Plein Air with John David Anderson

Today is the first day of the John David Anderson workshop at KAGS. I had taken a workshop with him last year (see postings on 27 and 28 October 2013) and wanted to return and see what new things he would be showing us this weekend.

We spent the day painting "en plein air" which translated from French means: in the open air.

For me this was a new experience as I usually paint outside with watercolour paint instead of acrylic. I learned quite quickly the many differences, especially since the acrylic paint tends to dry a lot faster outside in 78F (26C) when in the sun.














Not to mention that the beautifully landscaped home on the river where we were able to paint had a small koi pond that I was painting. Unfortunately I often was distracted and constantly stopped to get photographs of the fish as they glided through their underwater home.

I will post this painting once I have finished the rocks and added a little more detail into the water.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Ships - Three Works in Progress

For the first time my Smoke kitty isn't in the barn to greet me asking for her food to be put in the tray. It is unusual for her to miss a meal. Perhaps she is just running late and will show up tonight.

Today I put out my hummingbird feeders and we will see how long it takes them to come around regularly.













Wind in My Sails I

I pulled out these three sketches of the tall ships that I had started last year. I put in the water and wave patterns below the ships first.

Next I added the hulls of the ships and some of the sails that I knew where in the position where they belonged.

















Ghost Ship I

I will have to go back into the drawings and make sure the sails and rigging is where it should be positioned and get the outline of the hull correct.

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











Phantom Ship I

Paint Out at Lang Pioneer Village

Today we had out paint out and show set up at the MacKelvie Gallery at Lang Pioneer Village.

I chose to take two of my cow paintings (see postings on 11 and 13 May 2014) to hang in the Gallery and this is where they are being displayed.













I spent the rest of the morning going through the Village taking reference photographs and sketching things that I would like to paint at a later date.

It was nice seeing a lot of the volunteers in period costume wandering through the village and working in some of the buildings.

I will post my sketches and paintings at a later date as I complete them.

Norwood Skillet

I was at the Norwood Skillet at 4247 Highway 7 in Norwood, Ontario yesterday to see how many paintings I would need to bring with me to hang today and had lunch which was fish and chips and it was excellent.

Their food lives up to their motto, which is "As Good As Homemade Gets". It definitely has that homemade flavour and I would recommend both the fish and chips as well as the meatloaf which I had for supper today after setting up my show.















Entry 1















Entry 2

 












Entry 3














Entry into Middle Room

They have a number of things going on during the course of a month at the Skillet including an all you can eat brunch every Sunday for $8.99 starting at 9am and finishing at 2pm.

With Ron starting work this week on the Monday he should be home for the weekend and I will see if he would like to view my exhibit and also try their buffet.

Middle 1

The first room as you enter the Skillet is set up for both dining in or for takeout as well as having an ice cream counter which I will have to check out when I am there next month.

The entry leads into the middle room and both rooms are bright with natural sunlight throughout the day which makes it a very pleasant place to eat.

Middle 2














Middle 3














Middle 4

Off the middle room is the much larger Lounge area where they hold the buffet on Sunday.

It also has a bar on a slightly raised level which also has an area for musicians complete with drums and a piano.

This is for their monthly Friday Open Mic Jamm Night in the Lounge from 9pm. until closing. The next one will be held on 06 June 14.

Lounge and Bar













Lounge 1











Lounge 2

The only stipulation on having your artwork here at the Norwood Skillet is that you cannot put any more nails into the wall. So you need to bring paintings that will fit into the spaces.

I took in a wide variety of different sized paintings and ended up with31 pieces hung in the three rooms.

This is what my exhibit looked like once it was completely set up.

Lounge 3

If you have a chance and you are out in the Norwood area you should stop and visit the Norwood Skillet to have a meal and see my art display.

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





Lounge 4

Bunny and Baskets 1 - A Work in Progress

This is a small detailed painting of the bunny that was in the second Still Life class at KAGS last month see yesterday's posting.

I have completed the background, the under paint on the basket and a little bit on the pussy willow.

