Flower Power

No rain, but the crowds just aren't coming out with the threat of a thunderstorm in the air.














I decided that I would try and finish some of the paintings that didn't need a lot of work to complete and I chose this one that I had started last year (see post on 04 May 2012).

This framed, original watercolour painting is available for $175.00.

The Cobourg Waterfront Festival

Today was the first day of the Cobourg Waterfront Festival.


















It was a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine and we were fortunate to have a breeze which kept it from becoming too hot and humid.


















With the threat of a thunderstorm today the crowds were very light and I was able to work on a number of paintings that I had started earlier.


















This painting (see posting on 15 August 2012) needed some autumn colours added into the background hills as well as brighter colour into the foreground deciduous trees. I also added the reflections of the autumn colours into the water.













Shoreline 2 is an original 4" x 6" watercolour and is available unframed for SOLD

Body Works Art Show

Today was a very hot and humid day and first thing in the morning I had to head to Cobourg to set up the Lions' Club Art Show.









I had to have it completed in a timely manner so that I would be able to get to Lindsay where I had to sit the Body Works show at Art on Kent.

While there I chose to work on this painting that I had started a while ago (see post on 21 August 2010) and just needed a few growies added into the foreground to have it completed.














Winter Sunset is an original 5" x 6-3/4” watercolour which when framed will be available for $125.00.

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

Windmill 1 - 3

Today was very busy day for me as first thing this morning I had to go to the Visitors' Centre in Algonquin Provincial Park to tear down the Nature's Palette show.

I then returned to Peterborough and picked up my painting at the Canadian Canoe Museum from the Peterborough in Portrait: Our Inclusive Community exhibit and fortunately I had an extra box as they threw the out.

Windmill 1

Even though I did a lot of running around today I also took the time to do a few quick sketches along the way to and from Algonquin Provincial Park.

Since the sun was coming up as I went past a farm that had a windmill silhouetted against the sky, I had to turn around and go back to do a quick sketch of the windmill standing alone in the field which, at a later date I make into a painting.

Windmill 2

Further along the way I came across another windmill in the field and the sun was much higher in the sky which changed the lighting on the windmill.

Once again I stopped and did another sketch of that windmill and took a number of photographs before continuing on my way.

On my way to Peterborough I came across a third windmill and did another sketch.

Windmill 3

Perhaps I will use these sketches to create the four seasons with windmills, or various times of day, who knows what I will do, but at least I will have captured a part of the past that is rapidly disappearing.

Anemone

Today I wanted to finish this painting of the anemone (see postings on 24 Mar 2012, 26 and 28 Jul 2012 and Dec 2012) in order to have another painting completed for the Above and Below the Reef Show at The Lindsay Gallery.














This 8" x 10" original acrylic painting when framed will be available for $225.00.

OSWOA - Magnetawan River 2

This was a painting I started the first time I went to Magnetawan (see posting on 28 October 2011) and finally got around to doing some work on it.

The hardest part was to put in the water and trying to make it look as though the water is running over top of some of the rocks that are just below the surface..













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

The OSWOA shown here are all 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 - On the Reef 2

This painting was originally called Sponge Work C (see post on 29 Dec 2012) and I have changed the name to On the Reef 2.

I saw a small seahorse shape in the coral and painted it in using cadmium red. Using cadmium yellow, I put in the under paint on a Yellow Tang.

I washed cobalt blue into the top of the painting and set it aside to dry while I decided which kinds of fish to put throughout the coral.














I started by putting in a small school of five French grunts among the top of the plants. This was followed by adding in a rock beauty, a squirrelfish, another yellow tang and a small starfish.

From there using various mixtures of cadmium red, cadmium red, alizarin crimson, burnt sienna, new gamboge, lemon yellow and French ultramarine blue, I put in various tube sponges, elk horn coral, sea fans and seaweed throughout the reef.

With a pale wash of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I dulled down the bright white areas.















Using raw sienna, Antwerp blue and burnt sienna I put in some of the coral and vegetation on the sea floor.

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 90lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

Tied Up 1 and 2

Today is the opening of the Monochrome and Black and White exhibit at KAGS.















