Yellow Sky 2 and 3 - Two Works in Progress

Today I didn't have very much time to paint so I pulled out a number of small paintings that had backgrounds but nothing else on them. Unfortunately I have a large number of those from various demonstrations I have done on painting different kinds of skies for various art groups over the years.

After pulling out a number of paintings I decided to start with these two pieces (see post on 14 December 2011) that I started quite some time ago.














Yellow Sky 2

The first one was a graduated wash of raw sienna and I turned it from the vertical format I had originally planned for it set it as a landscape and added in a number of tree trunks and main branches.














Yellow Sky 3

On the second one I flipped it upside down to make it more of an evening scene. Again I indicated some tree trunks and main branches lightly with a pencil.

I will post each of these paintings at a later date once they have been completed, and now I had better get ready for my company which will arrive shortly to help me ring in the New Year.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Evening on the Lake - A Work in Progress

Today I was pleasantly surprised to have a Purple Finch at one of my feeders.

With today being Ron's birthday I didn't have a lot of time to paint but I wanted to do a little work on something so I worked on this one that I had started last year (see posts on 29 August, 22 October 2015 and 16 January 2016).














Using a mix of burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue I started to put in the waves, using lighter paint for the distant waves and gradually adding more paint to darken the colour for the foreground waves.

Adding more burnt sienna to the wave colour I put into the distant shoreline and once that was dry I added more French ultramarine blue for the closer slightly more detailed trees.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have removed the friskit and started painting the sailboats.

Background 76 and 77 - Two Works in Progress

Today I had to go to Toronto to take Christine to see a specialist and on the way back we will stop at a couple of the art supply stores so I can get a few things that I need.

The two pieces below were created by using yesterday's remaining paint.














Background 76

The first background was made using titanium white, Hansa yellow, raw sienna, burnt sienna and a touch of Cerulean blue.














Background 77

The second background was various blends of titanium white, ultra marine blue, Cerulean blue, alizarin crimson, cadmium red and burnt sienna.

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

Sunlit Birches - A Work in Progress

Today I couldn't get motivated to go down into Peterborough to KAGS for the Still Life class; especially since we had freezing rain overnight and it is going to snow all day and the temperature is 0F (-17.8C) and with the wind chill it feels like -12F (-24.4C).

Instead I decided to do some more work on this painting that I had started earlier this week (see post on 25 January 2016) in the Lucy Manley workshop.

I started in on the sky and added a slightly darker layer of colour into the sky using titanium white, burnt sienna and raw sienna.

Next I touched up the tops of the distant trees on the top of the hill against the sky using various mixtures of ultramarine blue, Cerulean blue, raw sienna, burnt sienna and Hansa yellow.

Using ultramarine blue with a touch of white I darkened the shadows from the main tree and added shadows into the foreground from trees that are outside of the painting.

I added another layer of pure titanium white to the high lit areas of the snow drift against the main tree trunk.

Next I wanted to work on the main birch tree in the foreground.

With the sunlight coming from the left side of the painting I put in the brightest highlights on the right side of the birch tree.

I started with titanium white and added a touch of Hansa yellow to warm it and put this colour in a few areas first.

Next I added a little raw sienna to the mix and worked on the next darker highlight on the left side and toward the center of the trunk.

Then a small amount of burnt sienna was added to darken the mix slightly for areas where the bark has pealed or been damaged.

On the shadowed side of the tree I used white and various mixtures of ultramarine blue, Cerulean blue, burnt sienna, and alizarin crimson.

With a small amount of the second brightest highlight colour I put a mark on the second largest tree as a guide for when I paint that tree on another day as the brightest value.

With not having very much more time to work on the painting I went to the small birch tree in the background and painted it with the blue grey shadow colours.

I will post this painting at a later date once I paint the second largest birch tree.

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

My First Horse Head

I came across this drawing that was in some of my Mom's old files that I am slowly going through before they are shredded.

On the back of the drawing is the date I drew it, which was 11 November 1961.

I can still remember when I did this drawing while laying on the floor in the living room, with my crayons and paper in front of the television watching Jon Gnagy "Learn to Draw" on Saturday afternoon.

I had also did another horse drawing of a Bucking Bronco with Jon Gnagy "Learn to Draw" and sent it to the Uncle Bobby Show (which was a Canadian children's show that aired from 1964 to 1979) and that drawing appeared on his show in 1964.

For Christmas that year, Mom got me Jon Gnagy's Learn to Draw kit.

My Mom, who painted wall murals in acrylic and miniature paintings in watercolour as a hobby, always encouraged me to draw and paint. She also made sure that I had all the art supplies I needed.

