ACEO - Quiet Place 3

Today I was painting with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group and I wanted to work on this little piece that I had started quite a while ago (see posts on 12 November 2014 and 22 March 2018).

I wanted to keep the painting fairly simple so I started by putting in the tree trunks with a mixture of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna. Then I greyed the mix by adding a little more of the blue and put in the shadows on the snow.

Using French ultramarine blue, raw sienna and new gamboge, I put in the needles on the pine trees.















Lastly, with various mixtures of raw sienna, new gamboge, burnt sienna and a tiny amount of cadmium red I put in the grasses and  growies.

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.

New Toys at Work

Ron finished fixing my newest toys, put them all back together and took them out today for a "test drive".















He started at the back of the house and cleared a path for me to get to the bird feeders making it easier for me to fill them without the risk of falling.















From there he cleared the way to the bird feeders at the front of the house and to the porch door.















He finished by clearing the snow on the way to the back of the barn to the far door leading to the hay mow, which makes my life a lot easier.

ACEO - Early Morning 1

Today we are supposed to have a high of 23F (-5C) and with the wind chill it will feel like 16F (-9C) which is a lot warmer than yesterday when I had no heat for most of the day.

We did however, have a beautiful sunrise and I thought I would finish this painting that I had started quite a while ago (see posts on 11 February 2013 and 22 July 2016), by adding some of the sky colours which were reflected onto the snow.

Next I painted in the tree trunks and fence rails with various mixes of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna.















Lastly, I added in some of the grasses and growies at the base of the trees and some of the ones poking out of the snow.

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.

Winter Creek 2 - A Work in Progress

It is going to be another hot 81F (27C) and humid 91F (33C) day and I would like to I thought I would like to work on a winter scene. I chose this one that I had started last year (see posts on 15 September 2016 and 17 January 2017).

I started in the background using greens made of French ultramarine blue, new gamboge and raw sienna to create the pine trees in the back ground, leaving space for the rocks in front of the trees.

With a dark of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I put in the trunks of the deciduous trees in the background and then painted in the trunk of the maple tree in the foreground.















Next I darkened the trunk colour with a touch of alizarin crimson and painted the bark onto the birch tree. This was followed by using burnt sienna on the areas where the bark had peeled away from the trunk.

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 look at the artwork. I hope you will return often.

Winter Creek 2 and 3 - Two Works in Progress

Last night Environment Canada posted a Meteorological Alert for freezing rain.

The storm began early this morning and is to continue into tomorrow afternoon.

Today I spent most of the day in the barn making sure Tai and Chi would be comfortable in deeply bedded stalls, with full buckets of water and plenty of hay to keep them occupied since they would be inside for the next couple of days.

Since I wasn't going to go out anywhere today I thought I would work on these two paintings that I had started last year (see post on 15 September 2016).














For the first one I used French ultramarine blue for the sky leaving a few areas of white paper for clouds.

Next I darkened the blue slightly and added a little bit of Antwerp blue and then brushed it in the water.

I also used it for the sky in the second painting.

I added a touch of burnt sienna to the blue mixture to grey the colour slightly and added a few horizontal streaks of this colour into the water.

I changed the name of this painting from River 1 to Winter Creek 3

Then I set this painting aside to dry.














I changed the name of this painting from River 2 to Winter Creek 2.

Next I added a touch of alizarin crimson to the grey mix and painted in the distant hills and the water.

I will post each of these paintings at a later date once they have been completed.

Long Shadows 1-3 - Three Works in Progress

It is cold day 18F (-8C) with the wind chill making it feel like 3F (-16C) and we are expected to receive another 2" (5cm) of snow.

I thought it fitting to work on a couple of snow scenes that I had started a few years ago (see post on 30 November 2013).















Long Shadows 1

I decided to work on all three of these pieces at the same time, beginning with the sky.















Long Shadows 2

I used various mixes of Antwerp blue and French ultramarine blue to brush in the sky, keeping it darker at the top and gradually lightening it toward the bottom.















Long Shadows 2

Before I could start putting in some of the shadows on the snow I had unexpected company drop by to visit.

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

Snow Storm 1 - A Work in Progress

I wanted to do something easy today so I thought I would do a snow scene.

I wet the paper and with a mix of cobalt blue and burnt sienna I brushed in some of the background trees.















Unfortunately, before I could do any more work on this painting I had unexpected company drop by for a visit,

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

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.

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.

A Winter Sunset

It is a cold day -14F (-25.6C) but at least there is very little wind and the sun is shining which makes it much easier to go outside and do some work before the cold drives to back inside to get warm again.

I wanted to finish this final painting for the Small Treasures Show, which I had started last month (see post on 30 January 2015). As with the other two, each painting will be available for $30.00 and draw tickets will be available at the Kawartha Artists' Gallery and Studio from 18-29 March 2015.

The first thing was to finish the large maple tree, gradually adding the various branches and some texture to the bark on the trunk.

With a soft grey mixture I painted in the two dead trees that are just on the other side of the road. They are battered and have lost many of their branches but they continue to stand against the wind.














Next were a few more of the pine trees that were planted along the fence line almost 25 years ago.

Some of them have lost their tops and others are starting to bend slightly from the winds, but they continue to thrive against the elements.

Lastly the grasses and growies were painted in at the base of the trees and in the foreground.

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

A Winter Sunset - A Work in Progress

The snow that started yesterday morning has finally stopped leaving us with 4" (10.2cm) of snow and much colder temperatures 2F (-16.7C) and a wind chill of -21F (-29.4C). The one nice thing is that we have a bright and sunny day.

