ACEO - Cottage Country 1

We are supposed to get another up to another 2" (5cm) of snow today on top of all the other snow we have had this week.

After doing the barn chores and feeding the birds I decided to paint. I pulled out this piece that I had started quite a while ago (see posts on 05 June 2014 and 05 May 2019).

I started by putting in the distant shore on the horizon line with burnt sienna.

Next, I worked on the cottages, starting with the roof which I painted with various greys made of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna.

With a wash of burnt sienna I painted both cottages, being careful to leave the windows without paint.

Darkening the burnt sienna slightly I indicated the logs on the cottages.

Next, I darkened the roof colour and added more details to the roof, the door jamb, and window sills on the cottage. At the same time, I indicated the tree trunks around the cottages.

To finish the cottages I used cadmium yellow for the lights shining through the windows.














Mixing various green using Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue and raw sienna, I used a sponge and applied the green paint to the deciduous trees.

This was followed by painting in the pine trees around the buildings.

I added in the grasses and growies around the foreground cottage with mixtures of raw sienna, burnt sienna and new gamboge.

Lastly, I painted the rocks using various mixtures of burnt sienna, alizarin crimson and French ultramarine blue.

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.

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

OSWOA - Country Road 1

Today I wanted to finish this painting that I started in a Colour and Composition class with Neil Broadfoot many years ago (see posts on 29 January 2012, 11 December 2015, 20 February and 11 August 2016), this painting started as Colour and Composition 6.

I started with the main tree in the foreground on the left side o f the road, using various combinations of French ultramarine blue mixed with burnt sienna, and continued by putting in the rest of the tree trunks and branches on the background trees.

From there I lightened the tree colour and brushed in the road, followed by darkening the colour slightly to put in the ruts in the road.














This was followed by mixing various greens using raw sienna and French ultramarine blue to put in a few pine trees and add more definition to the grass.

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.

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

ACEO - Sunset Island 6

I wanted to complete this painting that I had started a couple of years ago (see post on 12 July 2017).

With a mixture of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson I finished adding the needles onto the pine trees on the island.

I lightened and darkened some areas of the rocks on the island to give it more texture. This was followed by adding the reflections into the water.

The painting looked too stark so I added another island onto the right side of the painting and its reflections.

I lifted some of the dark colour from the trees on the horizon line.

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.

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

ACEO - Sunset Lake 1

I came across this painting that I had started a number of years ago (see posts on 27 April 2015 and 16 March 2017) and wanted to complete it before I went out to meet with friends for a late lunch.

I mixed a dark grey of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna and finished painting the pine trees on the island and added a couple of dead tree trunks between the live trees and added some grasses and growies at their base.















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. Fabriano 100% cotton, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

Skies - Three Works in Progress

Today I wanted to play with colour and what better way than to paint skies?

I pulled out these three pieces that I had started a while ago (see posts on 27 June 2013, 23 September 2013 and 07 February 2015).

To keep the palette simple, I would use just three colours which were alizarin crimson, Antwerp blue and new gamboge.

I made a puddle of each colour on my palette, so I could put the paint on quickly and not have to stop to mix color.

I wet the sky in the first painting being careful not to touch the sun.

Using the blue first, I brushed in the top quarter of the sky, this was followed by using the red into some areas of the blue and part way down the sky.

Windmill 1

Lastly, I used the yellow and painted down to the top of the horizon line and then set this one away to dry.

With the next piece I wet the entire paper and as with the first painting I started at the top using the blue and brushed a small amount into the top leaving white areas for clouds, followed by putting the blue into the bottom of the painting for the reflection of the sky colours in the water.















Snelgrove Brook 1

This was followed by using the red into the top third of the painting again leaving areas of white for the clouds and then putting some into the water just above the blue.

Lastly, I put in the yellow into the bottom of the sky to just above the horizon line, followed by putting it in below the horizon line and going down into the red of the lake.

I set this one aside to dry.















