Drawing on the Otonabee River

Today, Norma and I went out along River Road to find a place to sketch.

We came across a lovely location with two cottages on the opposite side of the Otonabee River, which had stone stairs leading down to the water and a wide variety of blooming plants in their gardens which were reflected into the calm waters.















Cottage on the Otonabee River I

After doing my drawing of one of the cottages, I walked a little further up the river and did this sketch of the branches sticking up out of the water of a cedar tree that had broken and fallen into the river.















Dead Cedar on the Otonabee River I

I will probably come back and do a little more work on each of these drawings at a later date.

Farm by the River I - A Work in Progress

Today I couldn't get into painting so I flipped through the many sketches I have created while drawing on location and thought I would apply some ink onto the drawing.

I pulled out this one that I had started a couple of years ago while I was on River Road in Lakefield (see posts on 11 November 2015 and 31 January 2017).















I started with the large foreground tree on the right side of the paper, but before I could get it completed I had to go out and help a friend who needed a ride.

I will post this drawing at a later date once I have completed the foreground trees.

Farm by the River I - A Work in Progress

It is a little warmer today with the temperature at 12F (-11C), with the wind chill making it feel like 0F (-18C) as I went down to the barn to do the morning chores. I get to look forward to snow flurries this afternoon and for it to warm up to 25F (-4C) and a wind chill of 16F (-9C).

While I warmed up with a cup of tea I looked through a number of drawings that  I had started a number of years ago and decided that I would work on this one I did on location on River Road, in Lakefield, Ontario (see post on 11 November 2015).















I started with the dead tree trunk in the foreground on the left side of the drawing.

Once the tree was finished, I put in the farm in the background on the other side of the river, including the fences and trees at the edges of the fields.

Next I came back to the foreground and put in the grasses and growies at the base of the dead tree on the left side of the drawing.

I will post this again at a later time once I have put in on the right side of the drawing.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Moonlight 7

While on my way home from the Uncommon Marketplace exhibit I did this little drawing of the moon rising over the Otonabee River.

When I finally arrived at home after stopping to pick up pizza and salad for supper, along with cheese cake for dessert, this is what greeted me when I walked into the living room.

The wall had been torn apart in preparation for the new sliding glass doors, leaving a lot of rubble on the floor, dust covering everything, the furniture moved around and tools scattered all over the place.

There is still a lot more work that needs to be done, but I am sure I can survive the mess.

Hopefully, we will have good weather for next weekend and by then the doors should be set in place and I won't have everything in chaos for very much longer.

I have to say that I am looking forward to being able to see the view from my living room, especially with the autumn colours showing throughout the over 200 acres (80 hectares) in the trees at the bottom of the hill.

I will post photographs of the completed door and the view at a later date.

Millennium Park Waterfall I

Today we had rain in the early morning, but it had cleared out before I left to go painting with the KAGS Outdoor Painters' Group at Millennium Park in Peterborough.

It was going to be another very hot 90F (32C) and humid 104F (40C) day and the Park which is on the Otonabee River and has plenty of shade trees would be an ideal place to be outside drawing or painting.














After wandering through the part and taking lots of reference photographs I decided to do a drawing of the waterfalls in the park.

At lunchtime, we headed to the Silver Bean Café, which has a deck that overlooks the Otonabee River and enjoyed our lunches and beverages there. After lunch I decided to head home and relax.

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

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.

Frozen Reflections 1 and 2

The temperatures were at 25F (-3.9C) this morning when I went into Peterborough to take down my exhibit at the Dancing Blueberries.

On my way home I stopped at the small park on Water St. to do a couple of drawings of the reflections of the trees on the ice of the frozen Otonabee River.

Just off the shore of the park there was a small island and I did a part of its shoreline.

This section of the island had more coniferous trees which had lovely reflections.

Frozen Reflections 1

From there I walked along the shore of the park until I could see where the shoreline jutted out into the river.

I could see a few deciduous trees which cast long shadows across the snow as well as seeing the tree reflections onto the ice on the river.

In the distance I could see the far shoreline and I indicated the trees on the horizon  line.

Once I finished the second drawing, I had enough of being out in the cold and it was time to go home for lunch and a hot cup of tea.

Frozen Reflections 2

At a later date I may decide to make these drawings into paintings.

Tied Up 3

While driving home along River Road I came across this scene of a boat tied up to a pier waiting to go out on the Otonabee River.

I stopped and did this little drawing of the boat gently bobbing on the water.














I can already see that this drawing at a later date can easily be turned into a painting.

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

Summer Trees 1

Today as I went to the Peterborough Riverview Park and Zoo and went down to the lower level by the Otonabee River where there is a footbridge leading to a small island. I wanted to work on a small painting, so I sat down to paint for by the river.

It didn't take long for me to rough in the main sections of the rocks, the far side of the river and the trees.

Wetting my paper first, I brushed in the sky and the river with French ultramarine blue.

While the paper was drying, I mixed various greens using Antwerp blue, raw sienna, new gamboge and aureolin.

I started by painting in the trees on the far shore of the river, this was followed by painting the areas of the leaves on the trees that were in the island.

















Using alizarin crimson and burnt sienna, I indicated where the rocks of the island would be located.

While the rock base was drying, using raw sienna I indicated some of the reeds in the water by the far shore.

I mixed a dark of burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue and painted painted over the rock area, and using a palette knife I lifted some of the dark colour to create the rock shapes, with the under paint showing through.

Next, I painted in the tree trunks with the dark mixture.

Lastly, I added in a couple of gull silhouettes as they flew across the sky above the river.

This framed, original 3" x 3-1/2" watercolour painting is available for $85.00. SOLD

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Early Morning 3 and 4

Today the KAGS Outdoor Painters Group was at the Isabel Morris Park in Lakefield, Ontario. This 2 acre (.81 hectares) park is located adjacent to the Lakefield-Smith Arena and provides a view of Otonabee River.

The Lakefield Marina is also located on the Otonabee River at the mouth of Katchewanooka Lake at the far end of the park.














Early Morning 3

From the boardwalk which runs alongside the river edge of the park you can see the Lakefield Beach and Playground on the far side of the Otonabee River and both Prince Andrew Island and Gordonstoun Island, which is where I decided to set myself up to do some drawing.














Early Morning 4

I did the first sketch of the two islands with the park on the far side of the river. I then changed my position to get a different angle of the islands for my next sketch which is mainly of the two islands with just the shoreline of the far side of the river.