Sand and Surf - A Work in Progress

The last day of February and winter is definitely going to hold on for a while. The temperature is -10F (-23C), but it is a bright and sunny day and the winds are not as strong as they were yesterday.















So instead of thinking about the cold I decided to turn my thoughts to the warm tropical breezes of the Caribbean; with its clear blue skies, white sand beaches and turquoise waters. 

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

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

Morning Trees 1 - A Work in Progress

It is a slightly warmer day at 4F (-15.5C) than it was yesterday where the high was -2F (-19C). Although we have the same mix of sun and cloud with snow, the strong wind continues to blow the snow around making it feel a lot colder than it is actually.

This is a small painting I had started earlier this year (see posting on 25 January 2014) called Yellow Sky 4 and I have changed the name to Morning Trees 1.

Some of the background trees have been painted in and the under paint on a couple of the foreground trees. The foreground grasses have also been blocked and along with a few growies.

More work needs to be done to the foreground trees and I will post this painting again at a later date.

Thank you to returning collector Mrs. Joanne Fernall of Norwood, Ontario on her selection of Summer Trees (see posting on 22 June 2010).

Buckhorn Artists' Group Blog - Catherine Selinger

I have posted the biography of another member of the Buckhorn Artists' Group, Catherine Selinger to the blog as well as examples of her artwork.

What? - A Work in Progress

Today I spent the morning with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group watching a demonstration on how to do pussy willows. I will have to try doing one at a later date.














In the afternoon I went to KAGS for the last day of the workshop with Gail Hawkins which was on abstract animals painted in two complement colours.

I drew the head of a cow in charcoal and have fixed the image.

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

In the Shade - A Work in Progress

This is a painting I had started last month (see post on 15 January 2014) of my horses Tai and Chi.

Since there was an Executive Meeting this afternoon I didn't have a lot of time to work on this painting, so I washed in a background sky and set it aside to dry.












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

Country Evening - A Work in Progress

This is a painting I had started a while ago (see posts on 21 October 2011 and 05 August 2013) and I wanted to get it closer to being finished.

I started where I had left off by adding more colour into the background hills and the various trees and giving them a little more definition.

While the background was drying I added some wood grain to the fence posts and tried to lift out more of the reflections from the water.

Next I did a little more work on the buildings on the left side, adding some of the barn boards, fixing the roof lines and adding a little more detail to the door and window.















Moving over to the left side buildings I added a window to each of them and darkened the door on the center building.

I lightly drew in where I wanted the reflections to go in the water and lifted more of the reflections to remove them from where they shouldn't have been placed.

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

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

Morning Lake 2 - A Work in Progress

I didn't have a lot of time today to paint but I selected this piece that I had started last year (see posts on 08 December 2013 and 27 January 2014).














I added the far island reflections into the water using a mixture of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson.

I will post this painting again at a later date once I have drawn the foreground trees.

Winter Walk - A Work in Progress

The weather since yesterday has been a mixed bag of tricks. I came home last night after the take in for the Photography show at KAGS during a raging snow storm which added another 2" (5cm) on the ground.

During the night the temperature rose to just above freezing and we had a mix of rain and freezing rain which changed back to rain for most of the day helping to melt some of the snow, which also changed my driveway into a skating rink. Although at the end of the day we managed to have a lovely sunset before the storm clouds came rolling back in once more. I can hardly wait to see what we get next.















Since it was a good day to spend inside when I came across this sketch I thought I may as well put some paint onto paper and at least get it started.

Using French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I brushed in a cloudy sky and into the foreground added a roadway.














While the paint was still wet I sprinkled in a little salt into the sky to create snowflakes. This painting was then set aside to dry.

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

Material - A Work in Progress

Today the theme for the still life class at KAGS was fabric, drapery and hanging clothes. We were fortunate to have a wide variety of materials, skirts, wraps and even a hat. To give the still life a little added interest we placed a large glass goblet in among the materials.

I have always enjoyed creating the folds and shadows on fabric, it is time consuming to get it correct; but the final result is well worth the effort.














It took most of the class to block in the various materials and the major folds as well as indicate where the highlights are placed on the materials.

It was the last day of the Abstracting from Life show and while I was looking after the Gallery I was able to paint a little of the background behind the materials. Having taken a little time away from the drawing I know I will have to do some more work on the hat as it doesn't quite look right and the glass needs to be leveled.

I will post this painting at a later date once the drawing is fixed and more of the painting has been completed.

