Hockey Equipment - A Work in Progress

It is -1F (-18C) and snowing; it is wonderful weather for New Year's Eve.

My nephew Manny Legacé is playing in the 2013 NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game held at Comerica Park's Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan.

The alternate goalie in the game was Chris Osgood who let in 4 of the 5 goals scored against Detroit in regular play.

The only goal Manny let in was scored in the final 2 seconds of the game which put the game into overtime with a three man per team shoot out against the goalies.

Detroit shot first and scored one goal against the Toronto goalie Michael Palmateer. With the pressure on to not let a puck into the net for the win Manny showed his true colours and the final score was 6-5 for Detroit.















I thought it fitting to do a little work on this painting of hockey equipment that I had started last year (see posting on 15 December 2012)  in one of the Still Life classes at KAGS.

I started by using burnt sienna and applied the first layer of paint on all leather pieces of equipment; the shoulder pads, hockey skates, the gloves  and a small amount on the  hickey stick.

While that was drying, I decided I would work on the trophy.  First, I had to do a little drawing to tighten up the hockey player and fix the base of the trophy.

Using aureolin I applied a wash of colour over the hockey player and on the brass plate on the trophy.

I will post this painting at a later date once I do more work on the hockey equipment.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Pink Sky 1 - A Work in Progress

Well after having two days of not quite making it above the freezing mark, with the high being 30F (-1C) we have plunged once more into the deep freeze.

I can hear the boards on the house cracking and popping as the temperature drops and the nails holding them in place shrink with the cold. It is currently -8F (-22C) and the temperature is to continue to drop throughout the day. But at least it is bright and sunny outside.













A winter scene seemed fitting to work on for today. I pulled this one out that I had started back in November with my Beginner Watercolour class at KAGS (see post on 12 December 2013).

I started by adding some various greens to the needles ad adding more detail to the trunks of the trees as well as adding some of the dead and broken branches.

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

Sailboat Sketch 1 and 2 - Two Works in Progress

I seem to be on a ship trend at the moment and decided I would like to do a few sketches to develop into paintings of larger sailing ships.

Rather than daytime with the blue of the sky and white of the clouds reflected into the water, I wanted to do a sunset concentrating more on the ship in a vertical format.

I put the dark clouds into the sky and behind the sails so I would have a strong contrast of the sunset colours passing through the sails as the focal point.

Sailboat Sketch 2

Another painting I would like to do is a ship sailing on a moonlit night.














Sailboat Sketch 1

The contrast of the white sails frosted by the moonlit standing out against the darkness all around should prove to be an interesting challenge.

I will post each of these sketches again once I have the outline drawing completed and small colour paintings of how the pieces would look.

Sea Battle I - A Work in Progress

The temperature has climbed to 30F (-1C) for the high and much of the ice that has been on the trees since before Christmas is finally disappearing.

This is another sketch of the tall ships, this time going into battle.

I have started to ink in the water and will have to do more drawing on each of the ships before they are ready to be inked.

I will post this drawing at a later date once more work on the ships has been completed.

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

Sail Away - A Work in Progress

Today I felt like working on something with a summer theme.

What would be better than out sailing on a lake, in the middle of a hot and humid summer day; beneath a bright blue sky with the sunlight glittering off the tops of the waves?

Rather than do a traditional horizontal painting, I thought a vertical format would make it a little different and create more interest.

I will have to make some changes to this sketch to move the sailboat from being dead center of the painting.

I will post this painting at a later date once the outline drawing is completed.

Ruffed Grouse - A Work in Progress

We have had more snow since yesterday and the temperatures continue to be below freezing so the ice coating on all the trees remains.

I wonder if we will ever get out of the freezing temperatures, but it sure does look pretty outside although we are having a bit of a heat wave with the temperature making it up to 20F (-6.7C) today.

One of my neighbours offered me the loan of his stuffed grouse over the Christmas season so I could make drawings of one of the many game birds that inhabit the area.

First I took a lot of photographs of the bird from almost every angle and light source.

Next I did a number of quick sketches of the grouse in different positions and with the ones I  preferred I started to tighten up the sketches and turn them into outline drawings.

I will post the outline drawing at a later date once I have decided on the one I like best.

Winter Day 1 - A Work in Progress

It is a cold -12F (-24C) but once again another bright and sunny day which even with the cold I prefer to an overcast cloudy and cold day.

