Using Salt - Three Works in Progress

I often enjoy just playing with paint and salt to see what interesting effects I can get.

Here are three paintings that I started using a limited palette of pure French ultramarine blue, pure raw sienna and a mixture of both colours each mixed in a separate container.

The paper was first wet and the French ultramarine blue was poured into different areas of the paper. Then the green mix was added, followed with small amounts of the raw sienna; always remembering to leave some areas of white paper.

Quicksilver

Salt was sprinkled into the paint while it was still wet and then set aside to dry.

While waiting, various kinds of  reef fish were drawn on pieces of tracing paper.

Hiding

This allows me to place the fish where they will look the best before transferring them down onto the painting. Rather than painting them in and wishing later that I had put them elsewhere.

Hide and Seek

Once the paper had dried any excess salt was brushed off of the paper.

I transferred and painted an angelfish into one area of the painting and will have to plan out what other types of fish need to go into each one and where to place them.

I will post each painting as it is completed.

Peaceful Evening - A Work in Progress

The soft evening colours of the sky are reflected in the calm lake. It is the end to another fun filled, bright and sunny day in cottage country of the Kawarthas. In the stillness you can almost hear the call of a loon.

The background island shows another cottage with the lights glowing softly to ward off the coming darkness as night approaches.

More work needs to be done to the foreground cottage and perhaps a wisp of smoke from the chimney. The foreground land and reeds also need to be finished.

I will post this painting later when it has been completed.

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

OSWOA - Landscape

Spring and autumn are seasons of wide ranges of temperatures and drastic changes to the landscape.

Spring is a time of rebirth and new beginnings like the dawn of each day. The gradually warming weather melts the snow and brings forth new leaves and flowers.


Elegant

Autumn is a time of gathering as animals prepare for the coming of winter and the long sleep for those that hibernate.

The frost causes the leaves to change from lush green to the brilliant golds, reds and oranges in a final show of defiance before they fall to the ground in their final resting place.


A Touch of Colour

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

The OSWOA shown here are all original watercolour paintings using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 300lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. They are priced at $40.00 each and sold unframed.

ACEO - Flower Pots 1-2

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

The ACEO shown here are both 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.

Flower Pot 1

These are two paintings that I have been working on as demonstration pieces at a number of shows since the end of June and have just finished.

I hope that you enjoy them.





Flower Pot 2

Birch Lake - A Work in Progress

This is another painting that I started earlier this year on location at the Riverview Zoo with the Outdoor Painters' Group.

I indicated some of the new grasses pushing their way up through last year's autumn leaves that had not been blown away by the winter winds; and then areas where the trees would cast their shadow to give me the direction of the light source.

Once the paint was dry I have removed the masking fluid from the birch trees and the trunk of the cedar tree.

I started on the cedar tree trunk using the shadowed area already indicated put in the light and shadow as well as adding a little of the bark texture. It still needs more work before it is completed.

I also painted the markings on one of the birch trees to give a feeling of what the overall look of the completed painting.

When I have finished more on this painting I will post it at a later date.

In the Past - A Work in Progress

One of the many century old, forgotten and soon to vanish barns in the area.

The glowing colours of the autumn maples add a bright spot to the landscape, but it is also the fore runner of the winter winds which are rapidly approaching.

Hopefully the weathered old barn will be able to survive for another year without too many boards being broken and torn off or sheets of metal removed from its roof.

There is still more work which needs to be done to the barn and the maple tree before this painting is finished.

I will post it once it is completed.

Warm and Cool Glads - Two Works in Progress

I wanted to paint something in a different format, so I chose a long, tall shape to depict Gladiolus.

With an H pencil I lightly drew in the shapes of the flowers on both paintings. Then with a wash of raw sienna and using vertical strokes I brushed in the background.

Since Gladioli come in a wide range of colours, I decided that I would do one painting with the warm colours of red, orange and yellow and the other painting with the cooler colours of lavender, blue and green.


Cool Glads

Using a mixture of French ultramarine blue and raw sienna I painted in the taller spikes on both paintings.

With a mixture of alizarin crimson with a touch of cadmium red light I indicated the basic shape of the red glads.

Then with the red mixture and raw sienna I indicated some of the shapes of the red orange glads.

Adding cadmium yellow light to the orange mix I painted in the yellow orange glads.


Warm Glads

I still need to indicate the yellow glads with cadmium yellow light and a mix of raw sienna.

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

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