Big Cedar Lake I

What a wonderful surprise, to have my bunny came by this morning to eat some of the corn and other seeds that I put out for the birds on Easter Sunday.

He has been coming out to visit in the early morning since the middle of the winter and I hope he will continue to evade the predators.















Today I thought I would like to work on this drawing that I started a number of years ago (see posts on 23 August 2015, 09 October 2016 and 30 January 2017).

I started by putting in the boathouse and the rocks near it on the shoreline.












From there I finished putting in all the trees on the left side of the drawing surrounding the boathouse.

This original 5-1/2" x 9" pen and ink drawing will be available for $50.00 once it has been matted and shrink wrapped.

Bunny and Basket 1 - A Work in Progress

I wanted to do a little more work on this painting that I have been working on for a little while (see posts on 27 May 2014, 06 January, 22 February 09 and 31 March 2016).

I wanted to define the drawing a little more and drew in a couple more pussy willows, added more detail onto the lace so when I put in the shadows the patterns will be easier to follow.

Next I added the folds into the pant legs and defined the ribbons on the legs before I finished the bindings on the top and bottom of the basket.

First I completed the pussy willows stalks using burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue and the fluffs with raw sienna and a grey of burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue.

Using a mix of cobalt blue and Antwerp blue I washed in the base colour on the sleeves and pant legs.

While that dried I darkened the shadow on the left side of the face.

I painted the ribbons by the sleeve and the legs with cadmium red, cadmium yellow and alizarin crimson.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have completed the sleeves, legs and added the highlights on the ribbons.

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

Bunny and Basket 1 - A Work in Progress

Today I pulled out this painting that I have been working on for a while (see posts on 27 May 2014, 06 January, 22 February and 09 March 2016).

First I worked on the slats on the basket with various mixes of  French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna trying to show a little of the wood grain on them.

While that was drying I darkened the shadows on the vest on the bunny with a little alizarin crimson.

Then I went back and worked on the weaving of the basket with mixes of raw sienna and burnt sienna.

Using burnt sienna, raw sienna and French ultramarine blue I started working on the shadows of the binding at the top of the basket.

I will post this painting at a later date once the basket has been completed.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Bunny and Basket 1 - A Work in Progress

It is another warm, although overcast day with the temperature reaching 62F (16.7C). It won't be long before all the ice and snow is gone.

The cow birds have arrived and it won't be long before the grackles make an appearance, just a few more signs that spring is not far away.

Because it won't be long before the pussy willows are out, I decided to do a little more work on this painting that I have been picking away at each month (see posts on 27 May 2014, 06 January and 22 February 2016).

I completed the pussy willows that were already started and will decide what I wish to do with the rest later once more of the painting is finished.

Using various mixtures of raw sienna, burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue I painted the head covering.

Next I worked on the vest with alizarin crimson adding Antwerp blue into the shadows.

I painted the ribbon with cadmium red, cadmium yellow and aureolin and will do the ribbons on the lower sections of the bunny once I have painted the lace.

Lastly, I painted in the head with aureolin and raw sienna. A pale wash of alizarin crimson was put into the cheek area.

A black made from French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson was used to put in the eyes, freckles, whiskers and mouth.

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

Bunny and Basket 1 - A Work in Progress

Today I painted with the Creative Arts Guild at the St. John the Baptist Anglican Church in Lakefield.

I pulled this little painting out that I had starting working on again earlier this year (see posts on 27 May 2014 and 06 January 2016).

I began by drawing in a few more pussy willow stalks and did a little more work on them.

With a pale wash of raw sienna I indicated the shadows on the head covering.

Using a mix of cadmium red and cadmium yellow I painted in the middle tone on some of the ribbons.

The vest was indicated with alizarin crimson.

I will post this painting again at a later date once more work on the bunny is completed.

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

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.

Bunny and Baskets 1 - A Work in Progress

This is a small detailed painting of the bunny that was in the second Still Life class at KAGS last month see yesterday's posting.

I have completed the background, the under paint on the basket and a little bit on the pussy willow.

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

Now it is time for me to go outside and work in the garden and get some of the new irises, violas and marigolds planted into my main flower bed.

Bunny and Easter Eggs - A Work in Progress

My house is filled with the scent of lilacs. I have a vase full of lilacs in almost every room in the house.

With the temperature at 62F (17C) and the morning being bright and sunny it was not long after doing the barn chores that I cut a huge bouquet of lilacs from the bushes growing along the south fence line of the front lawn.

It is unfortunate that they last such a short time, but then if they were available all year round they probably would not be as appreciated when they do appear.













This is a painting I started last month in the Still Life class at KAGS.

The background and the under paint on the tablecloth has been painted in as well as the first layer of colour on the red tulips which in the actual display were white.

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

Now it is time for me to head off to The Lindsay Gallery to drop off my entry form and from there to go to the Norwood Skillet to see how many paintings I will need to take there for the set up tomorrow.

Easter Surprise - A Work in Progress

With tomorrow being Good Friday the Still Life Group at KAGS is doing an Easter theme.

We had a number of Easter bunnies including a Lindt gold chocolate bunny and a Beatrix Potter Peter Rabbit. We also had various baskets, coloured Easter eggs, and some flowers.

I didn't like all of the pieces and decided not to use a number of them. To make a more interesting composition I moved some of them around and added some extra eggs and cut flowers. With fewer things to draw I was able to have more time to paint.














I put down the base yellow for the forsythias, the bottom part of the pot with the calla lily and a couple of the coloured Easter eggs.

I will post this painting at a later date once more of it is completed.

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

Hidden - A Work in Progress

Today I wanted to work on something small that wouldn't take a lot of time so I pulled out Sponge Work A (see post on 29 December 2012).

After looking at it for a little while I could see the shape of a rabbit among the foliage. So I changed the name of this piece to Hidden.

I washed in the background with new gamboge leaving the rabbit shape untouched.

Using a little alizarin crimson I painted the inside of the ear and the nose.

Next using burnt sienna I applied washes over the head, ears and body of the rabbit gradually darkening some areas to create the illusion of roundness.

While that was drying I applied a mixture of alizarin crimson, French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna and put in the eye.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have completed the rabbit on worked on the foliage.

Bunny - A Work in Progress

This is another painting I have developed from my sketches while on location at the Riverview Zoo.

I have was Antwerp blue behind the rabbit and will probably not do anything more to the background.

Most of the rabbit is completed; it just needs a little more detail added to the hair and the face.

A mixture of Antwerp blue and raw sienna was washed in below the rabbit to give it a base. I will have to add a few more detailed grasses and a shadow to ground him in place so he doesn't seem to be floating.

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

Peter Cottontail

This is an original 5" x 7” oval, framed watercolour available for $135.00.

While at the Riverview Zoo I took photographs of a number of rabbits running loose on the grounds. They were very friendly and would often approach if you offered food to them.

I did a number of sketches while there and this is one of the paintings that I completed.