Before my daughter arrives for Christmas breakfast and opening presents I wanted to get the last sky and foreground completed for the four seasons on a lake in cottage country painted (for the others see posting on 22-24 December 2013).













My timing was perfect. I had just set this piece aside to dry when Christine arrived.

I will post this painting again as more work on it is completed

I would like to wish a very Merry Christmas to All!

Autumn Day 1 - A Work in Progress

It is Christmas Eve and we are definitely going to have a white Christmas although the temperature is -5F (-20C) we do have a bright and sunny day.













I didn't have a lot of time to work on paintings but I wanted to get at least the sky and water painted on the autumn scene.

I will post this later after doing more work on this piece.

Summer Day 1 - A Work in Progress

The temperature remains at 22F (-5C) and is slowly dropping and the ice covering from yesterday remains on the trees. Fortunately we did not get the high winds which could have caused power outages, much like what happened in Toronto yesterday.

It would be nice if we had a day that makes it above 32F (0C) so I can get the doors open on my vehicles.
I will probably have to run alcohol through the doors to get them to open and now the snow is starting again.













So what better than to start a painting of a lake in the summer to get warm thoughts flowing and try to get away from the continuing cold?

I put in the water and the sky using French ultramarine blue and Antwerp blue, then set the painting aside to dry before I put a wash of raw sienna on the horizon line.

I will post it once it is completed.

My plan seems to have worked as in the late afternoon the sun finally came out and lit everything up with a crystal glow.

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

Spring Day 1 - A Work in Progress

The freezing rain continues today and hopefully we won't get the high winds they are calling for later this afternoon.

This painting is the first in a series of the four seasons on a lake in cottage country.













I wanted to portray the cold water of the lake in early spring once most of the ice on the lake has melted leaving the ice closest to the shore is still grimly holding on to winter.

As I do more work on this painting I will post it at a later date.

OSWOA - Frosted 1

We are back in the deep freeze yet again with the temperature being -16F (-26.7C). I could hear the snow crunch and squeak underfoot as I walked down to do the barn chores this morning. The only good thing is there is a bright blue sky and the sun is shining.

I wanted to work on a painting this morning before I went out to get the last few things I needed for Christmas. I thought working on a winter painting would be appropriate for the season and I chose this one that I had started last year (see post on 09 August 2012).

It was originally called Blue Sky 6 but with the light areas in the blue sky I thought I would make them represent frost covered branches that are often seen after a night of freezing fog and I renamed the painting Frosted 1.














I lightly drew in a small brook, the trunk and main branches of the trees and will use paint for the finer branches coated with frost.

I didn't like the broken branch at the right side of the painting and lifted it out with water and added another tree.

Using various mixes of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and raw sienna I painted in the tree trunks and branches.

Using cobalt blue and French ultramarine blue I painted in the brook; with the same colour watered down I indicated trees on the horizon line.













Using raw sienna, burnt sienna, alizarin crimson and new gamboge I put in the grasses and growies at the base of the 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 300lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $40.00 and sold unframed.

ACEO - Frost Fantasy 1

The temperature is going to continue to drop during the day from 12F (-11C) to well below 0F (-18C), on the bright side there is very little wind and the sun is shining.

I thought I would like to play with some salt and do a little bit of negative painting today.

Wetting a small piece of paper, I dropped French ultramarine blue into the top half of the paper and brushed in some Antwerp blue and raw sienna into the bottom, leaving a section of white between them.

As the paper started to dry, I sprinkled a small amount of salt into the blue area at the top of the painting and then set the paper aside to dry completely and let the salt do its work.

Where the salt had pushed away the blue paint it seemed as though it was the leaves on a tree covered with hoar frost.

Painting in the negative I started by indicating the tree trunk and a few of the lower branches.

From there I added some small branches in among the frost covered foliage.

Working my way down the painting with the blue I added more detail to the tops of the grasses and growies in the white area.

I decided the green at the bottom wasn't what I wanted for this piece so I lifted most of the green with water dry.

Using the blue I added some detailed grasses into the bottom area.

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

Christmas Delights - A Work in Progress

Another cold day -12F (-24C) but at least it has stopped snowing for the time being, but it is fitting with our theme "Christmas Delights" for the Still Life class at KAGS.

There was a wide variety of subject matter to choose from and I left a large number of them out of my composition.














