OSWOA - Morning Sky 3

Often in the early morning when the sun is just rising the colours in the western sky are various shades of pastel pinks and blues.

The lakes are usually calm with barely a ripple and the reflections are mirror images of the shoreline, rocks and trees.

I decided to work on this piece that I had started earlier this year (see post on 23 Jan 2013).













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 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $40.00 and sold unframed.

ACEO - Waterfall 1

This is a painting I started a while ago (see posting on 09 October 2012 and 10 February 2013).

It didn't need a lot of work for it to be completed, a few dead tree trunks in the background, but mainly the rocks that needed to be finished so I added shadows, cracks and a little texture.

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

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

Sea Fans

This is another painting that just needed a few details added to the fish before it is completed (see postings on 20 Oct 2011, 11 Jul 2012, 26 Dec 2012 and 17 Feb 2013).

With a mixture of burnt sienna, French ultramarine blue and alizarin crimson I added the markings on the bodies of the two four eyed butterfly fish.














This original 15" x 22" framed watercolour painting is available for $450.00. SOLD

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

Shady Birches

My little sparrow hawks are back and are once again going to be in the nesting box under the eaves of the house just outside my bedroom window.

I am happy that they have reclaimed it from the starlings that were trying to take it over. It is going to be an enjoyable summer watching them teach their young how to hunt.

My neighbour has some lovely groupings of birch trees on their front lawn. I wanted to do a painting of birch trees so I went out and did a quick sketch of them.

After I finished running my errands I returned home to do this painting.

This original 5-1/2" x 7-1/2” watercolour painting when framed will be available for $95.00.

Early Morning 1 and 2

I am very fortunate about where I live, as every day I get to see the sun rise and set, weather permitting of course.

This is one of the many reasons why I often have paintings with large areas of sky.

For the first sketch I put a large tree in the foreground and a couple of smaller trees back in the distance.














Early Morning 1

I lightly indicated the distant snow covered hills and the snow drift around the base of the large tree.

I can picture this in colour with the sky colours being reflected off the snow.














Early Morning 2

This sketch as well, has a large tree in the foreground and smaller trees in the distance. I also indicated a few birds in the sky.

I put in the far hills and grasses and growies around the base of the large tree.

Pine Reflections 1 and 2

Today I went to the back of the property to do a little sketching by the Snelgrove Brook before it becomes overgrown with all the leaves on the deciduous trees and bushes as well as the tall grasses and growies.

I decided that I would like to do a diptych of the open area of the brook at the bottom of the field just before the start of the
forest at the south end of the property.

Pine Reflections 1

I started with the closest shore of the brook on both drawings so they matched.

I put in the basic ground line in first and added a few trees and grasses.

Next I put in the waterline of the far shore making sure it matched on both drawings.

Then I started adding in the rocks against the water's edge and put in some growies in the foreground behind the rocks and then added the pine trees and deciduous tree trunks.

Pine Reflections 2

Lastly I indicated the pine tree reflections into the water.

Three Ships

I was watching Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World on television and decided to do some sketches of the various ships.

Doing these quick sketches forces me to put down the most important parts of the ships and to get the proportion correct.

Then later on when I decide to turn the sketches into either watercolour or acrylic paintings I have a solid foundation from which to work.

Storm Waves I

















Battleships I












At Rest 1

Frozen Birches

This has been a long time in coming (see postings on 13 May 2010, 26 August 2012, 12 February and 28 February 2013), but I finally managed to complete this 6-1/4" x 9-1/4" monochromatic painting of a forest of birch trees.

I did this while at the last meeting with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group.

The Group will not meet to paint together again until the second Tuesday in September.

Now I have to get it framed up so I can enter it in the Monochrome show at KAGS where it will be available for $225.00.

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

Quarter Horse

Today I worked on a different kind of racehorse from the one I did earlier this month (see post on 01 April 2013) of the Standardbred.















This is a drawing of a racing Quarter Horse called Kurt King who used to race at Picov Downs many years ago.

This original 10" x 15" framed graphite pencil drawing is available for $165.00. SOLD

Crystal Clear I

Finally a nice, sunny and warmer day; I should be able to start working in my garden later this afternoon.

In the meantime I decided to work on this drawing of the tidal pool in front of our beach house that I started the last time I was at the CoCo View Resort on the island of Roatan in the Bay Islands of Honduras.












I hope to go back to Roatan again in a couple of years, the diving is fabulous whether you go boat diving or shore diving and it has become one of my favourite places to dive.

