Breeze

This is a drawing I did while watching a program on television about horses.














This original 4" x 4" graphite pencil drawing once matted and shrink wrapped will be available for $20.00.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

ACEO - Spring 1

Looking out the window at the ploughed fields below the house ending at the start of the forest and the wind whipping the clouds across the sky, I thought that would make an interesting spring painting.

Using cobalt blue with a touch of burnt sienna added to grey the colour slightly, I brushed in the cloudy sky leaving a few areas of white paper showing for the sun touched clouds.

Once the paper dried completely I lightly sketched in the trees on the edge of the field and added in a few fence posts.















With various mixtures of burnt sienna, French ultramarine blue and raw sienna I painted in the furrows for a freshly ploughed field.

Along the edge of the field I painted in a row of trees. I dud the tree trunks with the darker field colour. For the leaves on the spring trees I used new gamboge, aureolin and cerulean blue.

While looking at the fence posts I decided that four posts over powered the rest of the painting, so I removed the two middle ones.















I thinned the tree trunk colour with water and put in the shading on the posts and with burnt sienna put in the top strand of barbed wire on the fence.

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.

Rubber Ducky 2 - A Work in Progress

It looks like spring may finally be winning the battle; the temperature made it up to 41F (5C) and we have had rain for most of the day, which should give us fog overnight once the temperature begins to drop.

This is another little sketch I did of some of the rubber ducky toys while in the Still Life class at KAGS.














I added a towel to the composition and I will probably paint it in blue to make it look as though it is water.

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

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

Toy Ducks - Two Works in Progress

Today's theme in the still life class at KAGS was toys. It was a good thing so many toys were brought in for the class as we had thirteen people in the group and were able to have four different displays set up to accommodate all of them.

I chose to do a couple of pieces using the some of the different ducks and fish toys.

For the first one I drew one of the ducks and one of the fish. I painted in the background curtain with various shades of French ultramarine blue, Antwerp blue and cobalt blue. Then set it aside to dry while I sketched in the second drawing of a rubber duck and the same plush duck in reverse.













What's New?

I painted in the background using French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and raw sienna. This was set aside to dry and I went back to the first painting and using raw sienna painted in the floor and with a touch of burnt sienna indicated the shadows under the toys.

I then went back into the second painting and using French ultramarine blue and Antwerp blue painted in the floor and indicated the shadows beneath both toys. By then it was time to take a break so I set them aside to dry.

After break was over I started back on the first painting and placed a more defined shadow beneath both the fish and the duck.













Wanna Play?

Then working back and forth between the two toys the eyes were put in and all the dark lines. A wash of aureoline was put over the entire duck as a base yellow and different areas were painted with raw sienna, new gamboge and cadmium yellow.

The fish was painted with alizarin crimson and cadmium red and in the lighter areas mixtures of new gamboge and cadmium yellow.

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

Thank you to new collector Mrs. Julia Cameron of Peterborough, Ont. on her purchase of Poetry (see post on17 January 2012).

Background 3 and 4 - Two Works in Progress

Once again using the left over paint on my palette I painted in backgrounds on a couple of 5" x 7" canvas panels.

For the first one I used some of the white, most of the reds and all of the yellows and browns.

I didn't want to mix in the blues and greens onto the same panel as I probably would have ended up with muddy coloured base.

Background 3

For the second one I used the remaining white and red as well as all the remaining blues.

I will post both of these paintings once I decide what I will paint on them.

 











Background 4

Winter Walk - A Work in Progress

Today I was sitting the art show for the Buckhorn Artists' Group being held at the Kawartha Artists' Gallery and Studio.

While I was there I worked on this painting which I had started last month (see post on 21 February 2014).

Using a mix of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna and using vertical strokes I put in a line of very distant trees.













With a slightly darker mix of the same two colours I started adding some of the background trees. I don't have to worry too much about whether they are perfect or not as they will be covered over by more trees that will be placed in front of them.

I wasn't able to get very much accomplished as we had a fairly steady stream of people come through the Gallery to view the exhibit.

I will post this painting at a later date once more of the trees have been completed.

Winter Creek I

Today is the last day of the Lucy Manley afternoon workshops at KAGS and we are finishing the painting we started last week (see posting on 17 March 2014).

We started by using a mixture of French ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, and white a put a few sky "holes" into the background trees on the left side of the painting.

More dark and mid tone greens were added into the background, being sure to leave some of the reds and yellows showing through as though sunlit. A few dark branches and trunks were added to the background followed by some greyed poplar and birch trunks.