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

Background 73-75 - Three Works in Progress

A number of things happened today starting with it raining and the temperature rose to 41F (5C), but this isn't going to last for long as the wind came up during the afternoon and the temperature started to drop and we are to have snow overnight.

With my driveway covered in ice due to the thaw, walking on it tomorrow to do the barn chores is going to be treacherous.

The following backgrounds are the created from unused paint from yesterday's acrylic painting.














Background 73

This background was made using Hansa yellow, yellow ocher and a small amount of ultramarine blue.














Background 74

Ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, alizarin crimson and titanium white were used on this background painting.














Background 75

This piece was made using cadmium red, alizarin crimson, burnt sienna and titanium white.

I had plans to complete some of my acrylic paintings at St. Matthews church in Buckhorn with the Tuesday Painting Group, but once Heather and I arrived there we found that there was a leak in their gas heating and they had the doors open so we wouldn't succumb to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Needless to say we didn't stay very long and by the time I dropped Heather off at her house and returned home I was no longer motivated to paint.

But tomorrow is another day.

Sunlit Birches - A Work in Progress

For me today was a busy day at KAGS.

In the morning we had the acrylic workshop with Lucy Manley where we did a forest scene in the winter and the afternoon was taken up with the Executive meeting.

Using raw sienna as an under paint to give a warm tone to the painting which will show through in some areas.

Next with cadmium red the main trees were indicated using a deeper tone with more detail.

Less detail and a lighter wash of colour was used for the further back trees in the forest.

The main shadows were then indicated as well as the thicker forest on the top of the hill.

The darkest colour was indicated with a mixture of ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson.

The background trees on the top of the hill were painted in using mixtures of Hansa yellow, ultramarine blue and cerulean blue.

The areas of the brightest sunlit snow were put in with pure titanium white.

The sky was a mixture of titanium white and cadmium red.

The background snow which is mainly in shadow was put in with titanium white, ultramarine blue and a hint of cadmium red.

The darkest shadow which is of the large foreground tree was put in with ultramarine blue and white.

The next darkest shadows were of the second and third largest trees using cerulean blue and white.

The remaining shadows were put in though out the areas of high lit snow using various mixtures of titanium white, ultramarine blue, cerulean blue and with a little bit of burnt sienna and alizarin crimson.

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

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

Sailboat 2 - A Work in Progress

I had a little bit of time to work on a painting and I decided that I should work on the last of the sketches I did when we went on the Stoney Lake Boat Cruise last year.

I started work on the outline drawing of Sailboat 2, tightening up some of the details.

Once I was happy with the drawing I transferred it onto watercolour paper.

In order to keep the sails and the boat white, I used a liquid masking fluid on the image and set it aside to dry.

I will post this piece at a later date once I have completed the sky and the water and I am ready to remove the mask to start work on the boat.

Background 72 - A Work in Progress

This background was made with the remaining paint from yesterday.















The colours used on this canvas are alizarin crimson, cadmium red, black and titanium white.

Once I decide what I will paint into this background I will post it at a later date.

Hoturo

Today I wanted to finish this painting that I have been working on for a little while (see posts on 10, 12, 17, 21 and 24 December 2015 and 02, 05, 08, 12 and 17 January 2016).

After looking at this painting for about a week I feel it just needs one more change.

The white line on the bottom of the hull is a little too thick and needs to be thinned along the center part to give the boat a little more shape.

Using pure cadmium red I painted my change line over the white paint.

Next I mixed the darker red colour which was against the white line of cadmium red, alizarin crimson and a touch of ultramarine blue.

Once this base colour was put on I blended it upward on the hull gradually adding more cadmium red to the mix.

Using pure titanium white I removed any of the minor "wiggle" lines of red.

At point I added more white to some of the sail reflections closer to the boat to make them stand out a little more.

Once the paint was totally dry I applied three coats of acrylic gloss medium to the painting to seal and protect it as well as bring up the colour.














I would like to thank returning collector Mr. Jiri Spirk of Lakefield, Ontario for commissioning me to do this painting of their yacht as a gift for his wife Janna.

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

Just Bobbing - A Work in Progress

Today at KAGS the theme for the Still Life class was wood.

We had two different displays set up. The first one was of various carved decoys, some painted and some plain. The second one was of various wooden carvings, bowls and buckets.

I chose to do the one with the carved decoys. I liked the two that were unpainted of a goose and a duck. I added the small painted mallard to the drawing a little later.

When the drawing was completed I used liquid friskit to mask out the decoys.














