ACEO - Shades of Spring 1

Today I wanted to finish this painting that I had started a while ago (see posts on 01 March 2017 and 25 March 2018).

I started by mixing a blue grey of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna and brushed in the shadows onto the left side of the birch tree trunks.

Next, I mixed darks using the shadow colours in different strengths and added a small amount of raw sienna to some of them and added more markings onto the tree trunks and branches to give them shape and definition. 

Lastly, I mixed a green of Antwerp blue and raw sienna and added a tree covered hill in the background and added more grasses.

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.

Blue 1-6 - Six Works in Progress

It is another overcast and rainy day with the temperature dropping to 46F (8C) and they are calling for another 2" (51mm) of rain today.

What hurts more is that the weatherman is also calling for snow flurries over the weekend.

With that in mind I thought I would work on painting a number of pieces with blue skies in them instead of clouds and grey skies.

For the first one I did a graduated was of French ultramarine blue, and having a mid tone at the bottom.

Blue 1

On the next one I used Antwerp blue and had the right side slightly darker, gradually going lighter to the left and kept the bottom without paint.















Blue 2

Using the same blue as the last one I had it darker on the right side lightening toward the right leaving a smaller area untouched at the bottom of the paper.















Blue 3

Leaving a large area of white paper at the bottom and having the colour again darker on the right side, with it light in the centre and changing to slightly darker on the left side.















Blue 4

Next I combined the two blues and streaked the paint across the paper.















Blue 5

For the last one I used both blues again in a flat was leaving a small amount of white paper at the bottom.















Blue 6

I will post each of these pieces as more work on them is completed.

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

Shades of Grey - A Work in Progress

I had started this piece by doing a demonstration of clouds for someone who needed some help with them and it sat for quite a while, until recently when I drew in a line of winter trees along a fence line.

It is going to be a winter scene with some grasses poking through the snow and perhaps a few scattered leaves on top of the snow.













I have to decide if I am going to use masking fluid or salt to create the snowflakes.

I will post this painting again after more work on the sky and background has been completed.

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.

Blue Mood 1

While the day started off a little on the cool side at 28F (-2.2C) with frost on the ground, but with the sun out it warmed up quickly to 62F (16.7C).

I am pleased that my little Kestrels are once again moving into the nesting box outside my bedroom window.

Today I wanted to work with a very limited palette of two with perhaps a third colour added as an accent.

Using French ultramarine blue, I put a pale wash of colour over the entire paper.

While the paper was drying, I made various shades of grey blues and dark combinations of the two colours.

Starting with the lightest blue grey mix I put in the under paint for the trees in the background.













Using the next darker colour, I painted in the negative and left the areas of light colour throughout the background.

I continued adding layers of gradually darker colour and leaving lighter areas until I came to the darkest colour.

I applied the darkest blue grey mix onto the area of rocks in the foreground and using a palette knife, scraped out my rock shapes on the island in the foreground.

Using the dark colour mixes I added a little shading to the rocks.

With a mid range blue grey, I put a few ripples into the water.

Lastly, using cadmium yellow and aureolin I added in a few autumn leaves onto the deciduous trees in the background.

This little original 3" x 4-1/2" watercolour painting when framed will be available for $75.00. SOLD

Evening Sky 5 - A Work in Progress

Today I just wanted to put some paint onto paper and decided to use a limited palette of three colours: French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and raw sienna.

After wetting the paper, I first brushed raw sienna into the sky using sweeping strokes and leaving areas of white.

Then with horizontal strokes put the area that would be the lake into the bottom of the paper.

Next I used burnt sienna and I brushed covering some areas of the raw sienna and still left a few areas of white paper in the sunset sky.

Once again I used horizontal strokes to indicate the water, being sure to leave some areas of white paper and raw sienna showing.

Mixing a grey with French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna, I swept in some clouds into the sky and the distance shore and an island.

With a slightly darker mix of the grey I brushed it into the water.

Once the paint had dried I lightly indicated where I would place my foreground trees on the shore.

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

Evening Sky 4 - A Work in Progress

It is cold outside with the temperature at 0F (-18C) and the wind making it feel like -9F (-23C) but it looks nice with the 2" (5cm) of snow covering the ground.

I wasn't in the mood to paint a snow scene, so I decided to paint a sunset, but added some dark rain clouds to have them hovering on the edges of the sky as the sun went down.

For this painting I used a limited palette of new gamboge, burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue to paint the sky and water.














French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna were mixed to create the distant shore and a touch of alizarin crimson as added to the mixture for the island and rocks.

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

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

OSWOA - Grey Day 1 and 2

Today is another nice day with the temperatures to reach 55F (12.8C) even though there is rain in the forecast it is still better than having it snow; although that is coming for later in the week when temperatures once again drop below freezing.














This afternoon I taught the basic watercolour class at KAGS and with this class all my students had never painted in watercolour.