Clouds 1-4 - Four Works in Progress

Finally, a day above freezing! It  made it up to 36F (2C) and it is so nice to see the snow slide off the barn roof and some of the snow melt off the driveway. But I know this is just Mother Nature's joke on all of us, because next week the temperature is going to plunge back down below the freezing mark yet again, so I am going to enjoy it for the short time it lasts.

Clouds 1

It somehow seemed fitting that I should paint some nice blue skies with snow clouds.














Clouds 2

I worked back and forth on all four pieces at the same time so by the time I had finished washing in the fourth sky the first painting would be dry enough to paint in the next layer of paint.














Clouds 3

I used French ultramarine blue to wash in the sky leaving some areas of the white paper to show for the white of the clouds.















Clouds 4

Next I added a little burnt sienna to the blue to grey it slightly and painted in the shadows on the clouds.

I will post these paintings at a later date as each of them is completed.

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

Snow Lady and Child 1 - A Work in Progress

Going through a file folder last week, I came across two paintings with a little colour at the bottom (see post on 23 February 2013) and decided they would make ideal winter scenes.

The first one was made into a Snow Man 1 earlier this month (see post on 12 February 2013).

I decided that I would continue with that theme using the one called Abstract B and rename it Snow Lady and Child 1.

The area at the bottom seemed as though it was the base for a small snowman which would become the Snow Child.

The round shape also gave me a light source to use for this piece.

To complete the snow family I would place a larger Snow Lady with the smaller Snow Child.

It didn't take long to do the sketch of both the snow people with the child wearing a scarf and toque, the lady wearing a bonnet and to complete them stick arms were added.

I will post this painting at a later date once they have been transferred onto the paper.

Autumn Tress 1 and 2 - Two Works in Progress

These are two paintings I started last year when I was at the Knoepfli Inn in Magnetawan, Ontario (see post on 20 October 2013).

I started by masking out the leaves on both paintings with liquid friskit and then set them aside to dry.

Once the friskit was dry on the first one, using a pencil I lightly did more drawing on the birch tree trunks and to the branches to give them more definition.

I then did the same to the larger maple trunks and branches and added in some of the background tree trunks that didn't need much detail.

Now that the second piece was dry I indicated many of the pine branches from the trees that were in the background.

Next I added more details to the larger oak tree trunks and added many of the branches joining them to the clumps of leaves.

Lastly I worked on the maple tree trunks, branches adding the maple leaves which will be masked out with a different friskit.

I will post both of these paintings at a later date once I have  masked out the maple leaves and have the backgrounds completed.

OSWOA - Lone Pine 1

Since I have been working on paintings with pine trees this week I thought I may as well finish this one that I worked on last month (see posts on 27 February 2012 and 06 January 2014).

First, I lightly sketched in a few trees into the background as well as a distant hillside.

Next, I mixed various different greens using combinations of Antwerp blue, cerulean blue, French ultramarine blue, raw sienna, aureolin and new gamboge.

Starting in the background and using a pale blue green, I indicated the distant trees on the hill.

Using various mid tone greens, I put the needles onto the background trees, being careful to leave spaces to put in the tree trunks and dead branches.

I put the mid tone green needles on the branches in first, followed by the darker greens on the branches of the foreground tree.

For the trunk and branch colours, I used light and dark mixes of burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue.

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

The OSWOA shown is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Windsor & Newton paint on either 300lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $40.00 and sold unframed.

ACEO - Pine Reflections 1

This morning I wanted to paint, but only had a couple of hours before I had to get ready to go out and run a couple of errands before going to meet the rest of the family for a Valentine's Day supper.

I pulled out this painting that I had started last year (see post on 25 April 2013). I started putting in the background trees with various greens made from Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue, raw sienna and new gamboge.

From there I darkened the greens and moved forward to the trees on the islands.

Then I darkened the various greens again and painted the trees in the foreground.

Using raw sienna and burnt sienna I put in the grasses and growies at the base of the trees.

I put in the rocks with alizarin crimson.

i 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 140lb. Fabriano 100% cotton, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

Lake Reflections and Pine Island - Two Works in Progress

Today I pulled out a couple of pieces of board and applied gesso to them on both the front and back sides and set them aside to dry.

Using a pencil on the first one I indicated a few clouds in the sky, put in the horizon line, indicated where I would place the island added a couple of large pine trees onto the island and added a few ripple lines to the first one.

Where the rocks would be on the island I used impasto gel and using a palette knife put in the rocks. Then I set it aside to dry.

Pine Reflections

Next I worked on the second piece and started by placing the horizon line.