Various mixes of French ultramarine blue, cerulean blue and white was used to put in the shadows on the background snow. Adding a touch of alizarin crimson to warm the shadows were put around the main cedar.














A dark mixture of blue and burnt sienna was used to paint the main cedar branches. A little raw sienna was placed among the background foliage against the large cedar trunk.

Various mixtures of light to dark greens were put into the right side on top of the snow bank being careful to allow some of the red and yellows from the under paint to show through. Then with a blue grey mixture a few birches were put into the foreground.

This is the second of three paintings that will be donated to the Canvas Confidential fund raiser for the Lindsay Gallery.

Buckhorn Artists' Group Show Opening at KAGS

The opening of the Buckhorn Artists' Group show at KAGS was fairly well attended despite the weather.

Many of the patrons were expecting each artist to have his or her own area displaying their art.

Instead they were surprised that ten artists exhibiting an eclectic mix of various styles and themes had it all came together as a pleasing display with each artist's work complimenting the others.














Some pieces caused a lot of discussion among the visitors about style, technique and colour.













The beautiful handmade, one of a kind pottery created by JoAnne Connell Northey were well received and a number of pieces sold.

The art cards were another item that was well received by the guests with Diane Collins selling a wide variety of them.













Many nice comments were written in the guest book about the exhibit and a number of patrons have stated that they will return to see the show again before it closes on 03 April 2014.













If you have the chance, please come out and enjoy the display.

Ships - Three Works in Progress

My ginger tom, Junkyard came back from one of his wandering trips with an injured left front paw and is hobbling around.

Although I have still not been able to touch him, he was hungry enough to come close to me for his food and did sniff my hand before he retreated to wait for me to leave.

Hopefully, I will soon be able to get my hands on him to see how much damage there is and fix it or take him to the vet.

Dawn Sky I

Winter still is not ready to let go its hold; we are starting the day off with strong winds and heavy snow falling.

The temperature is 22F (-6C) and we are going to get another 6" (15cm) of snow. So much for the third day of spring.

I decided that other than going back out into the storm to do barn chores that I will stay inside today and get a few things done around the house.

Full Sail I

I pulled these three sketches out and did a little work putting some ink on each of them.

There is still more drawing that needs to go into each piece before they are ready to have more ink put onto them.

I will post each ship at a later date as they are completed.

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

Follow the Leader I

Buckhorn Artists' Group at KAGS

Although the morning started with temperatures below the freezing mark and we had to put sand and salt down on the ramp leading into the Gallery the ten members of the Buckhorn Artists' Group were undaunted as they set up their show at KAGS today.











Shortly after noon, all the paintings were hung and arrangements had been made to set up the refreshments for Sunday 23 April 2014 which is the opening of the show from 1-4pm.












The sun brought the temperatures above the freezing mark causing some of the snow to melt and the ice had melted and some of the water had run off the ramp and driveway.










Hopefully, some of you will be able to come out for the opening to view our display.

Background 2 - A Work in Progress

It is the first day of spring and overnight we had rain, freezing rain and now it is snowing and the temperature is 24F (-4C) and with the strong winds making the temperature feel more like 17F (-8C). It seems that winter is still not ready to leave.

Rather than go into KAGS for the still life class I decided to stay home and get my paintings ready to take to the Gallery tomorrow for the Buckhorn Artists' Group show.














Once I had everything together I pulled out this canvas that I had used for applying my leftover acrylic paint from the Lucy Manley class.

I have sketched a couple of different things on tracing paper to apply to the canvas, but none of them really appealed to me.

I will post this canvas at a later date once I have decided what I would like to do with it and have at least the drawing on it completed.

Autumn Hills - A Work in Progress

This is a painting I came across while sorting through some boxes that had been packed away upstairs in the loft quite some time ago.

It is one that had something wrong with it and had been cut down.

I did a little more work into the background but I know I need to put something into the foreground to cover up the building.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have decided what I will do with the foreground.

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

Spring and Autumn Fields - Two Works in Progress

Today we had the third of four workshops with Emil Varga at KAGS today.

We worked on two different pieces, the first was an autumn scene where we wet the paper and then dropped new gamboge, aureoline and permanent rose onto the paper and rolled it around, letting the colours mix together.

A pale wash of cobalt blue was washed into the top of the paper leaving some areas of white showing for the sky. Then the painting was set aside to dry.














Autumn Field

The second was a spring scene where we wet the paper and then, Antwerp blue, aureoline and new gamboge were dropped onto the paper and rolled around, letting the colours mix together.

Cobalt blue was washed into the top area of the paper for sky and was then set aside to dry.