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

Now it is time for me to go outside and work in the garden and get some of the new irises, violas and marigolds planted into my main flower bed.

Bunny and Easter Eggs - A Work in Progress

My house is filled with the scent of lilacs. I have a vase full of lilacs in almost every room in the house.

With the temperature at 62F (17C) and the morning being bright and sunny it was not long after doing the barn chores that I cut a huge bouquet of lilacs from the bushes growing along the south fence line of the front lawn.

It is unfortunate that they last such a short time, but then if they were available all year round they probably would not be as appreciated when they do appear.













This is a painting I started last month in the Still Life class at KAGS.

The background and the under paint on the tablecloth has been painted in as well as the first layer of colour on the red tulips which in the actual display were white.

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

Now it is time for me to head off to The Lindsay Gallery to drop off my entry form and from there to go to the Norwood Skillet to see how many paintings I will need to take there for the set up tomorrow.

Gardening 2 - A Work in Progress

We have returned from yesterday's wedding where we had a very enjoyable time with family and friends. Good food and wine as well as great music and I spent most of the night on the dance floor.

Now that I am back home it is time to recover from the festivities; so instead of working in my garden today I mowed the lawn instead.














It is fitting that I did a little more work on the barn board in the background on this painting that I had started last month in the still life class at KAGS.

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

ACEO - Early Morning 4

More storm warnings in effect for today, but at least the sun is shining at the moment and the temperature is holding at 26F (-3C).

I decided that I would like to finish this little painting that I had started last year (see post on 07 June 2013).

Using alizarin crimson I brushed in the red sky above the horizon line and the reflected color into the water below the horizon line.

I brush the base colour of the sky and water in with French ultramarine blue and then adding burnt sienna to the blue I put the clouds into the sky and the water ripples onto the surface of the lake.















Using a pale mixture of raw sienna and French ultramarine blue I painted in the trees on the horizon line.

Darkening the green paint, I put in the pine trees on the islands in the foreground.

Then I put in the rocks at the shoreline of the islands with alizarin crimson, burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue.

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.

Background 5 - A Work in Progress

This is another background I made from leftover paint while I was working on Koi Pond (see yesterday's posting).

I put the chromium oxide green and French ultramarine blue down first and then put layers of titanium white and raw sienna over top and blended them trying to create movement with the colours.

Once I have decided what to do with it, I will post this painting at a later date.

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

Koi Pond - A Work in Progress

Last month I took a class with Krista Ouellette at KAGS.

The object of the first abstract class was to create movement using colour and shapes.

I chose to use a limited palette of titanium white, raw sienna, French ultramarine blue and chromium oxide green on a fairly large canvas.

With my first lines I set down in an S curve and worked around it through the painting.

I added the various colours blended them, moved them throughout the canvas, changed them and kept working until it felt finished.

Unfortunately, with working on such a large canvas I didn't think to take the time to take photographs as I went through the stages of painting in the colours and creating the movement.

After letting the painting dry so I could move it around to decide which way it would look the best.















As you can see, each direction as its own character and the movement is slightly different. I think I will have to keep changing it around until I decide which way I like the best.















In the meantime I will draw out a number of koi on tracing paper and put them onto the painting and see which way they would look the best.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have placed the koi on the painting.

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

Buckhorn Artists' Group Blog - Among Friends Show

If you go to the Buckhorn Artists' Group blog you can see the daily results of what happened during the 26th Annual Among Friends Art Show and Sale as well as seeing some of the paintings that were on display by various members of the Group.

In the Shade - A Work in Progress

I was surprised by the steady stream of people we had coming throughout the day to visit the show. Usually for this holiday weekend many people are packing up and leaving early to head back to the city from their cottages, especially if they have children who have to go back to school on Tuesday.

Today I worked on this painting (see posts on 15 January and 24 February 2014) I started by painting in the two horses first. Next using some of the horse colour and various greys and browns put in the trunk of the maple tree.











