Brass I

This is another drawing that I did in the KAGS Still Life class (see post on 08 November 2018) this one features items make of brass.

It was very hard to make a selection and for this one I chose a creamer, a large bowl and a platter. There was also a bell, an ornament of a pear, a bud vase and a small bowl but, I thought would be overkill if I included everything.

I started on the left side of the paper and the first thing I put in was the large brass platter resting upright on a plate holder.















Next I put the creamer in front of the platter overlapping it on the right side.

On the right side I put in the large bowl and added the folds of the material which was behind and below all of the items on the table.

I will post the third drawing tomorrow after I have more work on it completed.

Copper I

Today I had to go into KAGS to open the studio for the still life class. The theme was metals and we had two wonderful displays.

Carol and I were the first to arrive and we set up a large display featuring items that were made of brass, copper or silver on the large table in the centre of the room.

The rest of the group arrived later and what they brought in was set up on a smaller table which featured things made of either silver or brass.

I decided I would do a separate drawing featuring each of the different kinds of metal. I chose copper as the first metal and used a pitcher, a tall vase and a kettle from the display.















I liked the shape of the pitcher and started by placing it on the left side of the drawing first. This was followed by my putting the tall copper vase slightly behind and to the right of the pitcher.

On the right side of the drawing I put in the copper kettle which was a heavy enough piece that would balance the height of the two pieces on the left side.

Next I added the draping and some of the folds of the cloth beneath the kettle and the other copper pieces.

I will post the one in brass and the one using silver at a later date.

OSWOA - Flower Power 1

I decided that I wanted to finish this painting that I have been working on for a while (see posts on 09 May 2012, 23 January 2014 and 09 August 2015).

I started with the yellow mass of flowers on the right side of the arrangement and using aureolin and raw sienna I created flower shapes by painting in the negative.

Using burnt sienna I added the stamens to the center of the flowers.

I wanted to put in a few larger yellow flowers on the left side of the floral arrangement.

With raw sienna and painting in the negative I created the first of the two large blooms.

A little burnt sienna was added into the shadows.

Aureolin was added to the shadow colour and a few small flowers were added around the large blooms.

With various shades of green, leaves were added throughout the painting.

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.

Flower Power 1 - A Work in Progress

It is another bright and sunny day with warm temperatures 77F (25C) but the humidity makes it feel like 85F (29.4C) which is still a nice summer day.

I decided to work on this piece that I had started quite a while ago (see posts on 09 May 2012 and 23 January 2014).

Using various yellows such as raw sienna, new gamboge and aureolin and painting in the negative, I gave a little more definition to some of the flower shapes.

Then with Antwerp blue and cobalt blue I tinted some of the off white flowers.

I darkened some of the red flowers with alizarin crimson.

Using cadmium yellow, new gamboge and raw sienna I painted in the stamens into the center of some of the flowers.

I will post this painting again once I have completed the yellow flowers in the middle sections of the floral arrangement.

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

Vases - Two Works in Progress

Today in the Still Life class at KAGS we set up four displays of porcelain, ceramic and glass vases with dried floral arrangements.

To do all four of them in a painting would have been just too busy so instead I decided that I would do a sketch of each vase.

I started with the green ceramic vase which had Chinese lanterns, teasel, silver dollars and dried ornamental onion.

The orange of Chinese lanterns glowed against the silver dollar plants.

Green Vase

The white ceramic vase was the next one I sketched.

The vase was filled with dried ornamental onion and silver dollars.

I liked the way the orange colour of the Chinese lantern resting on the table at the base of the vase were reflected against the bright, shiny whiteness of the vase.

White Vase

I will post each of the pieces as the sketches are completed and colour has been added to the painting.

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

Oriental Pottery

It is another hot day 77F (25C) but with the humidity feels like 84F (29C).

I wanted to do more work on this drawing (see post on 06 February 2014) that I had started in the still life class at KAGS.

I tightened up the drawing and added the pattern details on the vase and pottery jar.

I made a few changes to the composition by enlarging the clay tea pot and shifting its position slightly.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Roses in Vase 1

Today while out shopping they had a vendor outside the grocery store selling roses to raise funds for one of the local hockey teams and I bought half a dozen.

When I returned home I put them in a vase and set it in the middle of the kitchen table where I could enjoy them while having my meals.

As I was walking by the table, the sunlight coming through the window created a beautiful image that I wanted to capture.

I decided to place the vase to one side of the paper to create interest rather than in the centre of the paper.

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

Lilac Reflections - A Work in Progress

I washed in the background using various mixtures of French ultramarine blue, Antwerp Blue and alizarin crimson then set it aside to dry.

Once it was dry I used a mixture of alizarin crimson and Antwerp blue as the under paint for the lilac flowers. While that was drying I added some French ultramarine blue to the lilac mixture and painted the vase.














Next I washed in raw sienna and Antwerp blue into the leaves. I left this colour for the high lit areas of the leaves.Then added French ultramarine blue and painted the mid tone of the leaves, then with a little burnt sienna added to the mixture and the dark shadows were painted.

I started adding in the shadows on the lilacs, which were a mixture of French ultramarine blue and alizarin crimson.

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

Still Life Trio

I came across the original pencil sketch for nine still life paintings that I had started a couple of years ago (see posts on 13 and 14 March 2011) two of which were completed (see posts on 16 and 17 September 2012).















I decided to do more work on the sketch and will remove the writing from the completed drawing.