Rainy Day 1-4 - Four Works in Progress

I decided that it was time that I started working on some of the unfinished pieces that I have accumulated over the years.

I pulled out four small paintings. All of them had been started on the same day a couple of years ago (see post on 06 March 2013).

I decided that since the backgrounds on all of them looked like it could on be a rainy day that I would paint them as such.

The first one had been originally called Grey Sky B.

Rainy Day 1

I started by sketching in some of the main trees and this one looks as though there is be a path leading through a forest.

I then set it aside to start work on the next painting since they would have the same theme I would work back and forth between all of them.

This one had been called Grey Sky C and I turned in around to make it into a vertical painting with the dark cloud shape on the top of the painting.

I started by drawing in some of the main trees.

Rainy Day 2

I am not sure if I want to make it into a forest or if I will have the trees beside a brook.

The third painting was originally called Grey Day D.

I drew in a large main tree to one side of the painting and will I will probably paint this tree as a maple with the leaves in autumn colours.

I think the trunk should be very dark, as though it has been raining to provide a strong contrast against the grey sky.

Rainy Day 3

I will also keep the background fairly soft and out of focus to complete the illusion of a rainy day.

The last one was originally called Grey Day E and I wanted to make it a little different again from the other three.

Even though it will feature the day being cloudy with rain.

I want to put a fence behind the trees and I have to decide if it will be a snake fence, a split rail fence or a post and rail fence.

Rainy Day 4

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

Gathering Storm I - A Work in Progress

Today I wanted to do a little painting and I pulled this piece out  that I had started earlier this year (see posts on 12 January  and 19 February 2015).

I painted in the distant shoreline with various shades of green created by mixing French ultramarine blue. burnt sienna, raw sienna and Antwerp blue.



















I will post this painting at a later date one I have painted the foreground shore and trees.

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

Approaching Storm 1

Even though it was overcast for most of the day, we didn't get the rain they were calling for in the afternoon; and the temperature rose to 54F (12C).

While I was on the porch I did this quick sketch of the storm clouds and added a few of the pines from my front fence line and decided instead of putting the driveway in the drawing I would turn it into a lake and added in a distant island on the horizon line.

I gathered together my gardening tools and went outside to get a start on getting rid of some of the weeds.

Hopefully, this is going to be the first of many more days where I can get a little work done in my garden.

OSWOA - Prairie Storm 1

Today I thought I would complete this painting that I had started last year (see post on 17 July 2012).

Using various mixtures of burnt sienna and raw sienna I added the stalks and leaves of the grain crop into the field.

While the foreground was drying I lightly pulled out the lightning in the sky with an exacto knife.














With a mixture of burnt sienna and raw sienna and using a flat bristle brush, I dry brushed distant wheat stalks into the background below the horizon line.

With burnt sienna I put the head on some of the closer wheat stalks. I highlighted some of the kernels of wheat with various mixtures of lemon yellow, new gamboge, cadmium yellow and raw sienna.

On others I used a base of burnt sienna and raw sienna and highlighted them with the different yellows.














Lastly, I scraped a little more of the lightning bolt into the sky.

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 Windsor & Newton paint on 140 lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $40.00 and sold unframed.

Gathering Storm - A Work in Progress

This is a painting I started a number of years ago (see post on 29 May 2010).

I didn't have a lot of time to paint today as I had to get my paintings together for the Shades of Summer Show and later go to St. Matthews' Church to help set up the grids and tables.














I painted in the water using raw sienna, French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna and set it aside to dry.

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.

Autumn Storm 1-3

Today I thought I would do some sketches of stormy skies in an autumn landscape.

I went out onto the porch and set myself up on one of the chairs and started drawing some of the trees along the west fence line on the north side of the driveway.

This is where in the morning the rising sun touches the trees with light.

Autumn Storm 1

After the first one was completed I moved into another of the chairs on the porch and started the next drawing.

This one was further along the fence line almost to the north west corner of the front field, still along the road.

For this one I wanted more of the sky to show making it the focal point instead of it being mainly the trees.

Autumn Storm 2














Autumn Storm 3

For the last one I once again changed into another chair and did this drawing of the north fence line having a balance of trees against the sky.

Cloudy Sky - A Work in Progress

This is another of the sky paintings I started in a workshop with Neil Broadfoot last month.

There is still a lot more work to be done to the clouds as I am not happy with the way they look and I still have to decide what I am going to put into the foreground.













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.

Through the Storm

This painting is finally coming together after all this time (see postings on 10 Dec 2010, 23 Mar 2012, 31 Dec 2012 and 01 Mar 2013).















A little more shading using cobalt blue was put into the grey areas of the gull's back to give the bird more shape to coverts on the wings to add a little more definition to the feathers.

Then it was the small details that needed to be added to the Herring gull; the yellow rim around the eye and the small red spot on the lower part of the beak.

Next a little more definition with the dark colour on the flight feathers and then the final layer of Chinese white to the edges of the wings and on the white spots of the wing feathers.

This original 11-1/2" x 14-1/2" watercolour painting when framed will be available for $295.00.

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

Through the Storm - A Work in Progress

Today it is bright and sunny with the temperatures climbing into the low 40's F (4.4C), which is making some of the snow melt, but it has a long way to go yet.














I wanted to do more work on the seagull  as this painting is getting very close to being completed (see postings on 10 Dec 2010, 23 Mar 2012 and 31 December 2012).

I added another layer of Chinese white to the leading edge of the wings and on the bottom edges of the primary and secondary feathers.

Using a mixture of cobalt blue and burnt sienna I added some definition to the upper wing coverts and the speculum.

Then with a wash of pure cobalt blue I added a little shape to the gull's back and to the curve of the wings.