With raw sienna, burnt sienna and some French ultramarine blue I put in the grass and started on the leaves, but it was time to leave and I will post this painting at a later date once it is completed.

Two paintings were sold by Catherine Selinger and Tom Young as well as small items by Diane Collins, Pat Harvey and JoAnne Connell Northey.

The hours for our show are:
19 May 13 - 10:00am - 5:00pm

I look forward to seeing some of you at our next show being held here at St. Matthew's Church in August.

Among Friends Art Show

Today we had a steady stream of people going through the show more than likely due to the day being a little warmer and we had a mix of sun and cloud for most of the day until the last hour of the show when the storm clouds rolled in and we had a downpour of rain.

I spent some of the day talking with many of our visitors and my painting time was spent just playing with shapes and this one turned into a flower petal.

I post this painting at a later date once I have added the rest of the petals.

Three paintings were sold by Irene Smith, Tom Young and Catherine Selinger. Small items were sold by Diane Collins, Pat Harvey and JoAnne Connell Northey.

The hours for our show are:
18 May 13 - 12:30pm - 5:00pm
19 May 13 - 10:00am - 5:00pm

Looking forward to seeing some of you at our show being held this Victoria Day weekend.

26th Annual Among Friends Art Show

Today is the first day of the 26th Annual Among Friends Art Show and Sale at St. Matthews Church in Buckhorn, Ontario.

I had thought that spring had finally arrived with the warm temperatures of the last few days however, with the temperature back to freezing 32F (0C) I think it is going to be a while yet before we have consistent seasonal temperatures.

I worked on a number of pieces during the course of the day including Two Family Home 1 that I had started earlier this month (see posting on 06 May 2014) in the Brian Atyeo workshop.












Due to the low temperatures and the high cost of gas $1.34 litre ($5.96 imperial gallon) the turnout was much less than expected although we did have a number of people going through the show with one painting being sold by Heather Grant and small items were sold by Diane Collins.

The hours for our show are:
17 May 13 - 9:00am - 5:00 pm
18 May 13 - 12:30pm - 5:00pm
19 May 13 - 10:00am - 5:00pm

Looking forward to seeing some of you at our show being held this Victoria Day weekend.

Setting up the Among Friends Show

Today was an extremely busy day for me.

First thing in the morning I had to take Christine to Toronto, Ontario to see a specialist at Toronto General Hospital.

Afterwards on the way home I had to drop her off at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly known as Mosport International Raceway).


From there I headed home to get changed and load up my paintings to take up to St. Matthews Church in Buckhorn, Ontario for the 26th Annual Among Friends Art Show.

It was a good thing that last night I had everything already set out in the kitchen which made that an easy chore and saved a fair a lot of time.


On the way there I picked up my friend Heather who had the key for the church and would help me with setting up and hanging my show.

Fortunately, yesterday I had already set up my drafting board in its usual spot at the back of the building beside JoAnne's pottery.

So I was ready to paint during the weekend.


It didn't take very long for us to get everything up and hung on the grids, but then Heather and I have hung many shows together over the last 25 years.

The last thing to do was to clean off any marks that accidentally got on the glass and double check the list making sure that everything was there with the correct labels.
















By then it was supper time and we went next door to the Cody Inn to have an enjoyable meal of Chinese food before heading home for some much deserved rest and relaxation.














The hours for our show are:
17 May 13 - 9:00am - 5:00 pm
18 May 13 - 12:30pm - 5:00pm
19 May 13 - 10:00am - 5:00pm

I look forward to seeing some of you at the show this weekend.

Lucky and D-Day - A Work in Progress

Many years ago my daughter and I used to ride at Riverview Ranch in Warsaw.

Christine's favourite horse was a chestnut mare named Lucky and I enjoyed riding a number of horses but one of my favourites was a little buckskin mare called D-Day.

I had a few photographs of them and I did this sketch which I will develop into a painting. I will post the finished drawing at a later date once it has been completed and transferred onto the paper.













