Foggy Forest 1

Today I am heading for the Knoepfli Inn in Magnetawan, Ontario.

On my way to meet the other members of the KAGS Outdoor Painters Group in Buckhorn I stopped to do a quick sketch of the trees shrouded in the morning fog.














I am looking forward to spending time at the Inn and drawing and painting the wonderful scenery.

I hope you will return often to see the postings.

New Day Dawning I

New Day Dawning I is an original 6" x 6" acrylic painting that I am submitting for the Peterborough Regional Health Centre - Collective Vision - Quilt for Hope which will be displayed in the Mental Health Unit.














I will post the completed Quilt for Hope at a later date once it has been assembled.

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

Barns VII-XI

I had such an enjoyable day earlier this week driving through the countryside and finding interesting barns to sketch, I thought I would do it again today, this time I will take Highway 134 and go toward Keene, Ontario. 









Barn VII

Just north of Lakefield, Ontario I came across this barn that was in a field, below the level of the highway.













Barn VIII

A little further along the highway was a farm offering hay rides and they had a small herd of Gypsy Vanners. I liked the big sleigh they had in the field by the barns.














Barn IX

Right on the corner of Highway 134 and County Road 8 there was a large barn and in a small overgrown field beside it there was this smaller barn in among the trees which was quite interesting and had many broken boards.














Barn X

Shortly after crossing Highway 7 there are pastures with sheep grazing up on the hilly land and this large barn is just off one of the side roads; it is in good shape and well maintained.















Barn XI

It was late in the afternoon and from the sheep farm I turned around and started heading home when I came across this barn just off the road on another side road. It is falling down and appears to not being maintained.

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

OSWOA - Reflections 4

This is a painting I started in a workshop with Neil Broadfoot (see posting on 12 May 2013) and put in the greenery to match the reflections in the water.













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 - Evening Sky 2

This is a painting I started last month (see post on 23 August 2013).

The closer island had been lightly sketched in and using French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna the rocks were painted first.

Then using the same colour the reflections were added below the rocks in the water.

The trunks of the pine trees were indicated using a pale mix of the rock colour.

Using various mixtures of French ultramarine blue, Antwerp blue, burnt sienna and raw sienna the pine needles were put onto the trees.

Some grasses were put in at the base of the trees using burnt sienna and raw sienna.

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.

Barns I-VI

After painting with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group yesterday on the way home I noticed a number of interesting barns on the drive home. So I decided to go out today and start on Highway 507 (County Road 23) and perhaps take some of the side roads.

As I traveled along Selwyn Road to get to the highway I found this barn on the corner and turned onto one of the side roads to get a better view.














Barn I

Back on Selwyn Road I saw this barn through the trees and as there was no access to a side road to be able to see the barn better I had to make due with what I was available.













Barn II

The next barn I found was on Highway 507and was fairly easy to see without having to get off the shoulder of the road.












Barn III

As I continued up the highway I remembered seeing another in barn when I cut across County Road 15 to get to Highway 28. It was easy to find and I took the time to get a detailed sketch.















Barn IV

I turned around and headed back toward Highway 507 and came across another barn just before the getting to the highway.











Barn V

A little further along the 507 I came across this L barn with an attached shed, near the highway and after completing the sketch I looked at the clock and decided it was time to turn around and head home.













Barn VI

I am pleased with the results of my day out and ended up with a number of drawings that could work into some very nice paintings.

Buggy 1

Today I stopped and did this little drawing of a buggy on Highway 7B (also known as the Lindsay Road) as I was on my way home.

It was in front of the Bingo Barn and surrounded with a variety of pumpkins, sheaves of corn and bales of hay.















I can see this buggy being used in a number of paintings featuring the various seasons of the year.

I would like to thank new collector Mrs. Sharon Tate of Toronto, Ontario on her purchase of Baby (see post on 21 August 2013).

Snelgrove Brook 1

Today as I was driving home, I stopped and did this little sketch of the Snelgrove Brook that runs along the side of the road on my way home.

When I first moved out here the Brook, in the spring when the ice melted would usually run over the road washing parts of it out. One year it washed out so bad that they had to close the road on the south end.















