Outdoor Painters' Art Show

Today I hung my paintings for the Outdoor Painters' Show at KAGS called "Aqua".

As the name implies the theme for the show is water and each painting had to have water in it in some form; whether it is actual water or in one of its many forms such as ice, snow, rain, fog, etcetera.

For this show each artist purchases space in two foot increments to a maximum of eight feet and hangs the paintings themselves.

As usual I chose to have eight feet of space.

I was fortunate that I was able to have the same space as I have had for the last two years and this year I was also given a plinth to use as well.













On the plinth I placed three of my underwater paintings and on the short wall I put two winter scenes having both snow and ice as a form of water.












On the long wall I had paintings from Aruba, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Magnetawan and Buckhorn.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Hallowe'en - Two Works in Progress

With Hallowe'en being tomorrow it was only fitting that our theme for the still life class at KAGS should be spooky and scary things related to the day.














Hallowe'en

We two different displays. The first had many wonderful things to put into a painting including hat wearing toads, tombstones, pumpkins, masks, ghosts, spiders and webs.














Jack and Kitty

The second was a little more whimsical with cats and Jack o' lanterns wearing witch's hats and cauldrons filled with Hallowe'en treats.

I will post each of these two drawings at a later date as I have time to paint the ghostly figures.

Show at the Dancing Blueberries

This morning I went to the Dancing Blueberries at 360 George St. N. in Peterborough, Ontario to hang a dozen of my paintings.











I met Tom Young, one of the members of the Buckhorn Artists' Group who has had his show hanging there since last month.

It didn't take long for us to take his show down off the walls and get the paintings into his truck.











Then it was my turn to decide which of the paintings I had brought and had to hang them on the existing nails that were already on the wall in order to make a pleasing display.













It took about an hour until I was happy with their placement and the paintings were finally on the wall.















If you have a chance, please come out and see the display and perhaps stay and have a meal. The food is excellent and the soup is home made fresh daily.














The show runs through to 26 November 2014.

Koi 3 and 6 - Two Works in Progress

Today was  a very busy day with many errands to run and things that had to be completed, but I still wanted to either draw or paint and in the end I did a little of both.

I pulled out some sketches of koi that I had started earlier this year (see posts on 18 and 30 July 2014). I refined the sketches until I was pleased with the drawing.














Koi 3

For the first one I painted the water using a mix of Cobalt blue and French ultramarine blue, then set it aside to dry. The second one the water was painted with Antwerp blue and Cobalt blue.














Koi 6

I will post both of these paintings at a later date once I have completed the koi.

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

Poster for Abstractions and Contraptions

I just found out that one of my paintings "Stained Glass" (see post on 23 January 2012), that I had submitted for the Abstractions and Contraptions Show with KAN held at Art on Kent in Lindsay.

It is a pleasant surprise with it being the third time my artwork has been selected for one of their posters.

Last Day of Water, Water Everywhere

Today was the last day of the Water, Water Everywhere show at Art on Kent.

I had one of my paintings in the display window on the lower level of the Gallery facing out on Kent Street.

It was a lovely display but unfortunately I couldn't take a better photograph of it due to the glass reflecting back the building from across the street.

But it did give a very good idea of the artwork patrons would find on the upper level of the Gallery.

I brought in three paintings for the next show called Abstractions and Contractions which will open on 01 November, which unfortunately I will not be able to attend as it is also the same day as the opening of the Outdoor Painters' Show at the Kawartha Artists' Gallery & Studio.

In addition to the show opening at KAGS there is also the silent auction of art work by the ODP to raise funds for the Best of High School Art as well as a frame sale to raise prize money for the Juried Art Show being held next year.














I spent most of my time either taking in paintings for the upcoming show at Art on Kent or working on drawings of Koi for six paintings on which I am working and hope to have completed before the year is over.














I hope many of you will be able to come out and enjoy the art at both shows next month.

Tulips - A Work in Progress

Hallowe'en will be upon us shortly and I wanted to do something with blacks and oranges, so I decided to I would paint black tulips which bloom each year in my garden but have warm oranges, yellows and reds in the background to make them stand out.

I drew out the tulips, transferred them onto the paper and using liquid frisket I masked out the edges of the flowers and the stems.

Next I used various mixtures of Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue, Cobalt blue, alizarin crimson, burnt sienna, raw sienna, new gamboge and aureolin to paint in the background wet on wet.

As the background was drying I sprayed a little bit of water in some areas to create interest. The paper was then set aside to dry.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have removed the masking fluid and started to paint the tulips.

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

Horses Standing 1-6 - Six Works in Progress

After visiting one of my friends in Bobcaygeon, on my way back home I came across a field with a number of horses relaxing in the shade under a couple of big maple trees close by the road.

