Frozen Birches - A Work in Progress

Due the heavy snowfall and slippery roads it was decided that the Still Life class at KAGS would be cancelled.

After looking out the window and seeing such beauty around me I went out and took many pictures of the snow laden trees before my fingers and toes got too cold for me to continue to stay outside in the wind and the snow taking more photographs.

Once inside while warming up and enjoying a hot cup of tea I decided that I still wanted to do some painting today and went through a number of pieces on which I have been working.

I chose one suitably called "Frozen Birches" (see posts on 12 February 2013, 26 August 2012 and 13 May 2010).

Since this is a monochrome painting using Antwerp blue I started work on the final tree and washed in some of the shading on the trunk and branches before setting it aside for a while to dry.

When I returned to it I penciled in the direction of the curves on the trunk and some of the areas that I wanted to put in the birch "whip" markings.

I began painting one of the smaller branches and started with one of the other sections where the branch joins in onto the main trunk.

I will post this painting again at a later date once I have more work on the main tree completed.

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

Fog 1 and 2 - Two Works in Progress

Well, I woke up to more white stuff on the ground and it has continued throughout the day and is not expected to quit until late tomorrow night.














Fog 1

When the snow was blowing it made the trees along the fence line look as though they were surrounded by fog.














Fog 2

I started these two paintings to create something similar to what I was seeing. I will post them at a later date once more work on them has been completed.

Corridor - A Work in Progress

Today is a beautiful, bright and sunny day with the temperatures just above freezing at the moment, although the wind is starting to pick up and we are to have another major snow storm come through tonight and continue throughout the weekend.

I am not looking forward to that, but I will enjoy what I have right now.

Yesterday I painted with Neil Broadfoot and Lucie Lemieux Wilson at KAGS and I decided to work on an abstract painting. I have the blocked in the basic shapes and added some areas of colour.

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

Alert

I wanted to do a number of drawings of foals in various different breeds of horses.

An Arabian foal seemed like a good place to start. The head on an Arabian with the its small muzzle and dished face makes it almost impossible not to recognize.


















This original 4-1/2" x 4-1/2” graphite pencil sketch when matted and shrink wrapped will be available for $25.00.

Now I have to head out and go to the Executive meeting at KAGS.

Mysterious Island - A Work in Progress

Today I was trying a new type of paper to see how it would handle watercolour paint. It is giving some interesting effects, but doesn't take very well to wet on wet.

I put in the sky and water with French ultramarine blue and left some areas of white for clouds and added a touch of burnt sienna to the blue for the shadows on the underside of the clouds.
















I added a little Antwerp blue to the blue of the water to change it slightly from the sky colour.

With a mixture of the two blues and raw sienna I painted in the island. The paint separated on the paper and give the look of vertical stripes, so I set is aside to dry.

I will post this painting at a later date once I go back into it and add some detail to the island trees.

Abstract A and B - Two Works in Progress

Today was one of those days where I just wanted to play with colour and what better way than to do a couple of abstract paintings.

With it being a fairly cool day with some snow still on the ground I decided that I would use a couple of warm colours that would remind me of the various colours which are reflected off snow on a sunny day in winter.

Using French ultramarine blue and a touch of alizarin crimson I started at the bottom of both paintings so they would have similar colours and I could work back and forth between the two pieces at the same time.

Abstract A

Using the brush I wet a few areas and then dropped the colour into them.

Next I changed the various shapes as well as the mixtures of blue and red and softened some of the colours as I painted by adding more water.

I added a little bit of pure cobalt blue to the bottom of each piece as well.

Abstract B

I had planned on doing more to these two paintings but had unexpected company arrive.

I will post each of these paintings as more work on them is completed.

Old Oak I - A Work in Progress

This is one of the big oak trees that can be found on the outer edges of Peterborough. It has been bent and twisted by the winds and it still remains standing and unbroken.















I will post this painting at a later date once the background buildings have been completed.

Bow Sights - A Work in Progress

Today we had a number of different kinds of bows and arrows for the still life class at KAGS.

Bob brought in his recurve bow and compound bow as well as two different types of quivers to hold the different arrows.















It was a very interesting combination and I learned many things about hunting with bows.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have completed the drawing and started to work on it with watercolour paint.

OSWOA - Winter Gold 1

This was another painting I had started last year called Yellow Sky 1 (see post on 14 December 2011).

Since it was snowing here yesterday and again today giving us an additional 2" of snow I made it a winter scene of a frozen lake and changed its name to Winter Gold 1.














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

ACEO - Frost Fairies 2

I started this painting last month when I was playing with salt on watercolour paper (see post on 05 January 2013).

I found a face by a dark spot in the painting. I lightened the dark area and painted in the eyes and eyebrows.

With alizarin crimson I painted the mouth. using burnt sienna and raw sienna I painted the hair on the fairy.














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.

Winter Night 1 - A Work in Progress

Today is another clear, sunny and cold day -6F (-21C), but at least the wind has died down.

