Koi Pond I - A Work in Progress

This is a small piece I started using a limited palette of black, white, Hansa yellow and alizarin crimson.

I applied the paint with a palette knife trying to create movement in the painting. After setting the piece aside to dry, when I came back to look at it I could see koi swirling around in the water as though they were coming up to the surface to feed.














I will post this painting once I have added the fish into the painting.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Winter Sunset 1 - A Work in Progress

It is raining today. Hard to believe after having temperatures -4F (-20C) that it is 48F (9C) today and we are going to go back down to below 0F (-18C) again for tomorrow with more snow.

With my driveway being a sheet of ice and living on the top of a hill, I decided to stay home today and not go in for the still life class at KAGS.













Instead I started on this painting by putting in a sunset using aureoline for the yellow and a mix of Cerulean blue and permanent rose for the clouds.

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

Night Sky 3 - A Work in Progress

This is the fourth painting in a set of four (see yesterday's posting as well as those on 20 and 23 January 2013 for the rest) showing the same scene at different times of the day.

I thought a moonlit night would make an interesting painting with the moonlight reflected down into the water.













Now I have to decide where to place the islands and background shore. As I complete more of this painting I will post it to the blog.

Afternoon Sky 3 - A Work in Progress

With the weather being so bad with freezing rain and snow the Executive meeting was cancelled and rescheduled for 01 February 2013.

To brighten up the day I decided to paint a nice, bright, sunny summer afternoon by the lake as the third painting in a set of four paintings (see postings on 20 and 23 January 2013 for the others) showing the same scene at different times of the day.













I will post this painting once I have added the islands into the painting.

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

Spotted Eagle Rays - A Work in Progress

Now that the rays have been transferred (see postings on 24 Jul 2012, 17 Aug 2012 and 22 Dec 2012) onto the canvas I wanted to get them painted.














I brushed in a mixture of ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and a touch of alizarin crimson to create a warm dark for the back of the rays.














Then with a mixture of white and cerulean blue I painted in the underside of the wings and the bellies of the rays.

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

Race the Wind I - A Work in Progress

I did this sketch while watching a program on television about wild horses and how they are rounded up and some of the younger horses are sold to reduce the numbers in a herd.











I didn't have enough time to complete inking in this painting and I will post it at a later date once it is completed.

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

Faces and Figures Show at KAGS

This is the poster for the Faces and Figures Show at KAGS which features one of my paintings (see post 12 June 2012).






















The show will feature a collection of paintings and sculptures of the human form.

If you have a chance, please come out and enjoy the show.

Coffee or Tea? - A Work in Progress

We had an interesting collection of tea pots, percolators, coffee mugs, spoons and cups and saucers for our Still life display at KAGS this morning.

I chose to do a small section of the display. I liked the stainless steel percolator which had the orange tea pot being reflected back on its surface. The gold coloured coffee mug picked up some of the colours of the tea pot as well as some of the colours of the patterned tea cup and saucer. Then I added a couple of silver spoons to complete the arrangement.

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

Morning Sky 3 - A Work in Progress

This is the second painting in a set of four paintings (see posting on 20 January 2013 for the first one) showing the same scene at different times of the day.

The top of the sky was a wash of French ultramarine blue and Antwerp blue was gradually added into the lower part of the sky with the water being an even mix of the two blues.













The darker cloud colour was a mix of  both blues and alizarin crimson, and the sun touched areas of the clouds was of alizarin crimson and new gamboge painted over top of the darker paint.

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

OSWOA - Tree Tops 5

With it being so close to Christmas there was no class with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group and I decided to work on some of my smaller pieces here at home.

I decided to start with this piece that I had started a while ago (see post on 22 January 2012).

It needed some deciduous trees in the picture to add a little more interest from just having only coniferous trees.














I lightly sketched in the placement of them so I would have a reference to make it easier to paint.

First I added more detail onto the coniferous needles leaving some white areas for the snow on a few of the branches.

With various mixtures of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I painted in the tree trunks and branches.