The poinsettia still needs a lot of work before I am ready to paint and I may add another Christmas ornament into the foreground.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have made all the corrections to the drawing and put paint onto the paper.

Ocean View I - A Work in Progress

It is another snowy day with the temperatures above 0F (-18C) so we having a heat wave at 7F (-14C) and will wait to see how the day progresses with the temperatures supposedly climbing to 22F (-5C).

I came across some sketches I had started a number of years ago when we vacationed for the first time in Cuba on a diving trip with Adventure Divers where we stayed at the Veradero Breezes.

Our room was on the second floor and while we could not see the beautiful white sand beach we could see the Atlantic Ocean from our balcony.

It was pleasant to have the balcony and I would often sit out there in the early morning and enjoy a cup of tea and in the evening we would relax after a very busy day of diving or touring.

This is one of a number of sketches I did while in Veradero and I will post it at a later date once it has been completed.

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

Purple Pansies - A Work in Progress

We have a heat wave going on here it started out at -11F (-24C) and now it is 8F (-13C), but then when it snows the temperature usually does rise.

I decided to add some brightness to the day and chose to work on this floral that I had started earlier this month (see post on 13 December 2013).

I mixed a mauve using Antwerp blue and alizarin crimson and started on one of the petals starting at the darkest part and putting down the first layer of paint.

While the paint on the first petal dried I put the darker lines on the next petal and curved them to give it shape.

Then I went back to add another layer of paint onto the first petal, again curving the lines to start to give shape to the petal,

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

Through the Forest I

18F (-8C) and sun, what a pleasant change even though it did cloud over for the afternoon it made it up to a high of 28F (-2C).

I came across this sketch while sorting through some boxes that I had brought home from my parent's house in Toronto when it was sold many years ago and I had been placed in the loft.

The foreground grasses, some of the main trees, the horses and riders had already been inked in and I started to add in the rest of the forest.
















Each layer of trees was made smaller and with less detail the further back it was placed in the drawing.

This original 4-1/2" x 6-1/2” pen and ink drawing when matted and shrink wrapped will be available for $50.00.

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

Footwear with Character - Three Works in Progress

This is another Still Life class that we had at KAGS last month.

There were seven different pairs of shoes and boots on display. I liked three of them that seemed to have a lot of character.

The first one I chose to draw was a pair of well-worn grey moccasins, laid one on top of the other.

A lot of the rabbit fur had been worn away and there were areas where the bare skin was showing.

The soles at the front had worn paper thin and had come away from the bottom of the moccasin.

Retired

The next was a pair of well used barn boots and there was no denying that these boots had been used a lot around the farm.

They were scuffed; paint splattered and even still had some parging caked on the toe of one of the boots.

The ragged and bent tongues were hanging out over the laces which were only laced up about halfway and where the sole had separated from the boot there were pieces of hay and straw trapped in between.

Barn Boots

The third and final pair of boots was an pair of insulated hiking boots.

The laces and soles showed quite clearly how many miles had been walked over the years.














Hiking Boots

I will post these paintings at a later date once more work on them has been completed.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Sea Shells

This is one of the still life paintings that I started last month at KAGS.

There was a wide range of shells, coral, sea fans, sponges, shell and coral jewellery and a string of pearls in the display.














I chose to do just two of the seven larger shells and will probably paint in a few of the smaller shells once I decide how I want the wave rolling on the beach.

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

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

Pansies, Poppies and Hibiscus - Four Works in Progress

These are the four paintings that were used during the final watercolour class I taught at KAGS on the 26th last month.

My students had been told the week previous to bring in one piece of paper with a drawing of poppies and that they were to be masked out.

On another they would have drawn pansies.

Purple Pansies

The first thing I had them do when they arrived was to mix a yellow and a red in two separate containers and wet a piece of paper.

Then they poured the two colours over the paper and rolled the paint around to mix the colours.

The result was a peach colour and then set it aside to dry. 

Field Poppies

I demonstrated how one petal at a time is worked and then the next petal to be painted is not touching the first petal so the colour does not bleed into it.

Next I demonstrated how to paint the colour patterns on the pansy petals and that the lines need to curve in order to give the illusion of shape.













Hibiscus 1

Next I gave each student a piece of torn paper to use as a template.

They were shown how to paint around the template with mixtures of red, yellow and blues and allow it to mix on the paper

I quickly showed where to place the stamens and the direction of the curve for the lines in the petals.













