Barn X

Today I wanted to work on some of my drawings and I pulled out a number of barn sketches that I had started a few years ago (see post on 28 September 2013).

I started  by working on the back part of the barn by tidying up the roof, giving definition to the barn boards and putting the frame around the window.

Next I started on the main barn putting the frames around the windows, the door jamb around the door and added the latch onto the door, leaving the concrete base of the wall untouched for now.
















I did the same to the front of the barn fixing the window, drawing in the barn boards and leaving the concrete alone.

The roof was the last thing that was worked on, putting in the roof cap and running the siding down to the edge of the roof.

Lastly, I indicated where the patches of snow would still be on the ground.

Seahorse 4

Today is a much cooler, rainy day with the temperature hovering around 50F (10C) and tomorrow the temperature is going to do a total turnaround  with a bright, sunny day and the temperature climbing to 75F (25C) with the humidity making it feel like 85F (29.4C).

I decided I would like to keep warm thoughts, so I decided to do a drawing of a seahorse on sea grasses in the Caribbean.

Once I was satisfied with the size and placement of the seahorse, I indicated the sea weed stalk that it had its tail wrapped around.

This was followed by drawing the rest of the sea grass stalks.

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

Revisiting Three Winter Paintings

Today I took four paintings to Art on Kent for the Members' Show which opens on 02 July and runs through to 01 August 2015 and sat the show at the Gallery for the afternoon.














Twin Trees 1

I worked on three winter paintings, the first one (see posts on 13 February and 24 November 2012) needed a few shadows in the snow to add a little more character from the solid area of white.













Winter Gold 1

The second one (see posts on 14 December 2011 and 20 February 2013) had a large expanse of solid colour over the entire snow covered lake which was to plain.

I added a little pure burnt sienna over some areas of the lake to create a little more depth to the painting.














Winter Evening 2

The third painting (see post on 18 November 2014) was an evening scene and the sunset colours would be reflected back in the snow.

A pale wash of burnt sienna was brushed in some areas of the snow to make it more believable.

Break in the Fence 1

Today we finally finished building the first set of the new barn doors for the barns. In this case the west set of doors on the back of the north barn.















The barn doors on the east side of the barn fortunately only require a new entry door which is the next one on the agenda after we recycle the good section on the old barn door to hang on the courtyard side of the west barn.















I thought it fitting to do this sketch of a farm with a barn in the background  and a break in the fencing that needs to be repaired since we have been working on these doors as we had the time over the past two months.

Lang Mill I

Today the KAGS Outdoor Painters' Group went to Lang Pioneer Village and Museum to remove our paintings from the MacKelvie Gallery.















After we removed the paintings we had the rest of the day to draw and paint the buildings, animals, machinery and people of the Village.

As I wandered through the Village I took many photographs and at the end of the afternoon I did this sketch of the Lang Mill before I left for home.

Moonlit Creek I

Today I just started doodling on a landscape and gradually it started to take shape as a night scene with a full moon.

I added some large pines to the right side of the drawing and brought a bank down to the edge of a creek.














The moonlight would be reflected in the slowly moving water.

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

Horse Sketches VII

Today while I was watching a program on television about wild horses, I pulled out this sketch that I had started a few years ago (see post on 11 May 2012) and thought I would finish the two horses.

Using a pencil I started on the horse at the top of the page and added more details.

From there I did the same thing with the lower horse until I was satisfied with the sketch.

Next, using pen and ink I drew in the first horse and added the shading and grass.

Now I worked on the second horse and did the outline and added the shading and grasses.

After looking at the two horses I decided to add pinto markings to the second horse.

Once this original 8" x 9" drawing is matted and shrink wrapped it will be available for $50.00.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Koi 8 and 9

Today I wanted to do a couple of drawings of koi for some paintings I had started a couple of years ago that just need the fish transferred onto the canvas.

I did my first sketch in the portrait format and had it heading down toward the bottom of the pond after a tasty treat.

I put slightly longer fins and tail of the fish, but bit as long as one would fin on a butterfly koi just to create a bit of interest.