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 - Winter Peace 1

I was sorting through some backgrounds that I had painted a while ago and decided to work on one of them while I was at KAGS today.

I chose this piece that was originally called Blue Sky H (see post on 28 October 2012) and after looking at the areas of blue and white, I decided to turn it upside down and made it into a winter scene.

I lightly drew in the trunks of a few trees and indicated where the posts would be placed for a wire fence. Using greys made with various mixtures of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I painted in the tree trunks and fence posts first.

With a fine brush and burnt sienna I indicated the wire on the fence and put in a couple of broken areas along the fence line.















The grasses and growies at the base of the fence posts and trees were painted with various mixtures of burnt sienna and raw sienna. Lastly I added a few leaves into the trees which, on some trees seem to hang on until springtime when the new leaves finally push them away.

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 Winsor & Newton paint on 300lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

Evening Sky 3 - A Work in Progress

This is the first of four paintings of the same scene at different times of the day.

The sky is done wet on wet and the colours used to create the sky were aureoline, raw sienna, burnt sienna, alizarin crimson and French ultramarine blue.













The base colour of the water was using just raw sienna and burnt sienna. More colours will be painted on top of it to create the wave patterns once the paint is dry.

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

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

Working with Sponges - Two Works in Progress

Today I chose to create cedar trees using a sponge.

For the first one I used various mixtures of burnt sienna and raw sienna to create the cedars; making sure to leave many areas of white showing.

Then I set it aside and worked on the next one using burnt sienna and a touch of alizarin crimson for the background trees.

Cedar Trees 1

For the foreground trees I used a mixture of French ultramarine blue and raw sienna, again leaving lots of areas of the white paper to show through. Then it was set aside to dry.

When the paint was dry on the first painting I washed in the background and the tree shadows using French ultramarine blue with a touch of alizarin crimson.














Cedar Trees 2

I will post both paintings at a later date once they are completed.

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

Glass Bottles 1 and 2 - Two Works in Progress

Last month I worked on a painting of bottles (see posting on 09 December 2012) from the Still Life class at KAGS.

I had also started a couple of sketches of some of the various bottles and these are two of those sketches that I have recently finished and are ready for me to start painting.


Glass Bottles 1

The first is of pale coloured glass bottles, one a pale pink, one a pale blue and the last is of clear glass with a very slight yellow tint.

The second sketch is of clear glass, an old milk bottle, and antique canning jar and a cut class decanter. It will be interesting to see how the background cloths transfer through the glass containers.

I will post each of these paintings again at a later date once I have completed some of the bottles.


Glass Bottles 2

A Moment in Time - A Work in Progress

The theme for the Still life class at KAGS today was time pieces.

A number of old clocks were brought in by various members of the group and I brought in my Grandfather's pocket watch. The only thing we were missing was a Cuckoo clock.

I chose one small section of the display that had a lovely reflection of the red mug on an ornate wooden table.













The box the pocket watch is resting on needs to be corrected as the perspective is off. I will post this painting at a later date when more of it is completed.

In the afternoon I sat upstairs at the gallery and sold two paintings that were on display; one of which as mine.

I would like to thank new collector Mrs. Janet Skrepnek of Lakefield, Ontario on her purchase of Winter Breeze (see post 04 June 2012).

Silent Cedars - A Work in Progress

This is a scene I often see in the winter when I am able to go out for a walk through the fields before the snow becomes too deep and I need to put on snow shoes if I want to stay on top of the snow instead of breaking through it.

I masked out the fence rails and a few tree branches and leaves with liquid friskit and while I was waiting for it to dry I mixed the paint for the sky.

Since this painting is on a full sheet of watercolour paper a fair amount of paint needed to be mixed in order to paint the sky.  In one saucer I mixed a large pool of pure French ultramarine blue and then did the same for Antwerp blue in another saucer.














First I wet the paper with water and then painted in the top of the sky with ultramarine blue being careful to leave a few areas of the white of the paper to show for clouds, as I moved down through the sky I mixed Antwerp blue with the ultramarine blue and allowed the colours to mix together on the paper for a soft transition between the colours.