Single Poppy 1

After letting them work on their own paintings for a little while, I had them come back and did a demonstration of how to work on a poppy.

I painted in the dark centre first and then added a few of the darker shadows.

Next I worked on the poppy petals showing how the creases have shadows, lights and highlights.

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

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

Morning Skies and Misty Backgrounds - Three Works in Progress

These are some of the paintings I demonstrated at KAGS last month while teaching the "Basic Watercolour" class (see posting on13 November 2013)

For this class we changed our blue from French ultramarine blue to Antwerp blue for most of the paintings and added alizarin crimson for a red.













Pink Sky 1

After wetting the paper we washing in alizarin crimson into the sky leaving some areas of white and with horizontal strokes brushed it into the snow covered area.

Using a wash of Antwerp blue we brushed a little of it into the still wet pink of the sky and into the snow. 

Antwerp blue and a little burnt sienna were used for the background treeline which was painted in without a lot of detail.

Using a slightly darker mix of Antwerp blue and burnt sienna the closer foreground trees were indicated.












Dawn 2

For the second morning sky we painted in first a wash of alizarin crimson and then adding a little more colour painted in the darker red into the bottom of the sky.

Using Antwerp blue with a little burnt sienna to grey the colour slightly, the lighter clouds were brushed into the sky. As the paper was drying a little more burnt sienna was added to the pale grey wash and darker stronger coloured clouds were painted into the top of the sky having a little more substance than the lighter clouds.













Out of the Fog 1

For the final painting we changed the blue from Antwerp blue to Cobalt blue for a fog scene. The trees were drawn in lightly and eventually a very pale wash of cobalt blue will be brushed onto the paper.

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

Limited Palette Paintings - Three Works in Progress

These are some of the other examples I used for my first "Basic Watercolour" class at KAGS (see posting on 05 November 2013).

The three colours we used in that class were French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and raw sienna.













Grey Day 1

The second painting was of sky distant shore and water using the blue with a little burnt sienna added to "grey" the colour and gives a lovely blue grey.













Grey Day 2

In the third painting more burnt sienna was added to the blue grey mixture to give a neutral grey and the sky and water were painted in and set aside to dry.













Cloudy Morning 1

In the fourth painting the paper was wet and a pale wash of burnt sienna was put in areas of the sky and snow, then the blue grey was added and finally the neutral grey. With each colour layered over the one before it, this created a whole range of colours on the paper.

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

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

Dockside 1 and 2 - Two Works in Progress

Today I am sitting the Winter Delights Art Show at KAGS.

It seems every time I try do some work on these two little pieces I have a lot of people come through a show that take me away from working on them (see postings on 16 October 2012, 09 February 2013, 20 May 2013 and 15 August 2013).

Fortunately that was not the case and I did get to do more work on these pieces and hopefully will get them completed shortly.

Dockside 1

On the first one I completed the two larger gulls; then drew in the rope onto the one post.

Next I worked back and forth between the paintings first putting the under paint on all of the posts.

The time consuming part was getting the more detailed top layers down and completing that part on two of the posts.

Dockside 2

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

Still Life - A Work in Progress

Since it is cold and snowing again today,  I did a little more work on the painting I started last Tuesday when I took my first of two workshops at KAGS with Margaret Tough in basic pastel.

It was a very informative class with a lot of information on the various types of chalk pastel, the different types of paper and ways of handling pastel.

It was interesting to see the differences between the sanded papers and the regular papers and how they held the pastel. The colours on the sanded papers seemed to have more of a glow to them.














I hadn't realized that many pastel artists use either water or alcohol on the under paint of pastel and "set" it on the paper before applying the "top" coat of pastel.

Another thing that many do is to use watercolour as the under paint and then apply the pastel on top.

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

Morning Lake 2 - A Work in Progress

Last night I heard that I had sold a painting and I would like to thank new purchaser Joan McBride of Peterborough, Ont. on her purchase of my painting Morning Flight (see posting on 27 June 2012).

So today I just felt like splashing a little bit of the colour pink around on a piece of paper and not doing anything serious.













Who knows, perhaps I will add a few seagulls into the painting when I post it at a later date.

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

Denim and Leather - A Work in Progress

This is the sketch I worked on for the Still Life class at KAGS on Thursday.

