First Teaching Assignment

Going through some old files I came across this drawing of a swam that I did when I was in Grade One and it was dated on the back 21 June 1962.

It was because of this drawing that I ended up having my first art teaching assignment. I was asked to teach a class of Grade Six students on how I did my drawing of the swan.

I had them start by placing the water line followed by doing the numeral 2 to place the top of the swan on the paper.

Next, they put a ball at the start of the number for the head and added a triangle for the bill.














To slightly below the centre of the ball (head) they drew the bottom of the neck and came slightly forward and brought the chest down to the waterline.

From there I extended the bottom of the two slightly upward for the top of the tail.

Below that we put in a curved line for the bottom of the tail and brought it down to the waterline.

Just back of  the neck we put in the wing and added the large feathers.

Lastly, the top of the leg was put in slightly above the waterline.

Cardinal 3 - A Work in Progress

Today I was painting with the Tuesday Buckhorn Painting Group at St. Matthews Church.

We had guest instructor Gail Hawkins in to teach how to draw and paint a Cardinal in watercolour.

She had copies of a photograph of a Cardinal that we could use, but I chose to work from one of my own photographs.

Once I had drawn my bird onto the paper, I brushed in a background colour using various mixtures of French ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson and burnt sienna.

While the background was drying, we broke for lunch and when we returned it was time to put the colour onto the bird.















Using new gamboge, I brushed in the sun touched areas of the bird as well as the under paint for the beak.

Next, using a mixture of alizarin crimson with a small amount of burnt sienna I put in the base colour for the cardinal. While that was drying I used a dark of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson to indicate the area of the mask.

I put in another layer of the red in some of the darker areas, by then it was time to leave.

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

Baby Barn Swallows

All of my baby barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) are now out of the nest and learning to fly and it won't be long before they will be able to feed themselves and not have to rely on their parents.

From the four pair of swallows I had nesting in my barns; we ended up with eleven babies surviving.















I managed to get these photographs of the first two batches that left the nest a couple of days ago.

The other six, I was not able to get photographs of today as they wouldn't allow me to get close enough to take their picture.















But I look forward to be able to get some more photographs of them over the next couple of weeks before they start their long journey south for the winter.

Morning Fisherman 1 - A Work in Progress

Last night there was a full moon and early this morning it was setting in the west as the sun was coming up in the east. The sky was a mix of greys and yellows.

I thought an early morning sketch with a blue heron patiently waiting for its prey to swim by and be caught would make in interesting drawing.

I started with the heron first and placed him standing on a rock.

Next I put in the distant shoreline with some trees behind the heron and then I placed the full moon in the sky to the left.

Lastly, I added in some bull rushes or cattails around the heron to finish the drawing.

I will post this drawing again at a later date once I have completed the sky and water.

Freedom

Today I set the crow free.














When I took him outside he sat on my arm for almost five minutes looking around, getting his bearings. He flew to the trees by the fence line at the back of the track and stayed there for about 15 minutes before heading off toward the back fields and disappeared from sight.

I hope he survives, now that he is back in the wild.

Crow Rescue

Due to the warm weather, the ice and snow melting and the temperature dropping overnight we have a very foggy morning. But we are having above another seasonal temperature day at 51F (10.6C).

Today I saw one of my little hawks has arrived back from the south and will be nesting in the hawk box under the eaves on the house.













I have an injured crow to nurse back to health. I saw him this morning when I was filling the bird feeders. Usually the crows fly off when I appear on the front lawn, but this one stayed in the elm tree.

This afternoon he was eating a little and slowly hobbling around; when he stopped he just stood shivering with cold.

I got a small blanket from the house and walked very slowly toward him and he didn't move, not even when I dropped the blanket over him. There was no struggling, he let me wrap him in the blanket and bring him into the house.














It looks as though he was attached by other birds, most of the feathers are off his head and neck, fortunately there is no damage to his eyes although they are weeping and I have cleaned most of the crust from them.

Once he was warm I moved the box out onto the porch with food and water, but he is proving to be an escape artist and has gotten out a couple of times. But he stays quietly even when I pick him up and carry him back and put him in the box.

We will see what tomorrow brings.

Barn Swallows - A Work in Progress

This is a sketch I had started last summer (see posts on 24 August 2014 and 23 January 2015).

I wanted to do a little more work on this sketch and I started by tightening up the outline shape of both birds sitting on the light post.















I will post this drawing again once I have completed the outline sketch.

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

Barn Swallows - A Work in Progress

We had a light dusting of snow overnight which just hides the ice underneath and made walking treacherous. The nice thing is that the sun is out and we can hope that things will melt a little even with the temperature at 16F (-8.9C) and the wind chill at 7F (-13.9C) it is a lot warmer than it has been.

I had started this drawing last summer when the three pairs of barn swallows were here and nesting (see post on 24 August 2014).

I was not happy with where I had drawn the swallow in flight so I moved him away from the light post.

I completed the post and added more detail to the unused socket light.

Once I have completed more work on the swallows I will post this drawing again.

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

Barn Swallows - A Work in Progress

It is another bright and sunny summer day with the temperature reaching 77F (25C) but the humidity making it feel like 86F (30C).

I was taking a break after I had finished mowing the lawn and I sat by the barn gate watching the barn swallows. There were three of them that were flitting back and forth, landing on the old barn light post, taking a turn around the barn yard and then coming back to rest.