I was at KAGS painting with Neil Broadfoot and Lucie Lemieux Wilson. It was an enjoyable day with many paintings that I had started being a while ago being worked on and new things learned. I am looking forward to next week when we will be working on abstracts.














This is one of the paintings I was working on that was listed as Blue Sky 3 (see post on 22 December 2011) I have changed its name to Winter Night 1.

I added some background islands on the snow covered lake and lifted out some areas of light on the snow. On the right side I indicated the closer shoreline and a large pine tree which I will paint in at a later date.

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

Sea Fans - A Work in Progress

Today is my birthday and I was greeted with a bright and sunny day albeit a cold one -8F (-22C). The snow crunched under my boots as I headed down to do the barn chores.














Once I returned and made myself a cup of tea to warm up from being outside I chose this painting on which to work (see postings on 20 Oct 2011, 11 Jul 2012 and 26 Dec 2012). I wanted to get the blue grey tones onto the individual fish hiding among the sea fans.














I started with the pork fish on the upper left side and then moved downward to add the colour to the pair of four eyed butterfly fish.














I finished with the two yellow tail snappers in the middle right of the painting.

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

Humble Home - A Work in Progress

While going through an old box of art notes and sketches I came across this painting that I had started a long time ago in one of my first plein air classes in watercolour.















A lot of it needs to be reworked and I will post this painting at a later date once more of it has been completed.

Dawn Silhouette 2 - A Work in Progress

This is a painting I started last year (see post on 27 August 2012 and 03 January 2013).

I have painted in the first layer of background trees and started to add some of the darks to the larger pines.

I still need to add some of the reflected colour onto the snow from the rising sun and paint in the figures.














I will post this painting at a later date once I have added the rest of the trees, shadows, people and completed the painting.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Romance - A Work in Progress

There were many items set out for our theme of 'Romance" in today's Still life at KAGS.

I chose a small section of what was there and decided to go with the Valentine's Day card, the strawberries and the wine bottle and crystal glasses.














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

Almost Spring I

I was heading down to a craft shop just off Highway 28 and as I passed an old, abandoned horse farm I pulled over onto the side of the road because there was a dead tree in the middle of what used to be a horse pasture.















I liked the twisted bent shape of the tree, and sketched it while there and when I returned home I drew in a couple of horses and then using pen and ink finished the drawing.

This original 4-1/2" x 6-1/2” pen and ink drawing when matted and shrink wrapped will be available for $30.00.

Frozen Birches - A Work in Progress

Today I was painting with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group and I took with me a number of paintings that were very close to being finished.

After looking through the pieces I had with me, I decided that I should do a little more work on this painting; especially since there is a show being held at KAGS running from 22 June - 11 July 13 called Monochrome and this would be a good piece to submit.

I had started this painting a while ago (see posts on 13 May 2010 and 26 August 2012) and since only Antwerp blue was used in this painting it would be ideal for the show.

I did a little more work on it and completed the birch tree on the right side of the painting.

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

Snow Scenes - Two Works in Progress

I still had a number of precut 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" pieces of watercolour paper for ACEO and decided that I would work on them today.

With the first one I mixed a dark using French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson and painted the bottom branches of some trees against a snow bank.

Once it was dry I gently scraped out some areas for grasses and growies using a razor blade.

Winter Trees 6

For the second one I put down a light was of alizarin crimson and French ultramarine blue leaving some areas of white paper showing.

Using various darker mixtures of the same two colours I painted in the shadows on the snow covered tree.














Frozen 1

Using the same dark mixture for the trees from the first painting I painted in some of the pine needles on the tree.

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

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

Waterfall 1 - A Work in Progress

Today while going through I box of small paintings I came across this piece that I had started last year (see posting on 09 October 2012).

I added a little more colour to the water and another rock on the edge of the falls.

Put a little more under paint on the background rocks and then added the darker foreground rock face.

I then set this painting aside to dry before I over paint the rocks and scrape out the rock shapes with a palette knife.

As I complete more of this painting I will post it to the blog.

Dockside 1 and 2 - Two Works in Progress

Today we are shoveling out from yesterday's snow storm.

It was hard to push the porch door open enough so I could get out through the 12" (30.5cm) of new snow that I had to clear away from the front of the door and off the walkway.

The one nice thing about today is that it is bright and sunny even if the temperature remains very cold 0F (-18C).

Dockside 1

The birds are out in full force around the feeder today and I had the chickadees buzzing around my head as they flitted around and onto the feeders as I was refilling them.

This had me thinking about the Caribbean and the warm breezes in the evening as the sun sets.

I pulled out two small paintings (see postings on 16 October 2012) that I had started last year.

I have changed the names of the paintings from Yellow Sky A and B to Dockside 1 and 2.

I drew a couple of the dock posts in the first painting and added a horizon line.

Next I added a little more definition to the larger seagulls.

