decide which kind of leaves I will use. Perhaps a different kind of maple leaf or oak leaf.

I still have to decide which blue to use as the base for painting the leaves in the negative.

Autumn Leaves 2

I know that at the moment it is hard to imagine these backgrounds as being masses of autumn leaves against a trunk with branches, but I will post all three at later dates when more work has been completed on them.

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


Autumn Leaves 3

Shapes in Colour and in Black and White

These are two of the exercises from the pastel demonstrations that were held at KAGS over the weekend (see postings on 20 October 2012 and 21 October 2012).

The first exercise was to use one colour to create a sphere and a cylinder to get the values in a picture, as well as using a light source for highlight, graduated tones, reflected light, shadow and cast shadow.


Black and Whites Shapes

The second exercise was to use four colours; a warm colour for the high lit areas, a mid tone colour for the main shape and a cool colour for the shadows with a neutral for the background.


Colour Shapes

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

Pastel Basics II

The pastel demonstrations continue today at KAGS (see post on 20 October 2012).

The fifth way of applying pastel is called "hatching" and it consists of applying diagonal lines in one direction to fill in an area. The lines can be either long, short or a mixture of long and short lines.

The hatching can be all of one colour of a mixture of colours which can create some interesting effects.

Hatching

A sixth way of applying pastel is called "cross hatching". As its name implies it consists of hatching lines crossing in the opposite direction one layer over top of another.

With enough layers of cross hatching eventually none of the paper surface will show through.


Cross Hatching

The seventh and final way of applying pastel that was demonstrated is called "stippling" which is when dots of one colour only is used to create a shape. If more than one colour is used to create the image it is called "pointillism".

There was a lot to learn and now it is up to me to try all the different methods and see what works best for how I paint.

Stippling and Pointillism

Pastel Basics I

It was an interesting weekend at KAGS with various pastel artists doing demonstrations for those of us wanting to learn the basics of pastel painting.

I have samples of seven ways of putting pastel down on the paper. The first was called "scumble", it is layering one colour on top of the other and letting the pastel mix on the paper.

Scumble

The second method that was shown is called "dry wash", it is put down in a similar way as scumble but then it is blended with either a stump or fingers. This gives a softer look to the image.

Stumps are usually preferred over fingers which will leave oil from the skin on the drawing surface.

Dry Wash

The third method shown was called "stroking".  This consists of long and short lines, which may be straight or curves to help show the direction of movement or the shape of an object.

An example would be straight lines in flat objects and curved lines on round objects.


Stroking

The fourth method is called "stroking and blending". This can be done in two ways; the first by putting down  an area of "dry wash" (see above) and putting stroking over top or by putting down all stroking lines and blending some of them to soften an area. 

This would be ideal for fur, feathers or wood grain.

Stroking and Blending

I will post the other three ways of applying pastel at a later date.

Relaxing - Sketches 1 and 2

These are the sketches I did for Relaxing in the Portrait class (see post on 10 October 12) at KAGS earlier this month.

The Portrait class starts by having three 10 minute sketches in order to warm up as well as to decide which position they would like to have the model hold for the rest of the time.


Relaxing Sketch 1

I liked all three poses and will probably develop the other two sketches at a later date, but first I had better finish the one I started.

I will post those at a later date.





Relaxing Sketch 2

Exotic Fruit - A Work in Progress

Today I was at the Still life class at KAGS where we had a number of different displays of fruit in wicker baskets as well as in glass bowls and plates.

I chose the one with papaya, Japanese pears, grapes, pomegranates, strawberries and lemons.

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

Spotted Eagle Rays - A Work in Progress

I have marked in some of the larger coral and sponges on the closest reef face (see posting 24 July 2012).














Then I painted in the hard coral on the upper part of the reef  adding a little fire coral at the bottom of some of the purple coral.

A little lower down the slope of the reef I added a cluster of yellow tube sponges.














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

Yellow Sky A-C - Three Works in Progress

Yellow Sky A

Using various strengths of raw sienna I washed in the background sky colour. On one I added a couple of birds.


















Yellow Sky B

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


















Yellow Sky C

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

Rays of Light - A Work in Progress

I was sorting through some paintings I had started a while ago (see posts on 26 October 2010 and 28 December 2011) and decided to do a little work on this one.