Summer Field

Using a sponge and various mixtures of aureoline and permanent rose on the first painting definition was added to the trees.

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

Winter Creek I - A Work in Progress

Today I was at KAGS in the afternoon for the third day of the workshop with Lucy Manley.

What better way to think spring than to have the new painting we started today of a winter creek with the ice having melted enough to allow the open water to show.














The under paint has been finished and I will post this painting after the final day of the workshop next week.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

ACEO - Winter Trees 6

Today I was at the Norfest - The Spring Art Festival, held in Norwood Legion Hall – Branch 300, Corner of Alma and King Street, Norwood, Ontario.

Even though there were storm warnings of freezing rain, we were fortunate that there was only a little bit of rain in the morning and the temperatures were slow in dropping so we didn't end up with a flash freeze.

A number of people came out the enjoy the show and I would like to thank new collector Ms. Jane Dailey of Norwood, Ontario on her purchase of Hibiscus (see posting on 10 May 2010).

I spent most of the day speaking with the visitors and working on paintings, including this one of Winter Trees that I had started last year (see posting on 11 Feb 2013).












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.













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

Norfest 2014

It was a very busy day for me with having to go to Toronto first thing in the morning with the threat of freezing rain which fortunately didn't happen. We only received rain which with the temperatures slowly dropping throughout the day changed to snow.











After returning home I packed up the Blazer and headed to Norwood to set up my tables at Norfest which will open tomorrow.













I look forward to the show tomorrow and having some time to work on a few small paintings.

Wine Bottles and Fruit - A Work in Progress

It looks like winter is just not going to leave with having received another 4" (10cm) throughout yesterday with the temperature plunging to -8F (-22C) overnight and the wind chill bringing it to a bitter -20F (-29C).

I decided not going to go into the still life class today at KAGS, instead Idid a lot of the work around the house as well as finding a little time to do a bit of work on the piece I had started last week (see posting on 06 March 2014).

I put in the two green grapes that were in front of the pear and darkened the shadows under the fruit a little more. Then I sketched in the striped cloth on which the still life was placed.

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

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Thoroughbred Foal

After the beautiful warm sunny spring like day, winter has come back with a vengeance. It is 22F (-5.6C) and dropping with strong winds and snow.

I worked on this drawing of a Thoroughbred foal that a friend had at her stable.

He was a big solid baby from the time he was born but had such a laid back personality.

In fact in the morning when she went into the stall to put his halter on he wouldn't even bother to get up and she had to lift his head to put on the halter. He learned things quickly and seldom gave any trouble.

It will be interesting to see how he matures and if he continues with having his sweet personality.

This original 5" x 7" graphite pencil drawing when matted and shrink wrapped will be available for $30.00.

Moonlight - A Work in Progress

Spring cannot be too far away, the branches on the willow are turning golden, the jays are chiming and the horses are running, bucking and kicking in the paddock.

It was another bright and sunny day with the temperature going up to 42F (6C). A day that I could almost have spent outside, but I preferred to take the second of four classes with Emil Varga in watercolour at KAGS.

We worked with spray bottles, sponges and palette knives. The horizon line was drawn in and masking tape was put down in the area below the line.

Using various mixtures of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna, layers of paint were put onto the paper, then sprayed with water and rolled around.

Each layer gradually getting darker but leaving an area with a little pure white and some very pale shades of the sky colour.














The distant shoreline was painted in with a pale wash of the sky colour. Then the painting was set aside to dry.

Once the paper was totally dry the tape was removed and a new piece of tape was put down slightly below the horizon line for the base of the middle ground island.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have put the trees in using a sponge and the rocks using a palette knife.

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

Winter Trail I

Today I was back at KAGS to continue with the winter painting we had started last week in the first of four classes with Lucy Manley.

We started with painting the evening sky with a thicker paint of cadmium yellow, lemon yellow and white.

Using a darker mixture with more cadmium yellow and white toward the top of the sky and gradually changing the mix to more of the lemon yellow than cadmium in the middle and toward the bottom.

A few small areas of lemon yellow and white were used to indicate where the sun is located.

A mixture of white, cerulean blue with a touch of alizarin crimson and added it to the tops of the background trees and giving them a few of them a little definition.

Then French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and lemon yellow, the dark trees in the background were put in, which pushed the bright light green trees forward.

A few indistinct trunks were added at this time in the background as well as a larger dead tree trunk into the foreground.

Using the two blues, burnt sienna, and raw sienna the main tree trunks were painted being sure to leave a little of the cadmium red under paint showing through to allow a warm to the painting.