I have taken this drawing as far as I am going to for the day and now it is time to go outside and work in the garden.

Four Seasons - Buckhorn Lake Sketch

After nice weather yesterday there is now more white stuff on the ground. Although it is spring winter just doesn't want to let go its hold on the temperatures.

However, each season has its own kind of magic whether it is the view from the top of my hill in the glorious golden days of autumn; or the bare tree branches weaving a pattern of shadowed beauty across the glittering new fallen snow.

Winter is followed by the arrival of spring with its gorgeous palette of yellows and greens, the return of the a wide variety of birds and early blooming flowers; leading into the hot, humid and hazy days of summer and the exquisite beauty of the garden flowers that seem to last until the frost sends them once again into hibernation.













When I came across this sketch of Buckhorn Lake and I thought this one would be ideal to try to capture the enchantment and beauty of the same scene in each of the four seasons.

I will post each painting created from this sketch as they are completed and after I decide with which media I will create them.

Through the Storm

This painting is finally coming together after all this time (see postings on 10 Dec 2010, 23 Mar 2012, 31 Dec 2012 and 01 Mar 2013).















A little more shading using cobalt blue was put into the grey areas of the gull's back to give the bird more shape to coverts on the wings to add a little more definition to the feathers.

Then it was the small details that needed to be added to the Herring gull; the yellow rim around the eye and the small red spot on the lower part of the beak.

Next a little more definition with the dark colour on the flight feathers and then the final layer of Chinese white to the edges of the wings and on the white spots of the wing feathers.

This original 11-1/2" x 14-1/2" watercolour painting when framed will be available for $295.00.

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

Paradise I Revisited

Today I was going to frame this drawing that I had completed last year (see post on 18 November 2012), but the more I looked at it the more it didn't look finished.

The first thing I did was to add more details to the waves to give them a more three dimensional look and next I added more substance to the clouds.

The palm trees seemed a little too planted so I added more trees and some growies at the base of some of them to give it a more "lush" feeling.















The beach house needed some shadows added to the one side and the doorway needed a little more definition.

I thought about adding a few seabirds to the sky and decided that I didn't want it to look cluttered so I left it alone.

This framed 7-1/4" x 12" original pen and ink drawing is available for $150.00.

Landscape 133

Recently while going through an old box I found a bundle of small pieces of watercolour paper. I had cut the paper to fit into very small photograph frames when I did miniatures for gift shops in a couple of the hospitals in Toronto, Ontario many years ago.

I decided to paint a small snow scene and quickly washed in a sky with French ultramarine blue and using Antwerp blue painted in snow covered hills leaving some areas white for the sunlit snow.

Next I painted in the background evergreen trees using various mixes if French ultramarine blue, raw sienna, new gamboge, burnt sienna and Antwerp blue.

While waiting for the paint to dry I washed a small amount of raw sienna into some of the white areas of snow.

Using a little pure China white I painted in some birch trees.

This original 1-1/2" x 2-1/4” watercolour painting when matted and shrink wrapped will be available for $15.00

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

OSWOA - Light Rays 1

Today in our class with Neil Broadfoot we worked on two paintings. The subject matter was calm water and reflections using a limited palette.

In the first painting we used Antwerp blue, brown madder and alizarin crimson.

The bottom of the paper was wet with water to just below the horizon line. Using a dry brush and Antwerp blue the areas of sun touched water was painted in first and then mixtures of the three colours were used in the wet area for the water.

The top half of the paper was then wet above the horizon line and clouds were painted in using a mixture of Antwerp blue and brown madder.














While the paint was still wet the rays of light showing through the clouds was pulled out.

I will post the other painting showing reflections once it is completed.

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 $30.00 and sold unframed.

ACEO - Hidden 1

The power came back on sometime during the night. Having no power for three days was an interesting experience that I would rather not do again anytime in the near future.

I pulled this piece out that I had started last year and did a little more work on last month (see posting on 29 December 2012 and 24 March 2013).

Using various greens created using mixtures of French ultramarine blue, Antwerp blue, burnt sienna, raw sienna and new gamboge.

First the grasses at the bottom of the painting were indicated and some of the background colour was allowed to show through.

The green leaves of the bushes were put over the blue sponge work allowing some of the blue to show through in some areas as shadows.

While this  part of the painting was drying I added some small growies into the grasses with burnt sienna.

Small branches and twigs were painted into the bushes to complete the painting.

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

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

Crashing Surf

It has been an interesting few days with the power going out at 10:00am Friday morning and finally getting the power back shortly after 9:00pm tonight.