The second one is in landscape format and had the koi rising up.

Koi 8

This one also had longer fins which creates more of a flowing movement.















Koi 9

Perhaps some of these drawings will be used in future paintings of koi.

OSWOA - Rubber Ducky 2

I wanted to work on something that I could complete today and after going through a number of pieces I decided on this one of a rubber ducky that I has started last year (see posts on 28 March and 15 July 2014).

Using a dark mix of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I painted in the pupils of the eyes.















Using a wash of raw sienna I put down the under paint for the duck, leaving the whites of the eyes and painting around the bill.

With various mixtures of blue greys gradually the shading was put on the body of the ducky.

Finally the bill was painted using alizarin crimson, new gamboge, cadmium red and cadmium yellow.














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 Winsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $40.00 and sold unframed.

ACEO - Poppies 2

I wanted to finish this painting today that I had started last year (see post on 22 June 2014).

Using a mixture of French ultramarine blue and Antwerp blue and brushed in the sky.

Next I added raw sienna to the sky colour and painted the grasses into the bottom of the painting and then set it aside to dry.















Using mixtures of alizarin crimson and cadmium red I painted in the blooms of the poppies and the petals that were showing on the partially open buds.

Using the grass colour I added in the stems and leaves of the poppies.

Lastly, I mixed a dark of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson and put in the centres on the open poppies.















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.

White Flowers 2

Yesterday, I did a painting of white flowers and after looking at it today, I decided that I would like to do another painting similar to it and make them a matching set.

I started by lightly sketching in a large semi abstract flower at the bottom right side of the paper.

From there, I added another flower on the left side, finishing slightly above the middle of the paper.

Above these two flowers I added two smaller partially opened flowers, leaving some open space at the top and on the right side of the paper.

Once again using Cobalt blue at the top of the paper I painted in the sky.

Using alizarin crimson with a small amount of the blue I painted in some areas of the petals.

Adding varying amounts of Cobalt blue and alizarin crimson together I indicated the edges of petals and the shadows.

I left areas of the white paper for the highlights.

Using various mixtures of Cobalt blue, French ultramarine blue, raw sienna, new gamboge and aureolin I painted in the various leaves and stems.

Lastly, with burnt sienna and raw sienna I put in the stamens on the larger flower at the bottom of the painting and a few on the middle sized flower on the left side.

This original 11" x 15" watercolour painting once it has been framed, will be available for $295.00.

White Flowers 1

Today, I wanted to paint a large floral painting.

I started by lightly sketching in a large semi abstract flower at the bottom of the paper.

From there, I added another flower toward the top of the paper on the left side and behind the first flower. This was followed by putting a bud to the right of the flower and having it go off the paper.

Using Cobalt blue at the top of the paper I painted in the sky. This was followed by adding touches of the blue on the right side of the bud.

I added a flower bud above on the right side of the main flower.

Using alizarin crimson with a small amount of to the blue I painted in some areas of the petals.

Adding varying amounts of Cobalt blue and alizarin crimson together I indicated the edges of petals and the shadows while leaving areas of the white paper without paint for the highlights.

Using various mixtures of Cobalt blue, French ultramarine blue, raw sienna, new gamboge and aureolin I painted in the various the various leaves and stems.

Lastly, with burnt sienna and raw sienna I put in the stamens on the larger flower at the bottom of the painting.

This original 11" x 15" watercolour painting once it has been framed, will be available for $295.00.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Lake Reflections I - revisited

Today, I was going to cut mats and backing for some of my pen and ink drawings; that is until I came across this drawing that wasn't finished.

It didn't have the reflections in the lake (see posts on 12 June and 30 November 2014 and 13 April 2015).















It didn't take long for me to put in the reflections onto the lake's surface.

Now, I can erase the pencil lines and get the mats cut and get it ready for framing.

Cold Beauty

I found this painting of birch trees on a sunny winter's day in one of my portfolios that had been left in my frame room.

The only thing I had to do to complete this painting was to paint the markings on the birch trees and add the grasses and growies at the base of the trees.  