Once that was dry I used various mixes of cadmium yellow, raw sienna, Antwerp blue and French ultramarine blue to put in the background behind the decoys.

With a pale wash of both blues I indicated the water at the base of the birds.

Using raw sienna I started painting the goose first, gradually building up layers of colour to give the decoy shape.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have completed the goose decoy.

ACEO - Snow Beauty 1

While going through a binder filled with small pieces of watercolour paper that I used when I was experimenting with different colour combinations on my palette.

This one was when I was using some of the different blues (see post on 27 December 2015), in this case French ultramarine blue and Antwerp blue.

I lightly drew in three large deciduous trees on the left side of the painting and indicated some trees in the background on a hill.

Using a mix of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I painted in the trees on the left side.

This was followed by painting a mix of hardwood and soft wood trees on the hill.

I completed the piece by adding grasses and growies using burnt and raw sienna.

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

The ACEO shown 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.

Background 70 and 71 - Two Works in Progress

As usual I put the remaining paint onto canvases from yesterday's painting.














Background 70

For the first one the colours used were Hansa yellow, ultramarine blue, titanium white and black,














Background 71

The colours used on the second canvas are titanium white, with small amounts of ultramarine blue and black.

I will post each of these pieces once I decide what I am going to paint.

Hoturo - A Work in Progress

With this painting being very close to completion (see posts on 10, 12, 17, 21 and 24 December 2015 and 02, 05, 08 and 12 January 2016) I wanted to add some of the final details to the boat and water.

One of the first things I had to change was the position of the two wind indicators on the top of the mast as I had placed them on the wrong sides of the mast.

Fortunately it is a small area, so I had to go in and cover up the original placement with titanium white, then rework the cloud before I could paint them back in where they belonged.

Using titanium white I thinly painted some of the sail reflections into the water below the red reflections and extended it down through a couple of the waves.














With black I placed the HIN (Hull Identification Numbers) on the front of the boat.

Next I thinned the rails on the bow pulpit as they were slightly too thick. I will set is aside and what else needs to be changed.

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

Affordableism Art Show

Today I am sitting at Art on Kent in Lindsay and it is the last day of the Christmas show called 'Affordableism'.

This time for the show they placed all the paintings submitted by each artist together in a grouping on the wall so the public could view the style of the artist.














It was a fairly busy day with a number of people coming in to see the art exhibition as well as students bringing in their art pieces for the new show coming in which is for the best of high school art.

I had planned on doing a lot more work on this painting that I had started last year (see posts on 29 August and 22 October 2015), but all I managed to do was mask out the boats with a liquid masking fluid.













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

Through the Canyon I - A Work in Progress

Today I was watching a program on Utah's five National Parks which are associated with distinct geographical features. It showed Arches with its arches carved out of the sandstone by the elements, to Bryce Canyon with its hoodoos, Canyonlands which is divided into three different areas: Island in the Sky, The Needles and The Maze, Capitol Reef with its Waterpocket Fold and Zion with its many narrow canyons and towering walls.














While it was on I started doing a few quick sketches of the canyons and rock cliffs. In this sketch I added a few horses.

I will post this drawing at a later date once more of the details have been added.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Long Shadows - A Work in Progress

Today is a very busy day, starting with going to the Kawartha Artists' Gallery and Studio for the Still Life class in the morning, then going to the bank afterward to change the signing authority for the new vice president to be able to sign the cheques for KAGS and to return again to the Gallery to sit in the afternoon and evening.

I wanted to get this piece completed today that I had started a number of years ago (see post on 20 August 2010) especially since I was going to be at KAGS until 7:00 p.m. tonight.

During the afternoon the gallery was very busy and all I was able to do was use a pencil to indicate the small trees in the background and then put in the skeletons of the three larger trees in the foreground.















When the second sitter arrived at 4:00 p.m. I took a break and had supper downstairs before returning to the upper level to resume my duties at the front desk.

Using various greens made of various combinations of Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue, raw sienna and burnt sienna I painted the trees into the background; this was in between looking after some of the people who came in to view the Christmas Show which closes tomorrow.

As I had time I was able to put in the trunks and main branches on the foreground trees using some of the green mixes and a little more burnt sienna.

I will post this painting once, more work on it has been completed.

Background 69 - A Work in Progress

Not too much has changed from yesterday in that the temperature remains at 6F (-14.4C) and with the wind chill it feels like -11F (-23.9C).

This is the background made with yesterday's remaining paint.















The colours used on this painting are ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, black, white, Hansa yellow, alizarin crimson and cadmium red.