Tied Up 1

While at the show I worked on a couple of drawings of boats tied up close to shore.

The first was of a single boat tied up in rough water.















Tied Up 2

The second drawing was of a number of boats tied up in fairly calm water.

The show runs through to 11 July 2013, I hope you will be able to come out and enjoy the show.

Galloping Pair

Today I wanted to finish this painting that I had started earlier this year (see posts on 15 January, 10 March and 19 May 2013).

Ii didn't take very long to paint the second horse once I decided what colour I wanted it to be; in this case a palomino with a greyed mane and tail. 












This original 2" x 3-3/4" original watercolour when framed will be available for $60.00.

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

Sand Bucket 1

Today I wanted to do something fairly simple and I started playing with shapes.

As my sketch began to develop it turned into a bucket lying on its side and I thought on a beach would be perfect.















I sketched in the sand and put in some seaweed into the foreground.

As a finishing touch I added in the lake or ocean behind the bucket and the wave running up onto the shore.

Monochrome and Black & White Show Poster

Since I am one of the co-convenors with Margaret, today we will be at KAGS  for the first part of the take-in for the show.

The show opening is on 23 June 13 from 1-4pm. You are welcome to come out enjoy the art and meet many of the artists. I hope to see some of you there.

Buildings VI-IX

Today I decided to take a drive along Highway 134 and look for interesting buildings to sketch. I was fortunate to find a number of them during the afternoon.












Roadway I

It wasn't long before I found a long roadway leading off the highway to some farm buildings near the top of a hill.













Abandoned House I

As I continued on my way, down in a dip in the road partially hidden in among the tall grass and trees growing up around it there was a small abandoned building with a couple of broken windows and the shingles slowly falling away from the roof.














Street Scene III

Just before lunchtime, I came across a small town and stopped to do a quick sketch of the main street that wound up a hill.














Old Buildings III

I had lunch at the local restaurant which was at the top of the hill. The building was interesting so I did a small outline drawing before I carried on along another road that would take back home.

Buildings I-V

Today I went out and decided that I would work on location and pull off on the side of the road and do quick sketches of various building and scenery as I drove along Highway 507.













Run In Sheds I

The first thing that attracted my interest was some old run in sheds in an overgrown field alongside the highway.
















Lily Pond I

As I continued past Flynn's Corners I found in the marsh an old barn reflected in the water among the white lily pads in bloom.














Farm House I

Not too far away, was an old farm house that probably went with the barn near the marsh.















Church I

Heading into the town I came across a church by the side of the road with a fairly large parking lot for the congregation.














Stone House I

As I started along another road that would take me back home I found this stone hose with a large maple tree in the front lawn.

I was pleased with today's sketches, many of which came easily be made into paintings at a later date.

Lost Marble 1

Today I was on a telephone call with my brother and while I was talking with him I decided to doodle.

I was just playing with simple shapes and I ended up with a drawing of a marble and its shadow.















I liked the simplicity of the image and in the future I may do a series with more than one marble or perhaps marbles of various colours and types.

Still Life Trio

I came across the original pencil sketch for nine still life paintings that I had started a couple of years ago (see posts on 13 and 14 March 2011) two of which were completed (see posts on 16 and 17 September 2012).















I decided to do more work on the sketch and will remove the writing from the completed drawing.

Long Lake I-VI

Today Ron and I went up to Long Lake, which is on the west side of Highway 28 just south of Apsley for a day trip with the canoe.

Long Lake is one of the many lakes found within the boundaries of the Kawartha Highlands Signature Site. As its name implies it is a long narrow lake that reaches depths of up to 80' (24.4m).

Long Lake I

It consists of four basins connected by three narrows. The lake supports natural and stocked populations of lake trout, rainbow trout, speckled trout, walleye and is well known for large mouth and small mouth bass fishing.

We paddled up the lake from the launch site and towards late afternoon turned around and allowed the wind and current to carry us back.

While I sketched and took many reference photographs of the stately pine trees, rocky shoreline and pink granite cliffs Ron spent his time fishing and did catch a nice, large mouth bass.