Morning Fisherman 2

For the last piece, I started by brushing in the blue through the sky and leaving some areas untouched down the horizon line. The blue was then worked through the water area the same way up to the horizon line.

Next, I brushed the red throughout the sky and in some places overlapping the blue, followed by brushing it in throughout the water.

On this one I decided not to add the yellow. Instead, I put in the rocks in the foreground using burnt sienna, the red and the blue. before setting it aside to dry.

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

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

ACEO - Dusk 7

I wanted to finish this little painting that I had started last year (see posts on 09 March 2017 and 09 May 2018).

For the trees and their reflections in the water, I used a mixture of French ultramarine blue and raw sienna.

I added burnt sienna to the mixture and put in the rocks along the shoreline and some of the dead trees scattered throughout the deciduous trees.

The ACEO shown here is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Fabriano 100% cotton, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

If you would like more information about ACEO please go to my post on 11 March 2010.

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

ACEO - Peach Sky 1 and 4

Today is the first day of the Kawartha Arts Festival, held at the Fairgrounds in Fenelon Falls, Ontario.

As usual I will be working on a couple of small paintings during the day and I pulled out these two pieces that I had started a couple of years ago (see post on 06 December 2016).

I decided that I would work back and forth between the two paintings starting with the background and working forward.















Peach Sky 1

The background had been painted, by using various of Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue, raw sienna, burnt sienna and new gamboge. I darkened the greens and painted the foreground pine trees.

To complete both pieces I used mixtures of alizarin crimson, burnt sienna and both blues to paint in the rocks at the base of the trees.















Peach Sky 4

If you would like more information about ACEO please go to my post on 11 March 2010.

The ACEO shown here are all original watercolour paintings using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Fabriano 100% cotton, acid free watercolour paper. They are priced at $20.00 each and sold unframed.

Sunset Island 4 - A Work in Progress

Today I was at St. Matthew's Church in Buckhorn painting with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group. Unfortunately, I could only be there in the morning as I had two appointments in the afternoon.

I thought I would do a little work on this painting that I had started last year while teaching a class at The Point, in Young's Point (see post on 31 May 2017).

First I drew in the islands and main trees.

With a mix of burnt sienna and a little bit of French ultramarine blue to darken the colour slightly and painted in the two islands in the background.

I darkened the brown slightly by adding in a little more of the blue. I started with the trees on the foreground island and at the bottom of the trees painted the grasses in the negative.

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

Winter Solo I - A Work in Progrress

Today I wanted to do more work on this painting that I had started last month (see post on 31 December 2017).

Using titanium white, cerulean blue and Grumbacher red I put in some of the trees on the far side of the lake.

Making a dark of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I painted in the trunk of the main tree.

With pure white I put in the snow covered frozen lake, followed by adding a little of the tree color for some of the shadows on the lake.

Using white in some areas, followed by the lake shadow colour and leaving some areas of the dark rocks showing through the snow.

I wanted to put in a few grasses and growies on the top of the rocks.

With various mixtures of raw sienna, cadmium yellow and burnt sienna and put them at the base of the tree trunk and then scattered some across the rocks.

I will post this painting at a later date once 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 Solo I - A Work in Progress

I thought I would like to work on an 8" x 10" painting for the Small Treasures exhibition in March.

I started by under painting the panel with raw sienna and then using Grumbacher (naphthol) red I blocked in the main tree, indicated the far treeline, the land on the far side of the lake and the base of the foreground rock.

Earlier this month we had an interesting sunset with an almost horizontal line of clouds above and below the setting sun that I decided to put into this painting.

I started the clouds with cerulean blue and Grumbacher red with a little titanium white above and below the sun.

Adding more blue to the cloud colour I put in the distant trees.

I put in the sun and the sky colours in between the clouds with various mixtures of cadmium yellow deep, the red and a little bit of white.

Using white with a touch of blue I put in the snow covered land, followed by a little of the sky colour on a few areas of the snow.