Using a dark mixture I put the markings on the fins of the first fish, and then mixed a greyed green and put in the darker areas of the fish's body.












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

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Feeding Time - A Work in Progress

This is a painting I started in a workshop with Art Cunanan last month.

Instead of following along with his red barn I chose to do a painting of my barn with a few changes.













It is still a work in progress and there are a number of things I still have to think through and decide on how many other things I wish to add to the painting.

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

OSWOA - Evening Light 1

This is a painting I had started last year (see post on 05 October 12). While at the art show in Magnetawan I worked on a number of pieces and completed this one.

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. Strathmore 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. They are priced at $40.00 and sold unframed.

ACEO - Morning Pines 1

Today I wanted to complete a painting so I decided to work on something small and with a limited palette.

The colours I chose were French ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson and burnt sienna.

I first applied a wash of alizarin crimson into the sky and the water.

While the paint was still wet I added a mix of blue and burnt sienna and painted in a few clouds and with vertical strokes indicated where the reflections would go.

Next I lightly drew in the shoreline and the tree trunks; with a darker mix of the reflection colours I indicated the water line on the bottom of the rocks.

Using French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and raw sienna I painted in the pine trees on the island.

While the paint was still wet I added pure burnt sienna and pure raw sienna in some areas of the pine needles to give a little variation in the colour.

The dead trees were put in next.

With alizarin crimson and French ultramarine blue I put in the rippled reflections into the water below the rocks.

Finally the rocks were painted using the tree colours and touch with a touch of raw sienna.

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

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

Blades - A Work in Progress

Today we are getting more cold weather, but fortunately it is staying just warm enough that we are getting rain instead of snow unlike northern Ontario.

Today was the still life class at KAGS and the theme was weapons such as knives and swords.

With the amount of detailed work that was on the various weapons displayed and a number of interruptions I was only able to get about half of the drawing completed.

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

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

Relaxing - A Work in Progress

Today was another rainy overcast day, but it is a lot better than the snow and freezing rain that they are getting in northern Ontario.

There was a portrait class at KAGS today and I decided to go since Christine was the model.

Unfortunately, today was one of those days where I couldn't draw a face to save my life.

I know I am not the only one this happens to on occasion, so instead of getting upset about it I worked on the clothing and the chair, which turned out not too badly.

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

Waterfall 1 - A Work in Progress

Today is a warm, sunny day with the temperature climbing to 72F (22C); not bad for an autumn day.

It is amazing what you find when you go through boxes that were put away in storage and were deciding to pitch most of it since it hasn't been looked at in years. I came across a box of small paintings I had started quite a while ago and a few of them were worth keeping and finishing.

Since today I was painting with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group what better time than now to do a little more work on this piece? I still need to do more with the water and put in the rock face, but at least it is a lot further along.

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

Frozen 2 - A Work in Progress

It won't be long before there will be snow on the ground and the trees will be covered like the ones in this painting.

Today is Thanksgiving Day and for the first time this season there is frost on the ground.














It could be worse, a couple of days ago many parts of northern Ontario were hit with up to 6" (15 cm) of heavy packing snow. I am very glad I don't have to go out and try to shovel that off the driveway.

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

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

Fresh Snow 1 - A Work in Progress

Today is overcast and cool but with no rain in the forecast which is nice since we will be going out to celebrate Thanksgiving with Christine's in-laws later today.













I didn't have a lot of time to paint but I wanted to do a little bit more on something that had been started (see posts on 18 October 2011, 09 March and16 August 2012). I added a few more trees into the background and am still undecided as to what I want to put into the opening between the trees.

I will post this painting at a later date once I know what it needs as the focal point.

Mr. Bud - A Work in Progress

Today I don't have a lot of time to work on painting so I have transferred the image of the Mr. Bud onto the canvas.

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














Now we have to head into Toronto to spend time with the in-laws and take them out to see the autumn colours and later go out for supper.

Magnetawan River 3 - A Work in Progress

This is another sketch I did of the Magnetawan River while I stayed at the Knoepfli Inn with the Outdoor Painters' Group.














I will post this piece at a later date once I have either started the painting or finished it completely.