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

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Through the Storm - A Work in Progress

It is the last day of the year and one can look back at everything that has been accomplished; then at the stroke of midnight one can look forward to a bright New Year and what the future may hold.














Today I pulled out this painting that I had started a while ago (see posts on 10 Dec 2010 and 23 Mar 2012) and had set it aside.

I went in and added some Chinese white to the edges of the gull's wings to make them stand out against the dark storm clouds. I know I will have to go in a number of times to build up the layers of white paint until I have them as bright as I would like.

Next I painted in the details on the gull's head, setting in the beak and adding shading to the head and neck in grey tones of cobalt blue and burnt sienna.

Using the same shadow mixture of cobalt blue and burnt sienna I brushed in the under paint for the back and wings of the gull. Then using a slightly darker mixture I painted in the next layer adding some shape to the back and adding a little definition to the to the wings.

With a dark almost black mixture of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I started painting in the individual primary flight feathers on the closest wing.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Prairie Storm 1 - A Work in Progress

The skies remain dark and foreboding with the threat of a thunderstorm.

The field beside the house is fairly dry and the grass seems much like golden wheat stalks as they bend and sway before the wind.













I thought it fitting to try and capture the contrast between the ominous clouds and the golden colour of the grasses.

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

Through the Storm - A Work in Progress

While looking for something to paint I came across this piece that I had started a while ago (see posting on 10 Dec 2010).

After looking at the clouds I decided that I would rather do a seagull instead of a hawk even though I will have to use some Chinese white to bring out the white markings on the bird.














I transferred the image of a seagull onto the paper and had enough time to paint the foot of the gull.

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

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

Lightning

With the storms we have had earlier this month along with the one we had today, I thought I would like to do a painting of lightning.

This is an original 3" x 4” framed watercolour painting.

I masked out the lightning and then painted the stormy sky, and treetops. Once the paint was dry I removed the masking and added a very pale wash of raw sienna.

Congratulations to Mr. Tim Rowat of Omemee, Ontario on adding this painting to his art collection.

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

Thunderheads - A Work in Progress

With all the rain and thunderstorms we have been having I thought I would like to do more thunderclouds.

Using a grey of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I brushed in the lower clouds.

Adding a little more burnt sienna to the grey mix I painted a layer of darker clouds behind the grey ones.

Using pure French ultramarine blue I brushed the sky into the background behind the clouds.

I will probably add some tree tops into the foreground and I will post this painting once it is completed.

Cloudy Day - A Work in Progress

I came across a couple of photographs I had taken of the Power House - Clock and Chimes Tower before it had been restored and thought this would be an ideal background for the charred remains making them stand out in stark relief against the stormy sky.

It was during a fireworks display on 06 August 1939 that the roof burst into flames and soon the entire framework of the building was ablaze.

The local fire department arrived with the village pumper towed in on a scow, but the fire was impossible to contain and everything burned with the exception of the granite walls of the building.














The Power House - Clock and Chimes Tower remained a burnt out shell for 52 years.

The Alexandria Bay Rotary Club donated the funds to replace the three faced clock in the Clock Tower. The building was restored by the Thousand Island Bridge Authority at a cost of approximately $350,000.00 and was reopened to the public in 1991.

I will post this again once I have transferred the drawing of the shell of the Power House - Clock Tower and Chimes and started the painting.

Through the Storm - A Work in Progress

This was a different way to create clouds in a sky.

Water was splashed over different areas of a piece of watercolour paper.

A mixture of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna to grey the blue was then dropped into the wet areas and rolled around.

As the paper dried in a few places a little more of the paint was applied to give slightly darker foreground clouds.

The paper was then set aside to dry completely.

I am going to put a hawk flying through the clouds at a later date.

Approaching Storm

This 6-1/2" x 7-3/4” acrylic is one of three I am painting into small acrylic frames I found in my frame room.

It is of a well-known pine tree in Buckhorn, Ontario. With it being cloudy here today I thought a stormy sky would be fitting behind the tree.

I would like to thank new collector Mrs. Helen Bain of London, Ontario on her purchase of Approaching Storm to add to her collection.

Ghost Pine

In this piece I was working with various components to bring them together in one painting.

I wanted to have the silvery white trunk of a dead pine silhouetted against a stormy sky, but I also wanted to have a lake with a rocky shore and reflections in the water, as well as the yellowed grasses that are so common at the end of the summer.

I am pleased with the way everything went together in this tall format.

This is an original, framed 5" x 12-1/2” watercolour available for $225.00.

Today is also a fairly busy day for me in that I have demonstrated again at the Norwood 2nd Annual Art Show and Sale at the Norwood Legion Hall - Branch 300, Corner of Alma and King Street, Norwood, Ontario.

The show runs from the 22-26 June and is open daily from 2-5pm.

Then went to get my paintings from the "Spring into Summer" show at the KAGS and was informed that I had sold a painting just prior to the closing of the show.

I would like to thank new collector Ms. Angela Ross of Norwood, Ontario on her purchase of Day's End (see post on 01 June 2010).

Evening Sky

The day is drawing to a close, and a recent storm is gradually clearing as the clouds start to break up.















With the colours of the sunset trying to burst through the clouds, it brings the hope that tomorrow will be a sunny day.

This is an original 5" x 6-3/4” framed watercolour for $125.00.

Gathering Storm - A Work in Progress

With living on top of a hill I am fortunate to be able to enjoy the many changing skies.

With this painting I have captured the approaching storm clouds. I just have to decide if I will have the storm coming across the lake or land.














I will post this once I have made my decision; now have to go and help set up the "On the Small Side" Art Show and Sale at the Sasquatch Art Centre, in Keene.