I pulled over onto the shoulder of the road and stopped.

As usual I almost always have a sketch book, pencils and the camera with me. After getting out of the car and taking a couple of reference photographs.

I started sketching each of the horses as a separate animal without any overlapping.

Standing 4

There were a number of different kinds of horses to draw.

The first one was an older paint mare who stood peacefully with her head down and eyes half closed totally relaxed.

The next one was a very active thoroughbred cross who watched me the entire time I was there sketching.

She nervously moved constantly never staying in one spot for long.

Standing 5

There was a yearling in among the group who preferred to be as close to the paint mare as possible, probably because she offered a calming effect and a sense of security.














Standing 1

Next was an Arab cross with a lovely dished face and lots of chrome; having four white legs, a blaze and a long flaxen mane and tail.














Standing 2

The heavy weight hunter was a rich dark brown, well put together gelding, without a spot of white on him.














Standing 3

The last one was a handsome, buckskin Quarter Horse with a striking contrast between the black points and the golden coloured coat.














Standing 6

I will post each of the sketches at a later date once the outline drawing has been completed.

Eventually I may even put all of them into one painting just as they were in the shade under the maples. Only time will tell.

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

In a Tin Can 1 - A Work in Progress

Last week in the still life class at the Kawartha Artists' Gallery & Studio our theme was tools.

I worked on a larger piece in the first part of the class (see post on 16 October 2014) and after the break I started this this little piece based on a tin can holding a couple of long spiral spikes.

I added a ruler, a pencil and I will probably add a few more things.

I will post this piece at a later date after I have finished adding all the different tools and things into the can.

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

Kyora

It is slightly warmer today starting the morning off at 40F (4C) and again more rain, but it is much better than snow.

My new pound puppy, Kyoria is gradually learning that some of the bad habits she learned at her previous home are not acceptable in her new home. It took less than a week to housebreak her and get her to stay off the furniture, but her bad habit of jumping up on people and biting in what she thinks is play will take a little more time but I am sure she will learn.













She is also learning some of the basic commands, like sit, wait, don't pull and okay. It will probably be another week or two before I can trust her to come when called and let her off the leash when going out for a walk.

I will post another picture of her at a later date when we can let her off lead.

By Lock 31

It started off as a cold day 34F (1.1C) and made it up to 48F (8.9C) but at least the rain has stopped and the sun is shining.

This morning when I went to go to the barn I was greeting by a loose cow drinking from the bird bath in one of the flower beds on the front lawn. I went to the barn and got a bucket of grain to try and coax her into the barn, but she took off across the infield and went over the fence and into my neighbour's fields.







Trees, Rocks and Water Sketches

I went to Twin Willows Restaurant in Buckhorn to meet a friend for lunch and since I arrived early I started doing little sketches of some of the things |I could see from my both by the window overlooking the Lock 31.









Trees, Rocks and Water Sketches A

With the Lock 31 being closed for the season there were no boats tied up in the channel so I had to be content with trees, rocks, reflections and whatever I could find to attract my attention.














Rocks and Growies

With the rocks the sun lit up the growies behind them and I think I may even turn this one into a painting by itself or use it as a part of an autumn landscape.














By Lock 31

Just up from the locks a lone fisherman came out to try his luck and I did a quick sketch of Buckhorn Lake as you approach Lock 31 with some of the cottages that are on the lake.

My friend arrives 20 minutes late, but at least the wait was productive and I will post these sketches at a later date as I turn them into paintings.

ACEO - Foggy Morning 1

I wanted to finish this piece that I had started earlier this year (see post on 09 June 2014).

I usedg a soft grey of cerulean blue with a small amount of burnt sienna for a soft grey for the fog.

I put in some lighter and some darker areas of the grey in and around the trees as though a breeze is moving it through the landscape.

While the fog was drying I mixed a greyed green of French ultramarine blue, raw sienna and burnt sienna.

I started with the furthest back trees and started with the first grouping of trees and put in the tree tops and with water soften the bottom of the trees to indicate the fog.

I continued working from the furthest back trees and gradually moved to the middle ground trees softening the bottom of the trees and on occasion lifting a small amount of colour on the tree itself.

It was with the middle ground trees that I changed the mixture of greyed greens by adding a little Antwerp blue and aureolin to change the colour mixture and darkening it slightly.

On the foreground trees the colour was darkened again and each time the trees were added I would soften the bottom of the trees with clear water to form the fog winding through the trees.