I still have a lot more work to do on this painting and I will post it at a later date.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Galloping Pair - A Work in Progress

Today I was just doodling on some small pieces of paper while I watched the horses through the studio window bucking and kicking around the paddock.











I ended up with this little drawing and I will post it at a later date once I have it painted.

Rock Beauty - A Work in Progress

Now that the sponges ate completed I wanted to add the plants and soft coral that grow on the rock faces of the reef.














Most of the soft corals are in various shades of soft greens, yellow and buff. It seems that the sponges and harder corals are the ones that are more brightly coloured.














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

Autumn Forest 1 - A Work in Progress

I wanted to do some painting today even though I didn't have a lot of time to do much work, so I pulled this painting out that I had started a while ago (see posts on 16 October 2011 and 18 December 2012).

I added a little more yellow and orange into the tree tops in the painting and first and from there started at the bottom give some definition to the rocks.

The last thing I did before I ran out of time was to start painting in the trunk of one of the foreground maple trees.

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

Execuspective Show at KAGS

This is the poster for the Execuspective Show at KAGS which features one of my paintings (see post on 04 June 2012). The show opens tomorrow from 1-4pm.






















Everyone is welcome to come out and join us and enjoy the show.

Reflections 3 - A Work in Progress

I wanted to do a painting of reflections and brushed in the reflected blue from the sky into the water leaving some areas white for the clouds.

Next I painted in the tree reflections and then lifted a little of the colour to give the impression of slightly moving water. Then this painting was set aside to dry.













I will post this painting at a later date once I decide what kind of bird I would like to have swimming on the water.

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

Peach Sky - A Work in Progress

Today was the last day of the Seasonal Delights show at KAGS and I sat the show and remained there for the take down.

While I was sitting I worked on this painting and after painting the sky threw in a little salt for snowflakes.













I had just started to paint in some of the tree tops when it was time for the take down and I had to put this away for the day.

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

Reeds 5 and 6 - Two Works in Progress

Today I started working on the last two paintings of reeds that I had started last year (see posting on 30 October 2012 and 09 November 2012).

I put in the under paint of the cattails first and then added the stalks below them.

With various green mixtures I started painting details on the leaves of the reeds.

Reeds 5

I added  some "fluff" to one of the cattails before setting the painting aside to dry and decide what more it needed  in order to be finished.

I wanted to do a little on the second piece and painted in the first of the cattails.

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


Reeds 6

OSWOA - Autumn Forest 2

Today I was at painting with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group at St. Matthews Church in Buckhorn.

I was having a hard time deciding what I would like to paint and finally chose to work on this one (see posts on 24 August 2012 and 18 December 2012).

I used a sponge a various mixtures of yellow, orange and red to put in brighter background colours.

While the background was drying I painted the boathouse and the foreground rocks.

Using various mixtures of light and dark greens I put in the tall ancient pine trees that stood out sharply against the autumn colours behind them.

As the pine trees were drying I added some reflected colour into the foreground water.  

Then I painted in the tree trunks and a few dead trees into the background.

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

ACEO - Winter Shadows 2

I pulled out this little painting called Blue Sky I that I had started last year (see post on 28 October 2012).

I decided that I would turn it into a horizontal painting from the vertical one I had originally thought it would be and lighted sketched in where I would place the trees, snow banks and the river.

Using a mix of French ultramarine blue and alizarin crimson and put in the distant trees on the horizon.














On the sunlit side of the tree trunks I put in a wash of raw sienna to give some warmth to the painting.

Using different mixtures of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, alizarin crimson and Antwerp blue I painted the tree trunks starting with the background trees and gradually moving forward.

The tree shadows were put in a mix of the two blues.














Next I added the greens into the coniferous forest with mixtures of Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue, raw sienna, new gamboge and cadmium yellow.

The partially frozen river was painted with layers of Antwerp blue, raw sienna and burnt sienna.