The pine needles were applied using various mixtures of the two blues, burnt sienna, raw sienna and the two yellows.

This is the first of three painting that will be donated to the Canvas Confidential fund raiser for the Lindsay Gallery.

Background 1 - A Work in Progress

While taking acrylic classes with Gail Hawkins last month at KAGS she showed the class at the end of the day that rather than throw out the paint she has left over she uses it to put the background colour onto a canvas.

That way there is no waste and it also creates an interesting background for another painting.

This is what I did with my paints that remained from the Lucy Manley class from earlier this week.

I will post this painting at a later date once I decide what I am going to put over this background.

The Drawing Show

Since I was sitting the show at Art on Kent I was planning on doing a little more work on a couple of paintings, but it was very busy with many artists bringing in new paintings for the next art show called 'Paint It Big'.













Here are a few pictures of the paintings I had exhibited in 'The Drawing Show'.














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

Winter Trail I - A Work in Progress

This is a painting I started on Monday in the first of four afternoon workshops with Lucy Manley at KAGS.

While most of the class worked in oil with Lucy, there were three of us who preferred to work in acrylic.

The panel was first primed with a wash of raw sienna.

Next the landscape was sketched in using a brush and cadmium red paint.

A mixture of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna was used to put in the darkest objects and shadows.

Using French ultramarine blue and cadmium yellow the needles were put onto the main tree branches and then the sunlit areas were indicated with lemon yellow in the needles.

The green mixtures used in the pine needles were glazed throughout different areas of the background trees to unite the colours through the painting.

Various mixtures of white, cerulean blue and ultramarine blue with a little alizarin crimson was then applied into the background trees to create the illusion of distance.

The same colours were used for the snow shadows in the foreground.

Using pure titanium white the snow was painted throughout the foreground between the snow shadows. Care was taken so the shadows followed the line of the trail through the snow. Rising and falling in and out of the ruts.

The sky was painted in using white and cadmium yellow. A small amount of this paint was also glazed over a few areas of the snow.

I found it interesting the way she applied the different layers of paint for the under painting and next week the top layers will be applied over most of the under paint. It is quite different from any other instructor with whom I have had a workshop.

I think I will have to try this technique a little more often in some of my next acrylic paintings

We will be completing this piece next week at which time I will post this painting as far as I have finished it in class.

Wine Bottles and Fruit - A Work in Progress

Today in the still life class at KAGS out theme was Wine Bottles, Cheese and Fruit.

We had two separate displays which were needed since we had a fairly large class this morning.

I chose to work from the smaller display and omit some of the extra glasses and wine bottles shifting a few things around until I had the items that I wanted and was pleased with the arrangement for my painting.

I started on the pear to get it set into place as a grounding for the rest of the painting and added some of the shadows beneath the fruit.

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

Daisies - A Work in Progress

This is a painting I started in the Tuesday afternoon class at KAGS with Emil Varga in watercolour.

Rather than taking the time to carefully draw out very detailed daisies and then masking them with a liquid friskit; we changed things around and did the daisies in a looser style more toward the abstract.

We used masking tape to create the "daisy" flowers by ripping strips for the petals and having them radiating out from a central spot.

I made five main daisies that will show as the white of the paper once the tape is removed.

Then the tape was pressed down firmly onto the paper to prevent the paint bleeding under the tape.

Various blues, yellows, reds and browns were loosely painted into the background in the shape of growing vegetation. The colours were allowed to mix together on the paper forming a wide range of greens, mauve and greys.

I will post this painting again after next week's class when more work on it has been completed.

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 March.

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

Confirmed Shows for 2014 - March

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 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 1-3p

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 - 03 Apr 14 Show at KAGS Buckhorn Artists' Group
Opening Reception 23 Mar 14 from 1-4pm.
17-19 May 26th Annual Among Friends Art Show
09-17 Aug 24th Annual Shades of Summer Art Show

Kawartha Artists’ Gallery, Peterborough, Ont.
KAGS
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.

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, Ontario
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

ACEO - Pine Reflections 2

Today I was going through a number of small paintings that I wanted to complete, so I pulled out this piece that I had started last year (see post on 25 April 2013).

I started by putting in the few background trees that would peek through the foreground trees with various greens made from Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue, raw sienna and new gamboge.

Then I darkened the various greens again and painted the trees on the islands.

With a dark of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I put in some dead tree trunks and a few branches on the larger trees.

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

Using mixtures of alizarin crimson, burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue I put in the rocks.

Lastly, using various greens I brushed in the reflections of the pine tree into the water.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

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