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

Hoturo - A Work in Progress

It is another day of snow, but the temperature was milder in the morning at 16F (8.9C) and not very much wind; but as the day progressed the wind started up and the temperature dropped to 6F (-14.4C) and with the wind chill it felt like -11F (-23.9C).

After leaving it for a couple of days to look at the painting that I have been working on for a while (see posts on 10, 12, 17, 21 and 24 December 2015 and 02, 05 and 08 January 2016) I realized that there were a few things that had to be changed.

The major one was that the bow was at too low an angle and it had to be changed before I could add the splashing water by the bow.

The other two were much more minor in that the spreader was too dark and a little too thick.

Lastly the pipe on the deck was also much too thick as well.

Once these changes were made I started to by adding the red area below the white line with a mixture of alizarin crimson and cadmium red.

I added a little of the water splashing up from the bow with titanium white.

Now I will start painting the many pieces of equipment that are on the front of the boat.

First I increased the height of the stanchion on the top of the cabin. Then I added the base and the housing for the lines running to the spreader bars on the mast.

Next I cleaned up the white areas on the deck then added ultramarine blue and burnt sienna to the paint and put in the details on the window and curtains.

With various mixtures of white, blue grey, and black I painted the bow pulpit (the guardrail and support on the bow for the lifelines).

Now I can add the stem fitting (the fitting at the bow where the forestay is fastened).

With a grey mix I added in the spring line (a dock line usually used to prevent fore and aft motion of the boat).

I added the cleat (a metal object to which various lines  can be fastened) onto the deck with white paint and then added the lower part of one of the spreader lines before adding a little ultramarine blue to take it the rest of the way to the spreader.

Using the pale blue paint I put in the second line for the spreader, ran the lifelines, and the rigging line shadows on the foresail including the shadow of the far side of the bow pulpit and lastly the shadows cast on the deck.

Using a dark mix of ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson I put in the dark part of the waves from the bow to the stern.














Next I added some of the splashing water from the bow of the boat and along the length of the hull some of the small white caps caused by the passage of the boat and the ripples at the stern.

With a thin mix of cadmium red and alizarin crimson I added some of the reflection of the boat into the water.

I will post this painting again at a later date once I add the reflection of the sails into the water.

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

ACEO - Morning Sky 1

With it raining throughout the night there is very little snow left on the ground. It will continue to rain for the rest of the day and it is to change to snow later this evening.

With the 25mph (40km) winds that started in the afternoon the temperature is dropping rapidly from the 48F (8.9C) of the morning and should reach 23F (-6C) and they are calling for flash freezing on the roads and the snow to start in the evening.













I pulled out this painting that I started a couple of years ago (see posts on 21 June 2014 and 22 August 2015) and lightly sketched in a tree and added a little bit of shoreline.

I mixed a dark of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna and painted in the tree at the left side and darkened the mix slightly and put in the shoreline.














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 each and sold unframed.

Background 68 - A Work in Progress

Last night we had freezing rain, which during the morning changed to rain with the temperatures climbing to 47F (8.3C). My driveway was a sheet of ice with water running down road.

There wasn't very much left over paint from working on yesterday's painting but it did cover one small canvas.















The colours used were alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and titanium white.

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

Hoturo - A Work in Progress

I had a little time to work on a painting today and since this one is very close to completion (see posts on 10, 12, 17, 21 and 24 December 2015 and 02 and 05 January 2016) I thought it would be a good idea to try and get it finished.

The first thing to work on was the ladder on the stern. I used burnt sienna, ultramarine blue and titanium white.

With white and ultramarine blue I put in the shading on the fore deck and the port side edge of the cabin.

Next I worked on the wooden trim on the gunnel by darkening the wood.

Next I put in the white stripe on the bottom of the hull where it shows above the water on the stern and goes forward to the bow.

With a pale mix of ultramarine blue and white I added more shadows of the rigging onto the foresail as well as a part of the lifeline (a cable that runs along the outside of the deck supported by stanchions to help restrain passengers).

Using alizarin crimson I put in the shadow of the indent on the hull.














Then adding a little ultramarine blue to the alizarin crimson I added some shading just above the white line and just below the bow.

With a thin mix of titanium white I put in the reflected colour from the water onto the hull and where the sunlit was being reflected. With thicker white paint I added the brightest highlights from the sun on the hull and gunnel.

I will post this painting again once I have added the details on the foredeck.

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

Lovesick Lake I - A Work in Progress

Today I am sitting the Christmas Art Show and Sale at the Kawartha Artists’ Gallery and Studio.

I brought this piece to work on that I had started last year (see post on 31 July 2015).












With a large number of people coming through the Gallery this afternoon I wasn't able to complete the drawing.