That year I rode my hunter mare, Buck down the road through the water. On my way back home a couple of people in a BMW Mini Cooper asked if they could make it to the end of the road. I just shook my head and let them know the water was up over my horse's knees (which was about halfway up the side of the car door).

Needless to say, they turned around and found another road to take them down into Peterborough.

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

Skimming the Waves I

Yesterday we went to the dump and while Ron was unloading the trailer of trash collected from the property I was taking photographs of the seagulls which scavenge for food at the dump.







I also did this quick sketch of a gull in flight and rather than having him flying over garbage I added waves below his wings.

Birch Trio 1 and 2

After doing a couple of sketches of maple trees yesterday I thought I would like to do the same with birch trees today.

Once again I started in the bottom field near the Snelgrove Brook, this time a little closer to the centre of the fence line, where there are a number of full grown birch trees.

I sketched one of the sections with three birch trees where there had at one time been five birches. The two missing ones were lost to a beaver cutting it down and only the stump remains.

Birch Trio 1

The other was blown over in a wind storm last year and the upended roots remain and most of the rest of the tree was harvested by the beavers.

Once this sketch was completed I went into the sugar bush which is on the north east end of the property and found some birch trees along the main trail through woodlot.

These ones are younger and thinner trees due to them having to compete with the larger maple trees for sunlight in this 4 acre (1.6ha) forest.

It didn't take long for me to do this sketch.

Birch Trio 2

As I continued through the sugar bush on my way back to the house I noted that even here the trees are not immune to the raging winds as throughout the woods there were a number of old maples that were torn up by the roots that will have to be cut up for firewood over the coming winter.

Autumn Maples 1 and 2

Autumn is my favourite time of the year and I enjoy looking out over the 300 acres (121.4 hectares) of mixed forest at the bottom of the hill with it multitude of colours.

The bright yellows of the birch, elm and beech trees, the glowing reds and oranges of the maples and later in the season the golden colours of the tamaracks standing out against the cedar, pine and spruce trees.

Each year brings a different kaleidoscope of colour and patterns throughout the forest depending on the changes in the weather.

Autumn Maples 1

In the bottom field by the Snelgrove Brook there is a stand of Swamp Maples, also known as Red Maple (Acer Rubrum).

They are one of the first to change colour in the late summer when the temperature starts to drop more than 10 degrees during night.

I did a quick sketch of them capturing the way the trunks and branches bend.

At the north west end of the track there are three maples I call the stop lights because one is yellow green, one is orange and one is red.

Autumn Maples 2

I did this sketch of them showing the fields and the road on the other side of the fence.

Marbles

Today I was at the Kawartha Artists' Gallery and Studio sitting the show this afternoon.

We had a large number of people coming in to view the current show, Rural Scenes and I was not able to work on a painting.















Instead, when I came across a couple of marbles in the pencil tray on the desk, I started working on a few sketches of marbles.

I was fairly pleased with the three sketches and I may develop them into paintings at a later date.

Lighthouse 3 and 4

Today I was in the mood to work on something different and since last night I was watching a program on television of the east coast, I thought I would do a couple of lighthouses from memory.

They probably won't look like any of the ones I saw last night but the basics of most lighthouses are similar.

For my first one I did it in a portrait format and placing the lighthouse on the left side of the paper.

Below the lighthouse I placed the rocks with the breakers crashing against them and waves racing toward the shore.

Lighthouse 3

Lastly, I put a moon or a setting sun in the sky. If I was to do it as a painting that is a decision I would have to make or perhaps do one of each.















Lighthouse 4

For my second one, I used the landscape format and instead of doing a cylinder shape for the lighthouse I used more of a pyramid shape.

Again, I put in the rock base, the breakers and in this case I think it should be a sunset should I do it as a painting. 

Fence Line 2

This morning is the first day we have had frost on the ground. It looks as though it will be an early winter this year.

I am sitting the Rural Scenes art show at KAGS this afternoon.














I thought since it was a rural scenes show that I would work on a country scene that is common to the area.

I did this sketch of a local farm driveway that is on Highway 7B (also known as the Lindsay Road).

Along the Shore 1-3

I was going through some photographs of the Caribbean that I had taken over a number of years on various islands.















Along the Shore 1

I came across these pictures from Aruba and thought that I would do a few drawings of the sandy beaches and the rocky shores.