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

The ACEO shown here is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

Water, Water Show Poster

I just found out that one of my paintings "Spotted Drumfish - Juvenile 2" (see post on 23 February 2011), that I had submitted for the Water, Water Everywhere Show with KAN held at Art on Kent in Lindsay.

It is a pleasant surprise with it being the second time my artwork has been selected for one of their posters.

Autumn Harvest - A Work in Progress

This is another painting I started in the Still Life class at KAGS last month where the theme for that class was fruits and vegetables.

A vine of wild grape ran down the side of a panel and I did a small section of the display that had a glass bowl filled with wild grape, red, yellow and orange peppers; at the base of the bowl were another pepper and a small turnip.














Before the break I started painting the orange pepper at the base of the glass bowl and forgot to take a photograph of the painting at that stage.

After the break I finished the pepper and worked on the turnip and completed it, but I feel the pepper needs a little more work before it is finished.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have completed the glass bowl.

Chisels and Mallets - A Work in Progress

Today at KAGS the theme for the still life class was Tools and there was a wide variety of tools to choose from; some modern and many were older.

The display was divided into three sections, on the one side there was a collection of old railroad spikes, a wide variety of different types of nails, hammers, rusted pliers and wire cutters.

The center section featured tools on a small step ladder which had a collection of files, manual drills, a tin can containing nails and screw drivers.

The final section which I chose had an old plainer, different types of chisels, a wooden mallet, a hammer, more railroad spikes, a carpenters' pencil and tape measure.

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

Barn Cat - A Work in Progress

It is another nice, sunny day with the temperature reaching 64F (17.8C) which makes it ideal for going out for a walk and enjoying the changing colours.

My cats usually come out from the barn to greet me in the morning when I go down to the barn chores and wait patiently until I set the dishes out with their food.

With winter just around the corner I am sure that I will have a couple more stray cats coming into the barn for food so that they will be able to survive through the long cold winter.














Usually if I can get them tame enough to be able to capture them I take them to the veterinarian and have them either spayed or neutered so they will not create a multitude of kittens which will have to struggle to survive.

I started on this drawing of a cat and I will post it at a later date once I have completed the outline drawing.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Kabocha Squash and Garlic - A Work in Progress

Today I was greeted to 54F (12C) first thing in the morning and it is to go up to 73F (23C) with the humidity making it feel like 84F (29C) this is just an unkind joke Mother Nature is playing on us before the temperature goes below seasonal later this week.

This afternoon I went to the second of four classes with Michel St-Jean in realistic painting at KAGS (see post on 07 October 2014).















I had transferred my drawing onto the tinted canvas panel and was starting to add the shading details onto the canvas panel as a guide.

The next stage was to paint the drawing in tints tones and shades of grey going no darker than a seven on a tonal scale. This technique is known as grisaille and was used by the old Masters (for more information on grisaille see posts on 07 and 21 October 2013).














I will post this painting at a later date after I have completed the shading details and finished painting the grisaille.

Glamour I and II - Two Works in Progress

These are a couple of sketches I did from a Still Life class I did last month at KAGS.

The first one is of a wicker basket filled with rolled up facecloths and a couple of bath scrubbies which I plan to paint in bright colours.

There are also a couple of bottles of nail polish which I will probably paint one in orange and one in red.

Glamour I

The second is of a perfume atomizer, nail polish and a glass container holding tubes of lipstick.













Glamour II

I will post each of these paintings at they are completed.

I would like to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving Day.

Glamour - A Work in Progress

Last month the theme for the first Still Life class at KAGS  was 'Once Around the Bathroom'.

We had a wide variety of subject matter, everything from bathroom tissue, towels, electric razors, soap, sponges, aftershave, nail polish, perfume bottles, toothbrushes and toothpaste.














It was difficult to choose what I wanted to paint and I finally settled on a grouping of toiletry items and did this sketch.

I will post this piece at a later date once I have applied some paint to the paper.

Spoon Gourd 1 - A Work in Progress

I woke up to a very frosty and foggy morning with the temperature having dropped overnight to 28F (-2C) and if we are lucky the high today will be 52F (11C), just a taste of things to come.

This is another painting I worked on from the Still Life class at KAGS earlier this week (see posts on 09 and 10 October 2014).

This painting is of an ornamental spoon gourd which is often split in half, allowed to dry and used as a decorative spoon, hence its name.

I continued with the same theme as the other paintings by having the resting on a bed of Maple leaves and used raw sienna, new gamboge, aureolin and burnt sienna for the background.

I will post this painting again as it gets closer to completion.

Squash - Three Works in Progress

Yesterday at KAGS our theme for the sill life class was squash and gourds. The main painting I was working on (see yesterday's post) had to be set aside to dry so I decided to work on some sketches of a number of the other squash that were in the display.