I will post the piece at a later date once I complete more of the trees on both sides of the sketch.

Bunny and Basket 1 - A Work in Progress

So far I have not seen anything of Patch, even though I have been calling her each morning and leaving food in some of her sheltered places, hopefully she will return one day.

I  can only hope that she went to one of the other nearby farms and found a home there and is still alive and well.

While going through a box of smaller paintings I came across this one that I had started a couple of years ago (see post on 27 May 2014).

The basics were in place and I need to take a little time to sketch in more of the details on the bunny and the basket to be able to paint it accurately.

With alizarin crimson I painted in the nose.

Using burnt sienna I started to put in the stalks on the pussy willows and for the shadowed side I added a little French ultramarine blue to the brown.

I will post this painting at a later date once I complete the pussy willows.

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

Hoturo - A Work in Progress

With today being Tuesday I am going to spend the day painting. I plan to work on this piece that I started last year (see posts on 10, 12, 17, 21 and 24 December 2015 and 02 January 2016).

I don't expect to get a lot done today as it is time to do many of the small, very detailed pieces on board the ship as well as completing all three of the figures.

I started working back and forth between all three of the figures first as other pieces would either cover over them or be markers for the placement of other things.

Using white and ultramarine blue I added the helmsman's hat and t-shirt and at the same time I added a little more detail to the other white t-shirt and hat.

The back pad and the wood on the gunnel were painted in next using raw sienna and gradually adding more burnt sienna for the shading.

I added a little white and Cerulean blue to the wood colour for the shorts on the one figure and pure Cerulean blue for the other shorts with a little white added for the highlights.














Next using pure titanium white I put in the rest of the gunnel and more of the upper part of the cabin as well as a little of the fore deck.

Using various mixtures of grey, blue grey and black I put in the housing for the mast when the boat is in transit and the mast has to be lowered. Once that was dry the next piece to go in was the stern guardrail with the same colours.

With a dark of burnt sienna and ultramarine blue I put in part of the companionway. To this dark I added alizarin crimson and painted the rest of the stern in preparation for putting in the ladder.

I will post this painting again once I put in the ladder and start adding more details to the hull (the under body of the boat).

Buckhorn Artists' Group Blog - Show Updates

It seems that our mild weather has disappeared for a short time as this morning I was greeted to 0F (-17.8C) and with the wind chill it felt like a bitter -15F (-26.1C).

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 January.

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

Background 64-67 - Four Works in Progress

As usual I put the remaining acrylic paint to good use as background on small canvases.














Background 64

The first background was a mix of white, black and ultramarine blue.














Background 65

The second background had alizarin crimson, cadmium red, raw sienna, Hansa yellow, burnt sienna and a small amount of ultramarine blue.














Background 66

The third canvas was mainly white and ultramarine blue.














Background 67

The last canvas was of the remaining black and white paint.

I will post each of the paintings at a later date as they are completed.

Hoturo - A Work in Progress

Today I wanted to do more work on this painting that I had started last year (see posts on 10, 12, 17, 21 and 24 December 2015).

First I blocked in the starboard (right) side of the boat with cadmium red.

As the paint was drying I thought about how I would work in all the fine details to be put in next.

Starting at the stern I painted in the auxiliary motor (a small engine used to power the boat when not under sail).

I used various shades of grey and black; with the manufacturer's name in Cerulean blue and white.

Next I painted in the rudder using a base coat of burnt sienna, then over painting the wood with raw sienna, Hansa yellow and a little bit of alizarin crimson.

The edge on the rudder was washed over with a dark grey as was shadowed area on the tiller.

The small amount of the white line running across the bottom of the stern was put in before most of the stern was painted with a mixture of cadmium red, alizarin crimson and a small amount of black.

I wanted to place the figures in the boat and from there work around them painting in the various parts with similar colours.

I started by mixing a flesh tone of white, burnt sienna and a small amount of alizarin crimson and painted in the arms, legs and heads of the passengers.














Using mixtures of white, ultramarine blue and a little burnt sienna some of the cabin housing, hat, t-shirt and the gunnel on the stern were painted.

Next using various mixes of Hansa yellow, raw sienna, burnt sienna and white the other t-shirt, shorts and some of the wood on the gunnel and the hair were painted.

With different shades of grey the block and lines were attached to the boom, some of the shadows were put on the cabin housing, the lines coiled on lower part of the mast and the window.

With a pale mix of ultramarine blue and white the shadows of the people and the rigging lines were put onto the lower section of the foresail.

I will post this painting at a later date as more work on the boat is completed.

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