Along the Shore 2

Any drawing of the sand and surf in the Caribbean wouldn't be complete unless it had a number of seagulls in the sky.














Along the Shore 3

I may at a later date do paintings from each of these drawings.

Beachcomber I

It has taken us a good part of the summer to paint the house, but it is finally finished.

We even gave a coat of paint to She-Ra's doghouse so she wouldn't feel that we neglected her and it made her summer house look nice.














Now I we can relax and perhaps this winter we will return to the Caribbean.

With those thoughts in mind I did this little sketch of a seagull on the beach.













Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Long Lake VII-X

Long Lake is one of many lakes that can be found in the Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park (officially called the Kawartha Highlands Signature Site).

It is located completely within the County of Peterborough, with approximately two-thirds in the township of North Kawartha and the remainder in the township of Trent Lakes.

It is one of the largest areas of preserved wilderness in the southern part of Ontario, second only to Algonquin Provincial Park.

Long Lake X

The Park was expanded from its original size of 7.2miles squared or 4,608 acres (18.7km squared or 1,864.8ha) to its current size of 145 miles squared or 92,879.5 acres (375.6km squares or 37,587.3ha) in June of 2003 also making it one of the newest.

As of May 2011 the park officially became operational and ministry permits are now required for camping and parking.














Long Lake VII

At most of the launch sites to the lakes one can find the Official Ontario Parks' map posted.

The campsites are designated and provided with picnic tables, fire rings and thunder boxes. It also indicates the park boundaries and excludes the small tracts of land which contain pre-existing cottages.















Long Lake VIII

While the weather has cooled down, it was nice to take the canoe out on the lake before it gets so cold that it is not a pleasant experience.

With the weather report calling for a rainy weekend there were not too many cottagers on the lake; making it fairly quiet and we were able to relax in the peaceful atmosphere and enjoy the natural beauty of the landscape as we paddled up the clean, deep waters of Long Lake which are primarily known for their bass fishing.














Long Lake IX

Once we turned the canoe to head back to the launch site Ron caught three large mouth bass while I took photographs and did a number of sketches of the relatively undeveloped landscape, the windswept pine trees, rocky shoreline and a heron resting on a partially submerged log.

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

Rural Scenes

Today I took my paintings in for the Rural Scenes show at KAGS.

There are many nice paintings already entered for the show and I look forward to seeing how everything looks once it has been hung for the show opening on Sunday.

If you have a chance, please come out and meet many of the artists and enjoy the show.  The hours are from 1-4pm on 15 September 2013 for the opening and at the same time daily through to 03 October 2013. to 03 October 2013.

Morning Fog 1 and 2

At this time of the year we often have fog overnight or in the early morning when the sun rises, especially in the low lying areas or on the water.

Accompanied by She-Ra as I took my usual morning walk, I headed down toward the Snelgrove Brook at the east end of the property.

The sun was up and trying to peek through the fog that covered most of the bottom fields and hid the far hills from sight.

When I arrived at the edge of the brook the sun was reflected in an area of open water.

Morning Fog 2

All that could be seen were the closer bull rushes and a few of the trees on the far shore appeared eerily as the fog moved across the water and then disappeared.















Morning Fog 1

I took a couple of photographs to capture the essence of the scene before taking out my sketchbook and drew what I saw in these two sketches before I started back home to get started on the barn chores.

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

OSWOA - Snow Flurries 1 and 2

These are two paintings that I had started last year (see posting on 30 Jan 2012) and I have looked at them off and on for a while trying to decide how I would finish them.













Snow Flurries 1

While at the Kawartha Art Festival  I chose to work on these two paintings and thought they would go well together as a diptych and that is how they are going to be framed.

I finished them today by adding the growies at the base of the trees and adding a few dead or broken branches to the trees.













Snow Flurries 2

These two original 4" x 6" paintings when framed as a diptych will be available at $190.00.

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 paintings using Artist quality Windsor & Newton paint on 300lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper.

ACEO - Rocky Shore 1

Today I painted with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group and I wanted to work on this painting that I had started earlier this year (see posts on 17 July, 17 and 24 August 2014).

I added the branches and the dark markings onto the birch trees.

Using raw sienna and cadmium yellow I painted in the leaves on the birch trees.