We had a nice assortment of clothing including, denim shirts and jeans, straw and felt Cowboy hats a pair of Cowboy boots and a bandana that were draped over a wooden chair.

There is a lot more work to do on it before I start painting and I will post it in the New Year once more work on it has been completed.

OSWOA - Mystical 1 revisited

I was looking at this painting that I did with a class last month (see post on 13 November 2013) there were a number of things I wanted to change.

Using the same two colours in the painting, which were Antwerp blue and burnt sienna I started by changing the trees on the background island.

I added a dead tree trunk into the closer area of land and worked on the tree on the right side.

Next I worked on the water in the foreground to get rid of the run back area and make it more uniform.

The foreground rock needed a little more colour as well and I added a wash of burnt sienna.

While the paint was drying I decided I didn't like the three branches on the largest tree that were too uniform so I went back and added another smaller tree on top to cover that part.

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.

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

ACEO - A Patch of Blue 1

When I was visiting my friend Heather this morning while we sat having a cup of tea in her sun room which overlooks the lake, the clouds parted and showed a patch of blue sky.

I thought it would make an interesting painting and when I returned home I decided to work on recreating that moment.














First I wet the paper and put in the open areas of sky using cobalt blue.

Next I added a small amount of burnt sienna to the blue and put in the shadows on the clouds leaving the edges near the sky without paint.

For the frozen lake I added a little more cobalt blue to the shadow mixture and brushed it in with horizontal strokes leaving a few small white areas of sunlit snow.















Lastly, I painted in the shoreline on the far side of the frozen lake with a mixture of French ultramarine blue 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 Windsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

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 December.

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

Country Sunrise - A Work in Progress

This is a painting I started in a workshop with John David Anderson earlier this year (see posting on 28 October 2013).

I used a mixture of Hansa yellow and white and added a little more light into the sunlit side of the sky. Next I put in the background tree line in with a mix of mauve and blues. The background fields were painted in with a mixture of blue, yellow and burnt sienna.

Next I darkened the shadow on the building and added the shadow to the chimneys then I lightened the sunlit wall and darkened and brightened the roof of the house.














Into the foreground I put the grasses of the pasture using various mixes of green, cadmium yellow, burnt sienna and raw sienna. In the process I covered up most of the draft horse that I had drawn in there originally. Now that most of the under paint is completed I will put the draft horses back into the painting at once I decide how many and where to place them.

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

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

Confirmed Shows for 2013 and 2014 - December

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.

The Lindsay Gallery, Lindsay, Ont.
LindsayGallery
19 Nov - 20 Dec Annual Christrmas Show
Opening Reception 21 Nov from 7-8:30 pm
01 May 14 Canvas Confidential

Kawartha Arts Network - Art On Kent, Lindsay, Ont.
KAN
21 Nov 13 - 11 Jan 14 Affordableism
Opening Reception 22 Nov 13 from 6-7:30pm.

Kawartha Artists’ Gallery, Peterborough, Ont.
KAGS
08-22 Dec 13 & 04-16 Jan 14 Winter Delight
Opening Reception 08 Dec 13 from 1-4pm.
19 Jan - 06 Feb 14 Abstracting from Life
Opening Reception 19 Jan 14 from 1-4pm.
06 Apr - 01 May 14 Renewal
Opening Reception 06 Apr 14 from 1-4pm.
08 Jun - 03 Jul 14 Summer Sizzle
Opening Reception 08 Jun from 1-4pm.
10 Aug - 04 Sep 14 Figuratively Speaking
Opening Reception 10 Aug 14 from 1-4pm.
21 Sep - 16 Oct 14 Carnival of Colour
Opening Reception 21 Sep 14 from 1-4pm.
02-20 Nov 14 Outdoor Painters' Show
Opening Reception 02 Nov 14 from 1-4pm.

Norwood Legion Hall – Branch 300, Corner of Alma and King Street, Norwood, Ont.
Norfest
15-16 Mar Norfest - The Spring Arts Festival

Autumn Day - A Work in Progress

This is a painting I started earlier this year in a workshop with John David Anderson held at KAGS (see posting 27 October 2013).

I painted the roof with a warm neutral colour and added a warm colour to the sunlit side of the building.












 
After standing back and looking at the painting I realized that the buildings were not in perspective. I have fixed the angle of the roof and windows; then straightened up some of the verticals on the buildings.

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

Thank you for looking at my artwork.