I had them start with small paintings no larger than 8" x 10" which is a lot less intimidating that doing a first painting on a piece of 11" x 15" (a quarter sheet) watercolour paper. This way they can also finish the painting within the three hours of class time and can have another painting started.













Grey Day 1

I also limited the number of paints used to a maximum of three colours in order for my students to learn the wide variety of colour combinations they could achieve with a few colours. In this case we used burnt sienna, raw sienna and French ultramarine blue.














I had these two samples of skies using various mixes of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna that I did with another class (see post on 11 December 13)  and then showed the class how to do various types of clouds and allowed them to make a choice for their painting of how they would like the sky.













While their painting was drying I showed them how to put in the trees lightly with pencil and how to mix the colour for painting the trees.

After my students completed their painting I gave them homework. To do the another two more paintings using different combinations of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna for the sky only and that next week we would learn about putting in water, rocks and different types of trees.













Grey Day 2

If you would like more information about OSWOA please go to my post on 12 March 2010.

The OSWOA shown here are original watercolour paintings using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. They are priced at $40.00 each and sold unframed.

Silent Morning - A Work in Progress

I have a busy day ahead of me with a lot of errands to do, but I still wanted to do a little painting.

We had a lovely sunrise this morning and I thought it would be nice to capture the colours and then decide that what to put into the painting.

First I used alizarin crimson and washed in the sky colour leaving an area of white paper for where the sunlight was breaking through the clouds. This area was also left lighter in the water at the bottom of the painting.













The clouds were a mixture of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna and swept them into the sky. This colour slightly darker was then brush into the water and the painting was set aside to dry.

I am not sure whether to put a couple of early morning fishermen into the painting, a pair of loons, or perhaps a heron.

Once I make my choice I will post this painting again.

Winter Walk - A Work in Progress

Today I was sitting the art show for the Buckhorn Artists' Group being held at the Kawartha Artists' Gallery and Studio.

While I was there I worked on this painting which I had started last month (see post on 21 February 2014).

Using a mix of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna and using vertical strokes I put in a line of very distant trees.













With a slightly darker mix of the same two colours I started adding some of the background trees. I don't have to worry too much about whether they are perfect or not as they will be covered over by more trees that will be placed in front of them.

I wasn't able to get very much accomplished as we had a fairly steady stream of people come through the Gallery to view the exhibit.

I will post this painting at a later date once more of the trees have been completed.

Moonlight - A Work in Progress

Spring cannot be too far away, the branches on the willow are turning golden, the jays are chiming and the horses are running, bucking and kicking in the paddock.

It was another bright and sunny day with the temperature going up to 42F (6C). A day that I could almost have spent outside, but I preferred to take the second of four classes with Emil Varga in watercolour at KAGS.

We worked with spray bottles, sponges and palette knives. The horizon line was drawn in and masking tape was put down in the area below the line.

Using various mixtures of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna, layers of paint were put onto the paper, then sprayed with water and rolled around.

Each layer gradually getting darker but leaving an area with a little pure white and some very pale shades of the sky colour.














The distant shoreline was painted in with a pale wash of the sky colour. Then the painting was set aside to dry.

Once the paper was totally dry the tape was removed and a new piece of tape was put down slightly below the horizon line for the base of the middle ground island.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have put the trees in using a sponge and the rocks using a palette knife.

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

What? - A Work in Progress

Today I spent the morning with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group watching a demonstration on how to do pussy willows. I will have to try doing one at a later date.














In the afternoon I went to KAGS for the last day of the workshop with Gail Hawkins which was on abstract animals painted in two complement colours.

I drew the head of a cow in charcoal and have fixed the image.

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

Winter Walk - A Work in Progress

The weather since yesterday has been a mixed bag of tricks. I came home last night after the take in for the Photography show at KAGS during a raging snow storm which added another 2" (5cm) on the ground.

During the night the temperature rose to just above freezing and we had a mix of rain and freezing rain which changed back to rain for most of the day helping to melt some of the snow, which also changed my driveway into a skating rink. Although at the end of the day we managed to have a lovely sunset before the storm clouds came rolling back in once more. I can hardly wait to see what we get next.















Since it was a good day to spend inside when I came across this sketch I thought I may as well put some paint onto paper and at least get it started.

Using French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I brushed in a cloudy sky and into the foreground added a roadway.














While the paint was still wet I sprinkled in a little salt into the sky to create snowflakes. This painting was then set aside to dry.

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

Windy Day 1 - A Work in Progress

Using Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I brushed the sky into the painting trying to capture movement.









I have to decide where I will place some windswept trees.

I will post this painting at a later date.

Yellow Sky 4-6 - Three Works in Progress

We are having a heat wave of sorts. It is 14F (-10C) and the wind is howling making the temperature feel more like -4F (-20C) and the snow is blowing and I have just returned from doing the barn chores.