Long Lake III

Unfortunately, the wind caught the edge of my sketchbook while I was taking the hook out of the bass's mouth and three of my sketches ended up in the water and sank before they could be recovered.















Long Lake II

But the bass was quite happy to be back in the lake and not ending up in a frying pan.















Long Lake IV

Fortunately, since I had reference photographs which will eventually end up as paintings, I wasn't upset by the loss of the drawings and continued to sketch.















Long Lake V

These are a few of the sketches I did afterward until we returned to the launch site as the sun was setting.















Long Lake VI

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Northern Island 1

I came across some photographs in the family album of when I was nine years old on a family vacation near Parry Sound, Ontario.

The log cottage we in stayed at was located on Georgia Bay and right across from the small inlet in front of the cottage was an island that we would swim over to during the day and explore.

The four of us would often go out on the Bay in the small motor boat to go fishing.















My Mom caught a Northern Pike that was slightly less than 40" (1 metre) long and it broke the small weight scale we had so I do not know what it weighted, but it was large enough to give us more than one meal.

I did this little sketch of the island and I may do a few more of them at a later date.

West Barn I

Today had some of my friends over for a paint out at the farm which was a lot of fun.

They arrived around 10:00am, had a cup of tea or coffee before settling down and finding a place to paint or sketch.

Lunch time was enjoyable with many of the artists having completed some drawings or sketches and had a good start on a painting.















In the afternoon I joined some of the group that was working on drawings or paintings of my barns.

Everyone had a wonderful time and succeeded in getting a drawing or painting completed.

I did this outline drawing of the west barn which is the one closest to the house.

Spice Jar 1

Today, I decided to make a large pot of beef stew and while the meat was cooking I started looking at various jars of seasoning that I used for the stew.

It didn't take long for me to pull out a pencil and a piece of paper and start working on a drawing of the jar that held the parsley.

I was pleased with the results of this drawing and in the future I may do a series of spice jars of various shapes, colours and sizes. Especially, since I have a large collection of spices, most of which are in different containers.

For now, I had better get back to cutting the vegetables that I have to put into my stew and allow them to cook.

OSWOA - Winter Night 1

This is a painting that I started a while ago and have been working on a little bit at a time (see posts on 22 Dec 2011 and 18 Feb 2013).

Today I added the tree on the right hand side of the painting and added the growies that are so often found at the base of most trees.













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.

ACEO - Hazy Day 1

The days are getting warmer and more humid so I thought I would work on this painting I had started last year of a summer day (see posts on 07 July 2012 and 25 May 2013).

I started with the background and put in the distant field with a mixture of Antwerp blue and new gamboge.

The trees against the skyline were various mixtures of French ultramarine blue, Antwerp blue and new gamboge.

Using mixtures of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna the tree trunks and main branches were painted into the foreground.














With a sponge I applied the layers of green leaves on the foreground trees with mixtures of both blues, raw sienna and new gamboge.

Lastly the foreground bushes were put in with the darker mixture of the leave colours.

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.

Clear Lake I-IX

Today after barn chores were finished we decided to take a short drive and go out on one of the nearby lakes in the canoe.

Once everything was loaded, we were soon on Highway 28 to find one of the marinas on either Clear Lake or Stoney Lake.

We found a marina just off the highway with a public boat launch and we were soon out on Clear Lake.

We decided to head toward Youngs Point Lock 27 instead of going up and into Stoney Lake.

Clear Lake I

As usual we paddled until lunch time and then stopped to have our lunch before turning around to head back to our launch site.

Clear Lake is one of three interconnected lakes which form the eastern end of the Kawartha lakes region.

The area to the northeast is Upper Stoney Lake, in the centre is Stoney Lake and stretching to the southwest is Clear Lake.

Clear Lake III

Clear Lake has a maximum depth 30' (9m) with an average depth of 17' (5.2m). It is home to bluegill, carp, large and smallmouth bass, rock bass, muskellunge, yellow perch and white sucker.

Ron caught three small mouth bass and I did nine sketches and had reference photographs, some of which will end up as paintings.

Clear Lake V















Clear Lake II











Clear Lake IV













Clear Lake VI













Clear Lake VII












Clear Lake VIII















Clear Lake IX