Next I put in the under paint for the foreground rock with burnt sienna, the blue and the red.

I will post this painting at a later date as more work on it is completed.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Evening Sky 6

While I was on my way home from Buckhorn I stopped along the Buckhorn Road where Lake Chemong is on both sides of the highway.

With the sun going down and the wonderful colours of the sunset being reflected into the water I did this quick sketch of the lake and trees on the shoreline.















I also took a number of photographs as reference just in case I decided to do a painting of it at a later date.

I can also picture this scene as a set of the four seasons. Who knows what may happen in the future.

ACEO - Beach Sunset 1

I wanted to complete this little piece that I had started last year (see posts on 15 April and 24 May 2016).

Using a pale was of raw sienna I put in the sand on the beach, leaving the sea shell without color. I then added a tiny amount of burnt sienna to darken the sand colour in the foreground and with a little more burnt sienna added to the mixture painted in the wet sand at the edge of the water.

Now it was time to tackle the water, painting it in with the reflected colours from the sky.

I started at the edge of the shore using new gamboge and a touch of raw sienna, I put in the first section of the waves leaving some areas of pure white against the wet sand.

Next I added a touch of alizarin crimson to the new gamboge for a pale orange and put in the next section of waves from the horizon line on the left side and down to the yellow waves.















To complete the water I used almost pure alizarin crimson from the orange waves to the horizon line.

With French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I made a dark grey for the distant land on the horizon line between the sky and the water.

I put in the seaweed that washed up onto the beach with a green of French ultramarine blue and raw sienna.

Lastly I painted the seashell in with pale shades of alizarin crimson and the shadows were in pale burnt 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.

Sunset Island 6 and 7 - Two Works in Progress

This time of the year most nights weather permitting; there are some very beautiful sunsets with the colours reflected in the waters of the lakes.

Working back and forth on each of the two paintings and using similar a colours, I started by wetting both pieces of paper and put in the top of the sky with Antwerp blue and the reflection of the colour into the water at the bottom of the paper.

Next I used alizarin crimson and streaked it in below the blue of the sky and above the blue of the water.

Sunset Island 6

This was followed by a mixture of raw sienna and new gamboge into the unpainted area between the sky and the water.

Using dark of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson I started working on the first painting and put in the far shore on the horizon line.

Next I indicated the rocks of an island in the foreground.

This was followed by indicating the pine tree trunks on the island and some of the needles.

Sunset Island 7

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

ACEO - Peach Sky 7

This is another painting I started last year while experimenting with opaque watercolour paint (see post on 07 December 2016).

The first thing I did was to turn it upside down because I wanted to keep the peach color higher in the sky and then I lightly sketched in the trunks of the main trees.

Using various mixtures of Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue, aureolin, new gamboge and raw sienna I painted in the trees in the foreground.















Thank you for looking at my artwork.

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.

ACEO - Sunset Island 3

This is a painting that I started last month while teaching a class in watercolour (see post on 31 May 2017).

Using various mixtures of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I started by putting in the distant shoreline.

With a darker mix I put in the rocks of the foreground island and then added the pine trees and growies.

Next I finished the painting by putting some reflections into the water below the far shore and the island.

The ACEO shown here is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on either 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

If you would like more information about ACEO please go to my post on 11 March 2010.

Sunset Island I, 3 and 4 - Three Works in Progress

Today I taught a class at The Point in Young's Point, Ontario with Cindy Allan and Norma MacEachern as my assistants.

I showed the group the one Cindy and Norma had worked on with me (see post on 26 May 17) earlier this month.

I did a small painting of the sky and water for the group using mixtures of raw sienna and burnt sienna.

All of them wanted to do the sky in the poster (see post on 03 May 2017).

Sunset Island 4

I did a large sky, warning them in advance that they must be careful so they do not end up with green in the sky where it comes in contact with the yellow.