The growies were put in with alizarin crimson, raw sienna, burnt sienna and cadmium yellow.














Lastly I added a few small growing trees into the foreground.

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 Winsor & Newton paint on 300lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

Mr. Bud I - A Work in Progress

I was looking at my acrylic painting of the Mr. Bud wreck (see posts on 24 February 2012 and 06 October 2012) and decided to work up a quick watercolour sketch of it to see in which direction I wanted to take the painting.













I will do a little more work on this piece at a later date and post it at that time.

Playing with Salt - Two Works in Progress

This was a painting of a flower that I had started a long time ago that simply wasn't working. So I salvaged some of the painting by cutting it down into 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" for ACEO.













Frost Fairies 1

I wet the paper and using Antwerp blue, alizarin crimson and aureolin, put pure colour onto the paper and rolled it around allowing the colours to mix together. Once I had finished applying the paint I sprinkled some salt into the paintings and rolled it around a little more and then set them aside to dry.














Frost Fairies 2

I will post these paintings at a later date once they have been completed.

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

Washed Ashore - A Work in Progress

I pulled this painting out that I has started quite a while ago (see post on 25 Oct 2010).

Using a little Chinese white I put in the froth at the edge of the shore as the waves come up onto the sandy beach.

I added some of the seaweed and debris which gets washed up onto the beach above the high tide line. It never fails to amaze me the multitude of things that do come ashore, bottles, cans, shoes and a multitude of plastic items.














I darkened the shadow beneath the boat and then added a little red to the gunwale. I sketched in the hole in the side of the boat and painted in the detail.

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

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

Dawn Silhouette 2 - A Work in Progress

I didn't have a lot of time to work on paintings today so I pulled out a couple of smaller pieces that I had the background completed on and had been set aside until I knew what I wanted to do with them (see post on 27 August 2012).














I sketched in the trees on the hilltop and after looking at it for a little while decided it needed a couple of figures, so I added a person pulling a young child up the hill on a toboggan.

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

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 January.

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

Confirmed Shows for 2013 - January

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.

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

Kawartha Artists’ Gallery, Peterborough, Ont.
KAGS
02-22 Dec 12 & 05-10 Jan 13 Seasonal Delights
Opening Reception 02 Dec 12 from 1-4pm.
13-24 Jan 12 Execuspective
Opening 13 Jan 13 from 10-4pm
27 Jan - 28 Feb 13 Faces and Figures
Opening Reception 27 Jan 13 from 1-4pm.
07 Apr - 02 May 13 Unfolding
Opening Reception 07 Apr 13 from 1-4pm.
23 Jun - 11 Jul 13 Monochrome
Opening Reception 23 Jun 13 from 1-4pm.
15 Sep - 03 Oct 13 Rural Scenes
Opening Reception 15 Sep 13 from 1-4pm.
20-31 Oct 13 Motion in Stillness
Opening Reception 20 Oct 13 from 1-4pm.
03-21 Nov 13 Outdoor Painters' Group Show
Opening Reception 03 Nov 13 from 1-4pm.
08-22 Dec 13 & 05-10 Jan 14 Winter Delights
Opening Reception 08 Dec 13 from 1-4pm.

St Matthews Church, Buckhorn, Ont
BuckhornArtistsGroup
18-20 May 25th Annual Among Friends Art Show
10-18 Aug 23rd Annual Shades of Summer Art Show

Cobourg Waterfront Festival, Cobourg, Ont.
Waterfrontfestival
29 Jun - 01 July The Lions Club Art Show and Sale

The Lindsay Gallery, Lindsay, Ont.
LindsayGallery
30 Jul - 24 Aug 13 Above and Below the Reef
Opening Reception 01 Aug from 7-8:30pm.

MacKelvie Gallery, Keene, Ontario
PioneerVillage
11 Jul - 08 Aug Lang Pioneer Village Museum, Keene, Ont.

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

I would like to wish everyone good health, prosperity and happiness in 2013!