I thought for today I should start on one of my paintings for the Small Treasures Show, which is a fund raiser being held this year to raise prize money for the Best of High School Art held at KAGS every May.

Since I see the sun rise and set on my property every day, weather permitting it made sense to do a painting of the sunset near the gate at the front of my property.














Working from the back forward, I completed the sky, the treeline from across the road, the under painting for the snow and some of the grasses and growies around the trees and in the foreground.

Next I started on the trees along the fence line and completed two of the pines and started the trunk of one of the large maple trees.

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

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Winter Pine - A Work in Progress

It is a little warmer at 10F (-12C) with the wind chill it feels like 1F (-17C), but at least there isn't supposed to be any snow until late afternoon.

It is back to KAGS for day two of the John David Anderson workshop.

Today's painting will be another snow scene, this will feature the many subtle colour variations both warm and cool that can be found in white snow just before sunset.

For a change we used Cobalt blue for the under paint to cover the canvas.

Using a thicker Cobalt blue the horizon line was painted in, the lone pine tree and the darkest shadows in the snow.

Various mixtures of Cobalt blue and Titanium white were used to indicate the sky and the tonal values of the snow drifts on the hill.

I had to rework the distant shoreline, change the tree to make it look more like a windblown pine tree instead of having it look like a Christmas tree and rework the sky.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have started painting in some of the many colours in the snow.

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

ACEO - Winter 1

With it being December I thought I would be nice to do a snow scene. I started with the sky using French ultramarine blue in the top and gradually adding Antwerp blue into the sky toward the bottom half to the horizon line.

I added a little burnt sienna into the blue mixture and indicated the some of the shadows on the snow beneath where I would place the trees.

I darkened the shadow colour with a little more burnt sienna and put in the trees on the horizon line.















Once the paint was completely dry I indicated where the pine trees would be on the edge of the field.

Using mixes of French ultramarine blue, raw sienna and new gamboge I put in the pine needles on the trees.

With a dark of burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue I put in the tree trunk and branches and then added a few dead tree trunks among the live ones.















I put in some grasses and growies at the edge of the field and at the base of the trees with mixtures of burnt sienna and raw sienna.

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.

Winter

A couple of days ago, when I was going through some old canvases I came across a couple of partially finished paintings.

This one needed something to make it more interesting from just a row of pine trees, so I added another layer of trees in front of the pines.

I started with titanium white and indicated the trunks of a few birch trees in the middle area and then some more larger ones just above the snow covered rock.

Next, I added a small amount of ultramarine blue to the white and put shadows on the right side of the birch tree trunks.

With a mix of titanium white, ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I put the markings on the further back birches.















I darkened the mixture slightly and added a maple tree and a tree stump by the birches.

Next, I added more ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and a small amount of alizarin crimson to darken the colour for the markings on the closer birch trees and added the dark limbs and branches that were indicated in white.

In some areas I added tiny amounts of pure burnt sienna onto the trunks to give some added colour to the markings on the trees.

Using various mixes of burnt sienna and yellow ochre I put in the grasses and growies sticking up out of the snow around the closer birches.

This original 16" x 20" acrylic painting when framed will be available for $375.00.

Winter Moon

I pulled out this painting that I had started a number of years ago (see posts on 21 May 2010 and 31 May 2014) and wanted to complete it today.

I started on the fence by using burnt sienna to run the lines of barbed wire and then added the barbs onto the wire.

Next I painted in the grasses and growies at the base of the fence posts using various mixtures of aw sienna, burnt sienna, new gamboge and cadmium yellow.

Lastly, I put in some grasses on the left side.

This original watercolour painting when framed will be available for $125.00.

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

Meandering Stream

This is another painting that I found in storage earlier this month that I had started in a class a number of years ago with Mary Lampman.

This one as with the other two that I found, they just needed a few grasses and growies put into the paintings to finish them.

Using yellow ochre and a small amount of burnt sienna I painted in the dead grasses at the base of the trees on the left side of the painting and smudged in a little as a reflection into the stream.














Using a mix of burnt sienna and ultramarine blue, I put in the small twigs and branches of small trees and bushes peeking up through the snow on both sides if the painting.

Mixing the grass colour and the twig colour together I put in small bits and pieces into the background.

This original 16" x 20" acrylic painting when framed will be available for $375.00.

Winter Snow 1

Today I am sitting the Buckhorn Artists' Group show at KAGS.

While I was there I worked on a drawing of a farm house on a hill. Since it was in the distance I didn't need to put in a lot of detail.

In the foreground I put in a fence line along the crest of the hill to divide the fields.














To balance the drawing I did a couple of large pines to on the right side behind the fence.

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

I hope you will return often to see the postings.

ACEO - Frozen 1

Today I took a painting in for the Abstracting from Life show at KAGS.

The weather seems to be holding at 20F (-6.7C) with snow falling. I thought it fitting that I work on this little painting that I started last year (see post on 11 February 2013) and get it finished.

I put in the background pine trees with a mixture of French ultramarine blue and raw sienna.














Next I painted in some of the grasses and growies around the small snow covered pine tree in the foreground.

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 and sold unframed.

Long Shadows 1-3

Looking out the window at the long cast shadows from the trees running across the snow on the front lawn I thought I should take some photographs and do a few sketches as reference drawing for future paintings.















Long Shadows 1

For the first drawing I used the two maple trees on either side of the front gate and ran the shadows along the snow.














Long Shadows 2

For the second drawing I used the maple tree and some of the young beech trees along the north section of the track.














Long Shadows 3

For my last drawing I did the house from the road side of the front gate looking down the driveway toward the house.