Using a mix of Antwerp blue and French ultramarine blue the top of the sky was brushed in and while I was still wet burnt sienna and the blue mix was brushed in for the clouds.

A mix of raw sienna and burnt sienna was put into the bottom of the sky, darkened slightly and brushed across the bottom for the water.

Sunset Island 3

Most of the group were having a few problems with following along with what needed to be done so I did up two smaller pieces (one for each group) so they could see the steps.

Once they had the sky and water painted in we then broke for supper while the paint dried.

With a dark mixture of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna, we started painting in all the silhouettes beginning with the far island, its reflections in the water.

I started working on one of the small pieces to add in the rocks, trees and water ripples.

Sunset Island I

I would like to thank Mrs. Denise Coon on her purchase of Sunset Island 5.

Sunset Island II - A Work in Progress

Cindy and Norma came over to paint a sunset with me so they will be able to help me next week when I teach the class.

I started with pure raw sienna streaked in the sky with curved diagonal strokes leaving some areas white.

While the paper was still wet I brushed in the water with horizontal strokes leaving a few areas white.

I mixed burnt sienna with the raw sienna and painted it into both the sky and the water.

Next I brushed a little pure burnt sienna into the sky and water.

I added French ultramarine blue to the burnt sienna for a dark grey mixture and painted in the distant islands and leaving a small space put in the reflections.

With a dark mixture of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and a small amount of alizarin crimson I started painting the main pine tree and indicated the trunks on the three larger trees.

With the same mixture I started painting in the rocks adding a little water in some areas to give it a mottled effect.

Lastly, I put in a few reflections of the rocks into the water.

Cindy and Norma each completed their paintings within the time allowed for a class, so we are good to go with the class.

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

At the Beach 1 - A Work in Progress

Today I was given the wonderful news by the surgeon that I would no longer have to wear the hinged splint and that I could finally put full weight on my leg, drive a car and go upstairs. I can get back to having a life that goes beyond being confined to my living room and kitchen and most importantly I can have a shower instead of a sponge bath using my kitchen sink.

I pulled out this painting that I had started a number of years of years ago (see post on 24 November 2014) and thought I would like to work on something bright and colourful to match my mood.

I started by under painting the sky with aureolin, leaving the sun untouched.

While the paint was still wet, I used a mixture of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson to paint in the evening clouds at the top of the sky.

Next I used new gamboge; I darkened the sky just above the horizon line.

I darkened the sky colour with a little bit of alizarin crimson and painted the sky reflection below the horizon line leaving some areas of white for the crests of the waves.

To this mix I added some cadmium yellow and put in the middle area of the water.

Lastly, using burnt sienna and raw sienna I put in the sandy shore.

I will post this painting at a later date once I decide on the colour of the water against the shore and place the people on the beach.

ACEO - Evening Lighthouse 1

I wanted to finish this painting that I had started last year (see posts on 18 April and 24 May 2016 and 10 February and 28 April 2017).

I started with a pale orange of new gamboge and alizarin crimson and washed into the foreground water and then a little burnt sienna was added to the mix and the colour was put in just below the horizon line.

Pure new gamboge was put into the water from below the dark orange to just below the rocky shore.

Using various mixtures of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson the rocks and shoreline below the lighthouse was stippled in to create texture; the crashing surf was created by leaving ragged areas of white paper at the base rocks.

By mixing a pale blue grey with French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna the shadows within the surf against the rocks was indicated.















With a darker mix of the pale grey slightly more to the blue range the darker part of the waves were painted in between the water reflecting the sky colors.

Lastly I painted in the distant land on the horizon line with a darker mix of the wave colour.

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.

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

Poster for the Sunset Island Class at The Point

I just had the poster made for the class I am teaching at The Point - the Young's Point Diner and Pizzeria, at 403 South Beach Rd., Lakefield, Ontario on the 31 May 17.

If you are interested in taking this class, please contact Janice Costa at The Point.