With a mix of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna, I put in the markings and with raw sienna I added the grasses and growies. 

This original 6-1/2" x 10-1/2" watercolour painting once it has been framed, will be available for $165.00.

Birch Tree Trunks I

Today I was at Millennium Park in Peterborough and I came across these three birch trees by the edge of the Otonabee River.

It started to cloud over as I sat on the grass and started to sketch the birches beginning with blocking in the three trunks.














It wasn't long before the rain started so I took a couple of pictures before leaving the park to head home.

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

Warm and Cool Exhibit at KAGS

Today I am sitting the summer show called Warm and Cool at the Kawartha Artists Gallery and Studio.












The one nice thing about being here is that I am out of the heat and humidity with the temperature outside at 75F (23.9C) and with the humidity feeling like a hot and sticky 85F (29.4C).












The only thing I will miss is being able to enjoy the thunderstorm and watching the lightning flash from the top of my hill. Although, with the tornado warnings in effect I am hoping they will pass without coming anywhere near the farm.

Winter Trail 2

I was going through some winter photographs of the trails going through the woodland at the south end of my property and thought I would like to do this part of the trail which is just behind the pond and gives you c choice of going toward the road to the west or deeper into the forest as you go east.

I started by putting the sky in with a mixture of ultramarine blue and titanium white and as I got to the bottom of the painting I added a cobalt blue and pthalo blue into the sky colour for the snow on the ground and the snow shadows.

Next I mixed various different greens for my trees using raw sienna, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, ultramarine blue, pthalo blue and cobalt blue.

Using more of the paler yellow greens first, I put in the distant trees into the background and gradually darkened green mixtures as I put in the closer trees and added more details to them as I worked my way forward through the background trees.

On the closer trees on each side of where the trail divides I continued to darkened the colours and added more details to the trees.

Next I mixed a dark of ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and a little bit of alizarin crimson and put in some dark shadows at the base of the trees as well as a few of the bare tree trunks.

Norma's Peppers

Today is another wet and rainy day and I am painting with the the Lakefield Creative Arts Guild at St. John the Baptist Anglican Church in Lakefield, Ontario.

Many in the Group are getting mats cut and paintings framed for the up coming Artists in Bloom II Art Show and Sale later this month in conjunction with the spring Strawberry and Tea Social held on 27 June.

This is a painting I started last month (see post on 27 May 2015) and it just needs the yellow pepper painted to be completed.

To create the shadow on the pepper I used burnt sienna with a touch of cadmium red.

More layers of raw sienna, new gamboge and aureolin were layered over the body of the pepper to give it the illusion of roundness.

I finished the pepper with some areas of burnt sienna for the reflected colour.

This original 8" x 10" watercolour painting when framed will be available for $185.00.

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

Harness Horse Head Study

Today I was at the Brooklin Spring Fair and enjoyed watching the Light Horse show with classes for Carriage Horses, Hackney Ponies, Harness Ponies, and Haflingers.

As usual I took along my camera and sketchbook and took photographs of the classes and did a number of sketches.

During the course of the day I probably did about 20 sketches which could be worked into paintings.

I also took well over 500 photographs of the various classes at the show.

Needless to say, I am very happy that I have switched to digital as I would have hated to pay the cost to develop the film.

This quick sketch is of one of the Harness Ponies.

Fortunately, I took a series of photographs of the stages of this head study sketch.

A lady who had been watching me sketch on and off during the course of the day came over an asked if she could purchase one of my sketches.

I would like to thank new collector Mrs. Marcia Darrin of Toronto, Ontario on her purchase of this sketch.

As I develop more of these sketches I will post them at a later date.

Twin Pines 1

Today, I wanted to do something simple and fairly easy.

I decided to do the pair of pines in one of the fields behind the barn and just before the sugar bush at the eastern edge of the property.

After putting in the main pines trees I added some of the trees on the far side of the Snelgrove Brook which runs through the back of the farm.

Over the years I have taken many photographs of these pine trees.

They are one of my favourite subjects and I will probably do a lot more paintings of them in the not too distant future.