Now it is time for me to head up to St. Matthew's Church in Buckhorn, Ontario to set up the display racks and help my friend Heather, hang her show tonight.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Joanne's Tattoo

My friend Joanne to celebrate the anniversary of her mother's death had gotten a tattoo written in Sanskrit for the fifth level of yoga Anandamaya Kosha (the spiritual body).

After living with it on her arm for a while she decided that it was a little on the plain side and sort of looked like a bar code and wanted to add something more to it and some colour as well.

Over lunch a couple of months ago we discussed a number of different options to create something that she would be happy with having on her arm.

She liked the idea of having different kinds of birds flying around it, birds flying out from a feather, floral themes and I did a number of sketches.














After going through various birds, hawks, ravens, pigeons she finally decided on having her favourite bird the chickadee.

She wanted something delicate, that wasn't over powering. With it being spring I thought she may like a combination of apple blossoms surrounding the lettering and adding a small chickadee.

She is going to have the design stenciled onto her arm and live with it for a week or so to see if it is exactly right for her.

I will do up a colour one and post it at a later date once I know what she decides about this image.

Cows 3-5 - Three Works in Progress

Since Cow 4 was almost finished (see postings on 02 and 12 May 2014) I thought I had better carry on with them since I only have two more days before the art show on the weekend.

I went back into the painting using black, white and grey to add shadows onto the cow's face and body.

Next using burnt sienna and black I painted in the eyes and added the long eye lashes to give the cow a little expression.

Lastly I did the muzzle of the cow using various mixtures of burnt sienna, white, alizarin crimson and Hansa yellow.















I changed the name of Cow 4 to Whatever.

I then started in on Cow 3 roughly applying the markings with black and white and started to put in a little bit of the shading onto the cow's face and then set it aside to dry.















Cow 3

Next I worked on Cow 5 and once again started in with just black, white and grey and applied markings to the face and body before setting it aside to dry.















Cow 5

I will post these paintings as I complete each cow at a later date.

Cows 3-5 - Three Works in Progress

Today I was back working on the cow paintings. I would like to have these finished for the upcoming 26th Annual Among Friends Show at St. Matthews Church in Buckhorn, Ontario next weekend.















Cow 5

I completed the drawing of Cow 5 that I had started earlier this month (see posting on 02 May 2014) and made a number of changes.















Cow 3

I decided that I was going to work on these three pieces in the same manner I worked on the two that I completed. (see yesterday's posting).

First I painted in a simple sky on Cow 3 using French ultramarine blue, white and a touch of burnt sienna and set it aside to dry.















Cow 4

Next I worked on Cow 4 and after painting in the sky decided to give it a little more interesting background and with Hansa yellow, and French ultramarine blue I put a pasture behind the cow.

With the last cow, since the image takes up so much of the canvas I once again did a simple background sky.















Cow 5

I decided that I wanted to work up Cow 4 since it was different than the other two cow paintings.

Using just black and white I painted in the markings on the cow and indicated some of the hair detail as well as some of the shadows.















Cow 4

I will post each painting at a later date as the cows are completed.

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

Cows 1 and 2

I worked on some of the drawings of cows that I put on canvas earlier this month (see posting on 02 May 2014).
















Cow 1

I started with putting the background in on the first painting of a cow. Then I set it aside to dry and worked on the next painting and put in a slightly different background, this one with clouds.















Cow 2

Now it was time to paint the first cow. I used a limited palette of white, black, for most of the cow's body and burnt sienna for the eyes. For the nose I used mixtures of alizarin crimson, Hansa yellow and burnt sienna.

Lastly the fence rail was painted in using mixtures of all the colours to create an interesting weathered look on the wood.
















I changed the name of Cow 1 to Holy Cow! which  is available for $95.00. SOLD

Using the same colours as for the first cow painting I completed the next cow. I also changed its name from Cow 2 to You're Joking?















I would like to thank Ms. Adrienne West of Bethany, Ontario on her purchase of You're Joking? as a gift for her mother on Mother's Day.