It is time to put the kettle on for a hot cup of tea and get myself warm, then make some breakfast before I do some painting.


Yellow Sky 4

With it being such a cold and grey day I decided that I would like to brighten things up a little and used a limited palette of burnt sienna and raw sienna to paint morning skies.

But the nice thing with using these two colours in a sky is that they can also be used for sunsets as well, neither of which I will see today due to the cloud cover and snow storm.


Yellow Sky 5

I worked on all three paintings at the same time starting with a wash of pure raw sienna and then gradually adding burnt sienna into the sky creating interest.

I was going to finish these paintings today but I had a fire in the fireplace and a book to read that were calling my name. So I will post these paintings at a later date when they are completed.

Yellow Sky 6

Free Form - A Work in Progress

-10F (-23C) and the temperature is steadily dropping. You can hear the boards on the house crack as the nails in the wood contract.

I filled all the seed feeders around the house and have had to bring one of them inside to repair the broken hanging cord which snapped due to the winds yesterday. Tomorrow I will have to put more fat into all the feeders in the swamp maple.

It continues to be windy and although it is only -14F (-25C) now, but with the wind chill it is closer to -31F (-35C). Walking up from the barn facing into the wind my cheeks came very close to being frost bitten. The bright point is that it isn't snowing and we have sunshine.














I really couldn't get into painting today so I decided to play with a large flat brush and a limited palette of colours and swirl paint around to create some interesting shapes.

I am not sure where I am going to go with this one, but it looks as though I have an abstract fish in here swimming around.

I will post this painting at a later date.

Limited Palette Paintings - Three Works in Progress

These are some of the other examples I used for my first "Basic Watercolour" class at KAGS (see posting on 05 November 2013).

The three colours we used in that class were French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and raw sienna.













Grey Day 1

The second painting was of sky distant shore and water using the blue with a little burnt sienna added to "grey" the colour and gives a lovely blue grey.













Grey Day 2

In the third painting more burnt sienna was added to the blue grey mixture to give a neutral grey and the sky and water were painted in and set aside to dry.













Cloudy Morning 1

In the fourth painting the paper was wet and a pale wash of burnt sienna was put in areas of the sky and snow, then the blue grey was added and finally the neutral grey. With each colour layered over the one before it, this created a whole range of colours on the paper.

I will post these paintings at a later date as they are completed.

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

Morning Lake 2 - A Work in Progress

Last night I heard that I had sold a painting and I would like to thank new purchaser Joan McBride of Peterborough, Ont. on her purchase of my painting Morning Flight (see posting on 27 June 2012).

So today I just felt like splashing a little bit of the colour pink around on a piece of paper and not doing anything serious.













Who knows, perhaps I will add a few seagulls into the painting when I post it at a later date.

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

Blowing Snow 1

Today I taught the first of four Tuesday afternoon watercolour classes at KAGS. It was called "Basic Painting".

 I wanted my students to learn how mixing one or two colours together could give a wide variety of different colours that would create a different feel to the painting even though they are similar.

Rather than having them be intimidated by having to work on a large blank piece of paper I asked them to work on nothing larger than and 8" x 10" piece of watercolour paper. That way each student would be able to complete at least one painting during the class and would have others to work on at home.

The easiest thing for a class of beginners to work on is a snow scene in a limited palette. For this painting we used French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and raw sienna.

We wet the paper first and then using pure French ultramarine blue brushed in the sky leaving some areas of white for the clouds and worked down into the snow covered ground to put in the shadows with the blue leaving the rest of the snow white.

Adding a little raw sienna to the blue to make a green, we painted in the distant trees on the far side of the open field. To create the illusion of blowing snow we lifted a few streaks in front of the trees with water.













With the light green mixture we marked in the main tree trunks and branches on the closer tress and added the first layer of pine needles.

Next we added a little more raw sienna and a touch of burnt sienna to darken the mixture and painted in the darker closer pine needles onto the foreground trees. A few dead tree trunks were placed among the live trees as well as some bare branches.

Using pure raw sienna a few grasses were painted into the snow at the base of the pine trees and into a few areas on the foreground snow. Then a little burnt sienna was put in among the yellow grasses in a few places and the painting was completed.

We worked on three other combinations of the same three colours and I will post them at a later date.

This original 4" x 6" watercolour painting is available for $30.00 unframed.

If you would like more information about OSWOA please go to my post on 12 March 2010.

OSWOA - Starting to Thaw 1

Today I wanted to paint and get a number of the smaller pieces I had already started.

Going through my files I came across this piece I had started earlier this year (see post on 30 May 2013).

This painting was started with a limited palette of two colours, Antwerp blue and burnt sienna.

I continued by painting the background trees with the same two colours against the top of the snow in the distance.

For the maple tree I used mainly Antwerp blue and added a small amount of burnt sienna to grey the colour.

Lastly I added growies and grasses at the bottom of the trees using raw sienna, burnt sienna 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.