OSWOA - Gardening 2

Today I wanted to work on another still life painting so I could have a number of them ready for the upcoming Still Life Show at The Lindsay Gallery later this month.

I pulled out this painting that I had started last year (see posts on 05 March, 14 August and 26 December 2014) and wanted to complete.













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 Winsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $40.00 and sold unframed.

ACEO - Pine 2

I had a little bit of time to work on a painting today and decided to complete this one that I had started earlier this year (see post on 03 February 2015).

I brushed the sky into the background using cobalt blue and added a touch of French ultramarine blue and painted i n the water.

Next I mixed French ultramarine blue, raw sienna and added a touch of burnt sienna to darken the green and painted the needles into the main tree.

While the paint was still wet I dropped in some pure burnt sienna to give a little more colour to the needles.

I lightly drew in the trunks of the other trees.

Still using the same colour for the needles I painted in the trunks first and then added the needles to the other trees and again added touches of burnt sienna.

I put the reflections from the trees into the water.

To complete the painting I painted in the rocks with French ultramarine, burnt sienna and raw sienna.

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

The ACEO shown here is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 300lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

Buckhorn Artists' Group Blog - Show Updates

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

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

Autumn River 1

Today I was in Peterborough by the Otonabee River and I stopped to feed the ducks, geese and seagulls.

It was so peaceful in the small park on Water Street, that while I sat at the picnic table surrounded by the water fowl, I did a little sketch of the river.

I thought I would like to have this scene of the trees as it would be in autumn rather than the summer.

I may turn this drawing into a painting at a later date.

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

Confirmed Shows for 2015 - June

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.

MacKelvie Gallery, Keene, Ont.
PioneerVillage
28 May - 25 Jun Lang Pioneer Village Museum, Keene, Ont.

Kawartha Artists’ Gallery, Peterborough, Ont.
KAGS
10 Jun - 05 Jul 15 Warm and Cool
Opening Reception 13 Jun 15 from 1-4pm.
26 Aug - 27 Sep 15 Faces and Figures
Opening Reception 29 Aug 15 from 1-4pm.
11-29 Nov 15 Outdoor Painters' Show - Elements of Nature
Opening Reception 14 Nov 15 from 1-4pm.
02-20 Dec 15 and 06-17 Jan 16 Christmas Show
Opening Reception 05 Dec 15 from 1-4pm.

The Lindsay Gallery, Lindsay, Ont.
LindsayGallery
24 Jun - 25 Jul 15 Motion in Stillness
Reception 25 Jul 15 from 2-4pm.


St. John the Baptist Anglican Church, Lakefield, Ont.
27 Jun 15 Artists in Bloom II 2-4pm.

Kawartha Arts Network - Art on Kent, Lindsay, Ont.
KAN
02 Jul - 01 Aug 15 Annual All Members' Show
Opening Reception 04 Jul 15 from 1-3pm.
03-31 Dec 15 and 07 Jan-16 Jan 16 Affordibleism
Opening Reception 05 Dec 15 from 1-3pm.

Lockside Trading Company, 2805 River Ave, Youngs Point, Ont.
18-19 Jul 15 3rd Annual Art @ the Locks from 9am-6pm.
15-16 Aug 15 4th Annual Art @ the Locks from 9am-6pm.

St. Matthews Church, Buckhorn, Ont.
BuckhornArtistsGroup
15-23 Aug 15 25th Annual Shades of Summer Art Show

Fenelon Falls Fair Grounds, Fenelon Falls, Ont.
KawarthaArtsFestival
05-06 Sep 15 Kawartha Arts Festival

Township of Douro-Dummer Library Art Gallery, Warsaw, Ont.
08 Sep - 24 Oct 15 Three Good Friends
Opening Reception 11 Sep 15 from 7-8pm.

Millennium Park, Peterborough, Ont.
5th Annual Purple Onion Festival
20 Sep 15 from 11am-4:00pm.

Dancing Blueberries, 360 George St. N., Peterborough, Ont.
02-28 Oct 15

Please come out and enjoy the artwork displayed at these shows.