Dockside 2

On the second painting I drew in the horizon line and a single dock post. Next I drew a larger seagull as well as a number of smaller ones.

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

Sunset 2 - A Work in Progress

The snow is still falling and the wind is blowing this morning. I think I am going to stay in and paint today.

This is the second (see posting on 04 February 2013) of evening sky paintings that I started when painting with Neil Broadfoot earlier this week.

For this painting the paper was again wet above the area where the snow would be on the ground. Aureolin was then brushed in just above the snowline and gradually lightened as it went up towards the top of the sky. A little of the pale wash was then brushed into some areas what will be a lake.













Into the still wet aureolin, burnt sienna was used in some areas of the sky. Brown madder was then brushed into the sky. A hint of alizarin crimson was added into the wet brown madder towards the top of the painting.

A small amount of cobalt blue was added to the brown madder and the clouds were painted into the sky on the almost dry paper.

This painting was set aside to dry completely before painting the background hills could be painted. I will post this painting at a later date as more work on it is completed.

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

Succulents - A Work in Progress

Today was a very long day at KAGS; it started at 8:30 in the morning when I opened the gallery for the Still life class. The display was relatively simple with a Christmas cactus, a Jade plant and an Aloe, with two pieces of pottery to add interest.

After lunch it was time to sit the gallery and continue working on various small paintings. Then a couple of us went out for supper before returning to the gallery where we had to set everything up for the Information meeting tonight.















The weatherman was right about the massive snow storm that was going to hit this evening. The trip home was long with the snow covered roads and limited visibility due to the blowing snow. It was interesting to see how many people were not prepared for the road conditions and many of them were fish tailing on the road due to the conditions.

I am thankful that I have a 4 x 4 and good quality winter snow tires on my vehicle. My trip home that normally takes 20 minutes took just under an hour. But I made it home safely.
Now it is time to kick back and relax.

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

OSWOA - Frozen 2

I have friends coming over later today, but before they arrive I wanted to work on one of my smaller pieces and try to have it completed today.

I picked this one that I had started last year (see post on 08 October 2012) and lightly sketched in where I wanted to lift a few more snow covered trees from the background.

Using water I lifted out more snow covered tree shapes from the background, removing more of the paint from the closer ones and less from the more distant ones.














With a dark green mix of French ultramarine blue and raw sienna I added a few more needles to some of the snow covered foreground trees.

The painting needed some deciduous trees into the background so I lightly sketched then in with a pencil.

With a grey made of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I put the darker trees into the foreground and gradually added more water to the paint mixture to lighten the colour as I painted the trees that were further back in the painting.













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.

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

ACEO - Tire Swing 1

While going through some small paintings I had started last year (see post on 28 October 2012) I pulled out this piece that was originally called Blue Sky K and I decided to turn it into a late spring landscape.

I lightly sketched in a distant hill with some trees against the sky on the horizon line and then added the trunks of a few trees in the foreground and indicated where posts would be placed for a wire fence.

With a pale mixture of Antwerp blue and raw sienna I under painted in the land from the horizon line down to the foreground.

While this was drying I made a soft grey colour with French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna for the tree trunks and fence posts, then I painted in the lightest parts of the tree and darkened the grey with a little more blue for the shadowed side.














Using various mixtures of French ultramarine blue, Antwerp blue, raw sienna and new gamboge I added grasses and growies at the base of the fence posts and tree trunks. Then using a sponge I put the leaves onto the trees.

With pure burnt sienna I ran the wire fence between the fence posts leaving a small opening where the wire had broken.

After looking at the painting for a little while I decided that it needed a tire swing hanging from one of the branches on the larger tree in the foreground, as though it was waiting for children to return.

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.

Sunset 1 - A Work in Progress

Today I am painting at Kawartha Artists’ Gallery KAGS with a small group of fellow artists including Neil Broadfoot and Lucie Lemeiux Wilson.

Neil gave a demonstration on painting in a morning sky. I decided I would like to do a couple of paintings including a winter scene with morning skies.

On this piece, the paper was wet above the area where the snow would be on the ground.

Aureolin was then brushed in just above the snowline and gradually lightened as it went up towards the top of the sky.

A little of the pale wash was then brushed into some areas of the snow.

Burnt sienna was used into the still wet aureolin in some areas to show the changing colours of the sky.

Towards the top of the sky pure alizarin crimson was painted in, followed by Antwerp blue for the clouds into the still wet paint.

This painting was set aside to dry completely before I would be able to paint in the background hills.

I will post this painting at a later date as more work on it is completed

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 February.

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

Misty Forest 1 - A Work in Progress

Today I didn't have very much time to paint so I chose to work with a limited palette of Antwerp blue and burnt sienna.

I wet the paper and indicated some soft tree shapes for the background and with a darker mix of the same colours put in one closer tree.

I tried to keep it fairly soft and without a lot of detail as though it was foggy day.

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

Confirmed Shows for 2013 - February

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
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
30-31 Jul - 24 Aug 2013 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