Since pumpkins are probably one of the best known squash, I did a sketch of one of the small pumpkins that were in the display.

I liked the various Maple leaves that were scattered throughout the display and continued with having them as a base for the drawing.

After completing this one I decided to do a couple more.

Sugar Pumpkin

There was such a variety I was spoiled for choice. I finally settled on one of the ones that looked similar to a pumpkin.

Since this one was more flattened instead of round I did it in landscape rather than portrait format. That way I wouldn't have the sides of the squash at the edges of the painting and a lot of space above and below.














Carnival Squash 1

The next squash I picked because it was warty instead of smooth and it looked as though the bottom of it had been dipped in green paint.

Next I took all three paintings and put in a background of mixtures of raw sienna, new gamboge, aureolin and burnt sienna.














Crookneck Squash 1

I will post each painting at a later date as more work on them is completed.

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

Squash and Gourds - A Work in Progress

Today the theme for the Still Life class at KAGS was Squash and Gourds; as usual we had a wide variety of things from which to choose.

I did one small section that had ears of Indian corn and a variety of squash and gourds in an old wooden butter bowl. With a dried bottle gourd and a Carnival squash on a bed of fresh fallen Maple leaves.














Once I had completed the drawing I washed in a very pale base of raw sienna and added various mixes of new gamboge, raw sienna and a touch of burnt sienna into the background.

The paper was so saturated with water that it had to be set aside to dry before I could do any painting on the still life.

I will post this painting at a later date once I complete some of the squash.

Today I have gotten my dog early from the Peterborough Humane Society since she came in heat yesterday and they cannot spay her for at least a month. So I have her at home now until next month when she will be spayed and then she will be mine permanently.

Katchewanooka Lake I and II - Two Works in Progress

I added a little more detail to these sketches I did last month when we went canoeing on Katchewanooka Lake.

Ron had gotten home in the afternoon and with it being windy and the threat of rain in the forecast for the evening we didn't want to waste a lot of time driving so we went to Lakefield.

We launched the canoe into the Otonabee River from the public launch on Water Street.

The Otonabee is a 34 mile (55km) long river and is a part of the Trent Severn Waterway. It flows through Katchewanooka Lake and goes down to and through Little Lake in Peterborough and finally drains into Rice Lake.

Map courtesy of Google Earth imagery.

We paddled across the river in between Prince Andrew Island and went to the far side of Gordonstoun Island. We could feel the strong current pushing against us as we crossed.

Katchewanooka is a Cree word meaning Water of Many Rapids and there are a number of the rapids which are still in existence today and can be seen between the various locks and channels.

We stayed out of the main channel and continued north beyond the marina and came around Hague Point.

As we passed by markers C113 and C114 we entered the bottom end of Katchewanooka Lake which is the first of the Kawartha Lakes.

It is roughly 5 miles (8km) long and 1/2 mile (.8km) wide.

Katchewanooka Lake II

It has a maximum depth of 30 feet (9m) with the average depth being 7feet (2.3m).

The larger boats and cabin cruisers have to be careful and stay within the marked channel because of the multitude of hazards throughout the lake; they include foul ground, rocks awash, shoals, sunken piling and tree stumps.

We continued to the left and followed along the edge of the Lakefield Marsh. It is 200 acres (81ha) of wetland that was saved by local people from development. In 1996 this property was acquired by the Otonabee Region Conservation Authority due to the very generous involvement of local people for the conservation of a provincially significant class 1 wetland, source water protection, conservation education and nature appreciation.










Katchewanooka Lake I

We continued until we were almost at Webster Island and could see 175 acres (71ha) of forest, which was dedicated to the Lakefield College School in 2008; before turning around and heading back.

Ron caught a perch, but none of the other sporting fish such as large and small mouth bass, muskie, walleye, bluegill, and carp for which the lake is known.

I will post each of these pieces at a later date after I have put the ink onto the drawing and have them completed.

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

Kabocha Squash and Garlic - A Work in Progress

Today at KAGS I took the first of a four day workshop with Michel St-Jean in painting representational art.

While we were waiting for all of the class to arrive we put a thin wash using our choice of neutral grey #5 or #6 for the under paint on the canvas and set it aside to dry.











We had a discussion about what to expect over the next classes and in order to keep it fairly simple we would be working on a still life, but the same techniques we are learning can be used on almost any type of painting including portraits and animals.

We were shown the Charles Barque method of drawing in order to get the proportion correct and asked to do our drawing of the still life and then transfer it by making a grid and enlarging it to fit the canvas.















I will post this piece at a later date once I am happy with the drawing and have it transferred onto the canvas.