During the day I decided to work on this piece that I had started a few years ago (see post on 27 December 2010).










In the white areas of the spray on the waves I added various soft grey greens and yellow greens using various mixtures of raw sienna, Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue and aureolin.

A few areas in the waves needed to be darkened. For this I used French ultramarine blue, Antwerp blue and burnt sienna.

This original mixed media, collage when framed will be available for $185.00.

Power Outage and the Peterborough Garden Show

It has been and interesting couple of days so far with a power outage due to the ice storm and the freezing rain bringing down tree limbs onto the power lines.















I have been without power since yesterday at 10:00am and when I last called for an update I may have my power restored by 11:00pm tomorrow night and hopefully that won't change.

Needless to say I spent the day sitting the KAGS art display at the Peterborough Garden Show in the Evinrude Centre, 911 Monaghan Road, in Peterborough, Ontario, they at least had their power restored.

Spring Break Up

The freezing rain and ice pellets arrived during the night, knocking out the power for a couple of hours; hopefully it won't happen again during the day.

Getting down to the barn to feed the horses and cats was an interesting event; between getting hit in the face with ice pellets and trying to stay upright on the slippery surface, but I succeeded. The nice thing was going back to the house after the chores were finished I had the wind behind me, pushing me towards the house and a nice hot cup of tea.













It is the middle of April and I keep hoping for spring to arrive, so I thought I would complete this painting showing the ice is starting to break up on Long Lake.

This original 9" x 12" watercolour when framed will be available for $180.00.

Volcano

This morning I helped set up the panels for the Peterborough Garden Show at the Evinrude Centre, 911 Monaghan Road, Peterborough, Ontario. The show runs from 12-14 April 2013 and I hope the forecast for bad weather does not prevent you from coming out and seeing this exhibition.

Once I returned home I decided that I would work on this piece that I had started quite a while ago (see post on 26 December 2010).












I wanted to keep the white of the oriental papers as though it was steam rising out of the lava and to keep some of the lighter areas looking as though a steamy mist was just hovering over the moving lava.

Using various mixtures of alizarin crimson, aureolin, new gamboge, cadmium yellow and cadmium red I went into the bottom area of lava and tried to give it a flowing effect and to get rid of some of the white areas in the lava.

Using a mixture of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson, I brushed in some streamers of dark ash rising up from the lava.












Next with, cadmium red, cadmium yellow, lemon yellow and alizarin crimson I added small dots of glowing sparks through the areas of ash.

This original 7" x 12" mixed media, collage when framed will be available for $185.00.

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

OSWOA - Evening Sky 3

Evening is a peaceful time on the lake in the summer, often the breeze dies down and the haunting call of a loon echoes across the water.

It is time to put your feet up and relax after the hustle and bustle of a busy day.














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 $40.00 and sold unframed.

ACEO - Reeds 4- 6

Today I painted with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group and pulled these three paintings out to work on them and get them completed.

I decided to do a little more work on this one (see posts on 30 October 2012 and 09 November 2012) and brighten up the fluff on the cattails and add a few more lights and darks into the reeds.



Reeds 4

I then worked between the first one and the second painting (see posts on 30 October 2012 and 09 January 2013) to be sure that the edges matched.

Next I added more reeds into the bottom of the painting and put in more highlights and shadows onto some of the more detailed reeds.

Lastly I painted the fluff onto a couple of the cattails.

Reeds 5

Working between the second and third painting I added reeds to look as though they were a continuing extension following the same placement as though a part of the same painting.

Once that had been put into place I then brushed in the rest of the reeds using various mixtures of greens. Lastly adding the cattails and putting the fluff on a couple of them to complete this piece.

Reeds 6

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 Windsor & Newton paint on 300lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. They are priced at $20.00 each and sold unframed.

I think the three of them together would make an interesting triptych and if I do decide to frame this set, the price would be $225.00.

Great Horned Owl

Today I had the opportunity to work from a stuffed mount of a Great Horned Owl that was brought to a friend's home that would be picked up later that day by a carver who wanted to use it as a model for one of his carvings.












I worked on a number of sketches until I was sure the anatomy was correct.

Once the drawing was blocked in I gradually added details to the line drawing starting with the head.

One of the most important things was to get the correct shape of the beak and how the eyes were positioned with the large area of the mask around them.

The placement of the feathered ears came next.

I wanted to get the head of the bird completed first and more details and some shading was added to give it shape.

Then I worked through the body and the placement of the wings.

Details were added to the feet and then the talons were given shape and darkened. Feathering was added to the legs.