I did this quick sketch of them and will post this drawing again once I have tightened up some of the details on the outline sketch.

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

Evening Grosbeaks III - A Work in Progress

This is the last of four sketches (see posts on 20, 22 and 25 July 2014) of Evening Grosbeaks that I would like to paint.















I didn't have much time today to do more than indicate where I will place the seven birds and some of the growies, but at least I have a basics in for the sketch.

I will post this sketch at a later date once the outline drawing has been completed.

Evening Grosbeaks II - A Work in Progress

This is the third of four sketches (see posts on 20 and 22 July 2014) of Evening Grosbeaks coming in for bird seed in the winter.














I have completed the outline sketches of seven Grosbeaks, two females and five males on the ground feeding with one male in flight.

The main grass stalks and growies are also indicated. I will post this piece at a later date once I have transferred the sketch to the watercolour paper.

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

Evening Grosbeaks I - A Work in Progress

This is the second of four sketches of Evening Grosbeaks (see post on 20 July 2014) that I am developing for paintings.














I have completed the outline sketches of nine Grosbeaks, four males and five females on the ground feeding on the mixed grain that has been put out for them.

I will post this piece at a later date once I have transferred the outline sketch onto watercolour paper.

Evening Grosbeaks - A Work in Progress

This is the first of four sketches of Evening Grosbeaks that I would like to develop into paintings.

I have completed the outline drawing of the seven birds; five males and one female on the ground looking for food and a second female in flight.














Some of the larger growies are indicated.

I will post this drawing at a later date once I have the grasses and growies completed and transferred onto watercolour paper.

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

Resting on a Hinge - A Work in Progress

I always enjoy watching my swallows as they twist and turn in flight and they are often out with me while I am mowing the lawn and stirring up bugs for them.














So rather than have them in flight, I chose to have a swallow resting on one of the hinges on the large barn doors of the west barn.

I will post this sketch at a later date once I have completed the outline drawing.

Ruffed Grouse

It is another hot and humid day with the actual temperature reaching a high of 81F (27.2C) feels like 97F (36.1C).

I didn't feel like doing too much outside so I worked on this drawing of a Ruffed Grouse that I had started last year (see post on 26 December 2014).

Fortunately, I had a lot of reference photographs to get the detail correct on the grouse.

One thing I learned was that if the band on the tail of a Ruffed Grouse is unbroken it is a male.

This original 9" x 12" graphite pencil drawing when matted and shrink wrapped will be available for $75.00.

Summertime

Although today is overcast with the promise of more rain and thunderstorms in the forecast it is a wonderful 72F (22C) with a breeze blowing which helps keep the mosquitoes away.

I received confirmation yesterday that one of my paintings "Through the Storm" (see posting on 19 April 2013) was accepted for the juried show at The Lindsay Gallery which is held 03-26 June 2014.

I wanted to paint today and came across this painting in my portfolio of a Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) that I had started many years ago.  It didn't need a lot of work for it to be finished as there were only that a few wild grape leaves on the fence rail that needed their final layer of colour.

After a couple hours of work on those leaves and a few other spots throughout the painting I was finally happy with the results.

I will continue to post the painting I finish each day during the course of the month. I hope you will return often to see the postings.

This original 15" x 22" watercolour painting when framed will be available for $1,480.00.

Ruffed Grouse - A Work in Progress

We have had more snow since yesterday and the temperatures continue to be below freezing so the ice coating on all the trees remains.

I wonder if we will ever get out of the freezing temperatures, but it sure does look pretty outside although we are having a bit of a heat wave with the temperature making it up to 20F (-6.7C) today.

One of my neighbours offered me the loan of his stuffed grouse over the Christmas season so I could make drawings of one of the many game birds that inhabit the area.

First I took a lot of photographs of the bird from almost every angle and light source.

Next I did a number of quick sketches of the grouse in different positions and with the ones I  preferred I started to tighten up the sketches and turn them into outline drawings.

I will post the outline drawing at a later date once I have decided on the one I like best.

Last day of the Among Friends Art Show

It was a hot and humid day with the threat of thunderstorms in the air, which had many of the cottagers heading home earlier than usual.

Needless to say there were only a few people visiting the show today.

I worked on these two paintings (see postings on 16 October 2012 and 09 February 2013) today.


Dockside 1

First I painted in the distant shore line in soft greens.

Next I painted in the water using mixtures of Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna.

Small items were sold by Diane Collins.

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

Dockside 2

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

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

Bufflehead Duck

Today I had the opportunity to work from a stuffed mount that one of the wood carvers loaned to a friend. Needless to say I wasn't going to pass up the chance at being close to a Bufflehead Duck.














This original 9" x 12" graphite pencil drawing is available, matted and shrink wrapped for $75.00. SOLD

Fisherman 1

Today I was greeted with another grey day and rain. But I had no intention of letting that stop me from getting four dives in today; and using my new underwater digital camera.

The nice thing about being in "my" beach house here at the CoCo View Resort is that some things don't change.

The little grey heron was sitting on this rock in the tide pool out in front of my screened in porch. He reminded me so much of the Great Blue Herons we have back in Canada, that you see waiting patiently for unwary prey to come close and then his meal is served.

This original 4-3/4" x 5” pen and ink drawing once I frame it will be available for $125.00.

Now I had better head down to the docks or I will miss my first two dives of the day.