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.

Long Lake III

I thought I would finish with pen and ink the third of the three sketches on one page I did earlier this year (see post on 15 June 2013) while out on Long Lake.

As usual I started by indicating the distant trees with vertical lines.

Next I indicated the tops of the rocks on the outcropping of land extending into the lake.

On this piece of land there were a lot of dead trees with some new growth of trees scattered in between with a lot of growies at their base.

Lastly, I put in the reflections of the new trees into the water.

This original 4" x 5-1/2” pen and ink drawing when stretched, matted and shrink wrapped will be available for $30.00.

Home

Today we spent most of the afternoon on painting the last wall of the house and ran out of the main colour and the trim paint. This means that tomorrow I will have to go and get another two gallons of the house colour and another gallon of the trim.

It looks like it will be next weekend before the painting on the house is finally completed.

I wanted to get on doing some painting of my own and since we have been working on the house for so long I decided that I would like to complete this painting of the house that I had started a while ago (see post on13 Mar 2012).

This painting is as I see the farm from the North West corner of the track. With the rise of the ground in the infield the track and the driveway are hidden from view.








I added some growies into the infield and a few birds into the sky. I don't think it needs anything more added.

This original 5" x 14" watercolour painting when framed will be available for $225.00

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

Long Lake II

I thought today I would continue to work in pen and ink on my sketches that I did while canoeing on Long Lake with Ron earlier this year (see post on 15 June 2013).

I started by putting in the background trees with mainly long and short lines and put in an occasional pine tree which towers over the other trees or one that is in the foreground.

Next I outlined the top of the main rocks as a base for grounding the trees on the island.

The main trees were then put onto the island followed by some growies at their base.

Next reflections of the distant shore, the rock and trees were then indicated to place the island in the water of the lake.

Lastly, the cracks and the shadows were put onto the rocks and a few growies were indicated.

This original 4-3/4" x 6” pen and ink drawing when stretched, matted and shrink wrapped will be available for $30.00.

Long Lake I

Most of the bottom part of the last east section is finished. Hopefully we will finish the last of it this weekend.

With that done I can now work on some sketches I started earlier this year (see post on 15 June 2013) the first time we when we went canoeing on Long Lake in the Kawartha Highlands Signature Site.

It had been an interesting day, with some of my sketches carried away by the wind and sinking into the lake.

Later another page also went overboard but I was able to get it back. This is one of three sketches that were on the page.

Years ago when I did pen and ink drawings I would do them in stipple (pointillism) which was very time consuming.

It did however; give fine detail and some very lovely effects to the drawing especially when a watercolour wash was applied.

Lately I have been using with long and short lines.

This original 4" x 5” pen and ink drawing once it has been stretched, matted and shrink wrapped will be available for $30.00.

Shades of Autumn

This is a painting I seem to work on once a year (see posts on 11 December 2010, 13 January 2011 and 12 February 2012), but it is going to get finished today.

I wanted to give a little more definition to the top of the rocks so I darkened a couple of the lighter coloured trees and added a smaller tree.

Next I added some darker coloured pine trees into the bottom of the painting.

Then I added some brightly coloured leaves onto the deciduous trees using cadmium red and cadmium yellow throughout the painting.

Lastly I added some definition on the rocks with burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue.

When framed, this original 6" x 8-3/4” watercolour painting will be available for $150.00.

Bend in the Road

The temperatures having dropped well below the seasonal norms and going to do the barn chores in the morning in 40-46F (4-8C) you can almost tell that we will have an early winter and the snow will be here soon.














I thought it would be fitting to finish this painting of a snow scene. It has taken a while (see post on 09 Mar 2010) until I decided how to complete the picture. I added a skier into the painting to give it a center of interest.

This original 11" x 15" watercolour painting when framed will be available for $295.00.

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 September.

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

Skeleton I

Today I was just playing with skeletons. In this case a tree skeleton and I added a very thin horse that looks basically like a skeleton with a blanket thrown over it.

This little 2-3/4" x 3-1/4" original pen and ink drawing is available matted and shrink wrapped for $20.00.


Ron finished stripping the paint off the last east wall and I will begin painting the lower section over the next couple of days.














Thank you for looking at my artwork.