From there I added in the far shoreline and indicated a few of the taller pines in the background, I put a few clouds into the sky and this was followed by placing the island rocks and the reflections of the island in the water.

I put indicated the larger pine trees on the island and added a few water ripples into the lake before adding the impasto gel to the rocks.

Pine Island

I will post each of these paintings once I have decided on what colours I want to use in the sky and in the water.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Thundering Trio - A Work in Progress

Today I worked on this sketch of three horses galloping. I still have a lot more work to complete on each of the three horses, But I feel it will work up into a nice painting.














I will post this piece at a later date once the outline sketch is completed for each horse.

Snow Man 1 - A Work in Progress

Going through a file folder today I came across two paintings (see post on 23 February 2013) with a little colour at the bottom and decided they would make ideal winter scenes.

The curved side at the bottom, of the painting seemed an ideal place to put a large snowman.

I had to decide whether to do a traditional snowman or to do the more sculpted kind with a long body and arms.

After doing a couple of small sketches of both kinds I decided to do a traditional snowman.

I remember making so many of them as a child and also with Christine when she was young. We would roll the three snowballs with the large one on the bottom; together we would lift the middle sized one on top and a smaller one for the head.

I added a scarf, top hat, a carrot for a nose and the eyes and buttons made of coal.

Lastly, I also added the arms made from branches to complete the drawing.

I will use this drawing on the painting originally called Abstract A and change the name to Snowman 1.

I will post this piece at a later date once I have transferred the drawing onto the paper and started painting the snowman.

Autumn Woodland 1 - A Work in Progress

Today I am painting with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group at St. Matthews Church. Even though it is cold 6F (-14C) it is also a brilliant sunny day with long, beautiful shadows racing across the snow.

 It took a while to decide what I would work on today and I chose this painting (see posting on 18 March 2012) that I had started a couple of years ago.













I added needles to the branches on some of the pine trees and then added the trunk on the main pine tree in the foreground.

Next I added a few maple tree trunks that will need to have some orange and yellow leaves put on it at a later date.

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

The Drawing Show Poster

I just found out that one of my paintings "1950 Ford Custom V8 Convertible" (see post on 10 February 2010), that I had submitted for the Drawing Show with KAN held at Art on Kent in Lindsay.

It is a new promotional poster with a collage of paintings submitted for the exhibition that they started this year beginning with last month's show.

It was a pleasant surprise to have my artwork selected for one of their posters.

Winter Day 2 - A Work in Progress

Today I had a little bit of time to paint so I pulled out this piece that I had started last month (see post on 20 January 2014).














The painting is about half finished and I wanted to add the trees that were casting the shadows on the snow in the foreground as well as a couple of deciduous tree into the background.

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

Cabin Memories I - A Work in Progress

This is a fairly simple sketch of a log cabin on the edge of a lake.

The basic pieces have been inked in and I have to decide on the light source and what more it needs in the foreground.













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

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

Windy Day 1 - A Work in Progress

Using Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I brushed the sky into the painting trying to capture movement.









I have to decide where I will place some windswept trees.

I will post this painting at a later date.

Porcelain and Brass - Three Works in Progress

This morning I had to shovel my vehicle out from yesterday's snow storm which gave us another five inches (13cm) of snow on top of everything else that we have received so far this winter before I could go to the still life class at KAGS this morning.

We had a lovely display of Oriental porcelain, pottery, brass items and a sculpture of a five headed dragon. With such a multitude of interesting subject matter I decided to break it down into three separate pieces.

The first was of Oriental porcelain, a clay tea pot and a fan set on a red and gold patterned cloth.

Oriental Pottery

The next sketch was of the section with the two brass bowls with a black lacquered porcelain vase that was inlaid with ivory.

I didn't like the position of the vase so I took artist's licence and moved it over.

I look forward to painting the reflected red from the cloth into the brass.

Brass and Porcelain

The final sketch that I started but didn't have time to finish was of a pewter plate, the small brass bowl and the dragon sculpture.














Brass, Pewter and Dragons

After lunch I sat the Abstracting from Life show at the Gallery in the afternoon before returning home.

I will post these pieces after the drawings are completed and I have started to apply paint.

Buckhorn Artists' Group Blog - Show Updates

I have updated the Buckhorn Artists' Group blog with a listing of shows some of the various artists in the Group are exhibiting their work in during the month of February

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

Pastel Morning - A Work in Progress

At least today we didn't start with the -14F (-25.5C) temperature first thing in the morning like we did yesterday and we aren't supposed to get any more snow today, we get to wait for tomorrow for the next storm.