Moving up the body the structure of the inside of the wings was indicated and the tops of the wings were given a little more detail and shading.

I was able to add some roundness to the body before the carver arrived to take the owl away.

This original 9" x 12" graphite pencil drawing when matted and shrink wrapped will be available for $75.00.

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

Spring Show at the Kawartha Artists' Gallery and Studio

Today is the opening of the Kawartha Artists' Gallery and Studio all member spring show entitled "Unfolding".

The exhibit was fairly well attended with two paintings being purchased on opening day.







The show runs from 07 April to 02 May 2013.

Hopefully some of you will be able to come out and enjoy the show.

By the Window

While sorting through some files I came across this painting that I had started a couple of years ago (see post on 25 August 2011).

It didn't need much to have it completed so I decided to work on it and the bonus was that I already had a mat and frame that the painting would fit.

I painted in the background in the lower left side window pane and added a little more colour to the other three window panes to have them with similar colours throughout.

Lastly, I added greenery in among the flowers and painted in the negative to give definition to the daisies.

This original 4-3/4" x 9” watercolour when framed will be available for $125.00.

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 April.

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

Spotted Eagle Ray

I took two paintings in for the Unfolding show at KAGS today and with the paintings that I saw at the gallery it should be an interesting show.

Now that I have returned home I wanted to complete this painting of the Spotted Eagle Rays.














This original 10" x 14" acrylic painting when framed will be available for $250.00

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

Confirmed Shows for 2013 - April

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
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.

The Evinrude Centre, 911 Monaghan Road, Peterborough Ont.
12-14 Apr Peterborough Garden Show

The Arts Department - Art On Kent, Lindsay, Ont.
TAD
09 May -01 Jun 13 Teeth, Talons and Tails
Opening Reception 10 May 13 from 6-7:30pm.
06-29 Jun 13 Body of Work
Opening Reception 07 Jun 13 from 6-7:30pm.
04-27 Jul 13 Annual Members' Show
Opening Reception 05 Jul 13 from 6-7:30pm.
21 Nov 13 - 11 Jan 14 Affordableism
Opening Reception 22 Nov 13 from 6-7:30pm.

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

Community Living Peterborough
Canadian Canoe Museum, 910 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough, Ont.
15-22 Jun 13 Peterborough in Portrait: Our Inclusive Community

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  Above and Below the Reef
Opening Reception 01 Aug from 7-8:30pm.
19 Nov - 20 Dec Annual Christrmas Show

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

A Secret Place

Today I couldn't get into finishing a painting or starting anything serious, so I decided to play and work on a mixed media piece.

I came across some rubber stamps of snowflakes that I used with my daughter when she was a little girl and thought I could use them in this painting.

Using cadmium yellow, aureolin and Antwerp blue I put a flat wash of colour over the paper.

While the background paint was drying I mixed a small pool of burnt sienna and raw sienna, then another of lemon yellow and cobalt blue and a larger one of French ultramarine blue and raw sienna.

I put the first mix into some areas by pouring it and rolling it around on the paper.

Using the larger pool of dark green I poured it over some areas of the paper, rolled it around and with a sponge I created some leaf like shapes being careful to leave some areas of the background colour showing through.

Then with the sponge and the last pool of medium green I put areas on around the edges of the painting and in a few areas to create some lighter coloured leaves.

The painting was then set aside to dry.














With a heavy mix of China white and cobalt blue I applied it to some of the snowflake stamps and pressed the image in a couple of areas on top of the darker green paint.

I also splattered some of this paint throughout the painting.

Using pure burnt sienna I put in a few branches through the painting to tie all the leafy areas together.

With gold paint I lightly splattered a little into the bottom of the painting first. Then I put in a few star shapes, small branches and twigs, as well as highlighting some of the larger branches.

Lastly I washed some glitter paint throughout areas of the painting and set it aside to dry.

This original 4-1/2" x 6-1/2" mixed media painting when framed will be available for $85.00.

I would like to thank Mr. Derrick Ryan of Hastings, Ontario on his purchase of Bufflehead Duck (see post on 16 November 2012).

The Standardbred

With having started a painting of Standardbred horses coming through the final turn as they head down the lane toward the finish post last month, I thought I should complete this drawing of a Standardbred stallion called Remlap Joe that my parents owned and raced many years ago.















This framed, original 10" x 11-1/4" graphite pencil drawing is available for $185.00.

I will continue to post the painting I finish each day during the course of the month. I hope you will return often to see the postings.