Today I was at the first of four workshops in acrylic with Gail Hawkins.

We worked on paintings with a large sweeping sky to provide a strong contrast for the landscape in the foreground. I decided to work on a painting of the sunrise that I saw this morning of the lone pine at the back of the property.

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

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

Confirmed Shows for 2014 - February

This is a listing of confirmed shows that I will be exhibiting my artwork at this year. I will update the list as more shows are added.

Kawartha Artists’ Gallery, Peterborough, Ont.
KAGS
19 Jan - 20 Feb 14 Abstracting from Life
Opening Reception 19 Jan 14 from 1-4pm.
23 Mar - 03 Apr 14 Buckhorn Artists' Group
Opening Reception 23 Mar 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.

Kawartha Arts Network - Art On Kent, Lindsay, Ont.
KAN
13 Feb 14 - 08 Mar 14 The Drawing Show
Opening Reception 15 Feb 14 from 1-3pm.
13 Mar 14 - 05 Apr 14 Paint It Big!
Opening Reception 15 Mar 14 from 1-3pm.
10 Apr 14 - 03 May 14 Self and Others
Opening Reception 12 Apr 14 from 1-3pm.
08 May 14 - 05 Jun 14 Exhibit Exchange with Gallery in the Attic
Opening Reception 09 May 14 Evening - Times to be Announced
03 Jul 14 -02 Aug 14 Member's Show
Opening Reception 05 Jul 14 from 1-3pm.
04-27 Sep 14 Reaping and Gathering
Opening Reception 06 Sep 14 from 1-3pm.
02-25 Oct 14 Water, Water Everywhere
Opening Reception 04 Oct 14 from 1-3pm.
30 Oct 14 - 22 Nov 14 Abstraction and Contraptions
Opening Reception 01 Nov 14 from 1-3pm.
27 Nov - 10 Jan 15 Affordableism
Opening Reception 29 Nov 14 from 1-3pm.

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

St Matthews Church, Buckhorn, Ont.
BuckhornArtistsGroup
23 Mar 14 - 03 Apr 14 Show at KAGS - Visions
17-19 May 26th Annual Among Friends Art Show
09-17 Aug 24th Annual Shades of Summer Art Show

The Evinrude Centre, 911 Monaghan Road, Peterborough Ont.
11-13 Apr Peterborough Garden Show

The Lindsay Gallery, Lindsay, Ont.
LindsayGallery
01 May 14 Canvas Confidential

MacKelvie Gallery, Keene, Ont.
PioneerVillage
29 May - 26 Jun Lang Pioneer Village Museum, Keene, Ont.

Fenelon Falls Fair Grounds, Fenelon Falls, Ont.
KawarthaArtsFestival
30-31 Aug 14 Kawartha Arts Festival

OSWOA - Lazy River 2

For a change the weatherman was correct and we received our full 6"  (15.2 cm) of snow and it is the heavy packing snow that is wonderful for making snowmen.

Everything looks wonderful with the trees bearing coats of snow on them. Picture card perfect except now it needs to be shovelled.

I brought out this painting that I started a number of years ago (see posts on 23 December 2011 and 07 May 2013).

Using raw sienna I indicated grasses on the far side of the river and with more detail added more grasses and growies into the foreground.

Next I used a mixture of burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue to paint the rocks on the edge of the river.

With a dark mix of raw sienna and French ultramarine blue I added more detail to the left side tree and the foreground tree.

I added cadmium yellow to the green and I added the highlights.

Lastly I mixed a dark of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna and put in some a few dead branches on the closer trees and some growies into the foreground grasses.

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 - Early Morning 3

This morning we had a wonderful sunrise with the clouds above and below the sun and a beautiful golden colour in the sky around the sun.

I decided I would use this sunrise for the sky in a drawing that I had started last year (see post on 09 June 2013)

I started by painting in the clouds using various mixtures of Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue and alizarin crimson leaving a white area untouched for the sky and sun.

Once the sky was finished I used the same colours in the water leaving an area of white paper for the sun and golden sky.

Next with a mixture of cadmium yellow and new gamboge I put in the area of sky showing through the clouds being careful to keep the orb of the sun the pure white of the paper.














I repeated this into the water for the reflections from the sky.

Using a pale mix of French ultramarine blue and new gamboge I put in the trees on the horizon line.

Next I darkened the green mix and put the pine trees onto all the islands.

I put in the rocks at the base of the trees on the various islands, using burnt sienna, alizarin crimson and the two blues.

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 140lb. Fabriano 100% cotton, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.