Poppies and Fence Post - A Work in Progress

While at the Shades of Summer show I spent some time working on drawings of poppies. This is the finished drawing for a new painting of poppies growing at the base of a fence post.

I saw a scene similar to this along Highway 507 toward the end of June and though t it would make a lovely painting.

I will post this painting at a later date after I put in the background washes of sky and greenery.

St Peter's on-the-Rock - A Work in Progress

I was going through some older photographs and came across pictures that I had taken of  'Church on the Rock' a number of years ago when the Buckhorn Artists' Group had a paint out at Helen's and she took us out in the boat for a tour of the lake.

St. Peter's on-the-Rock Anglican Church is on a small island on Stoney Lake in the Kawartha Lakes tourist area of Ontario.

The Church is open from May to September and this charming place of worship is only accessible by boat.

Once I was satisfied with my drawing of the church I transferred it to my watercolour paper. I then masked out the Church first with white painter's tape rather than liquid frisket as it is all pretty much square shapes and I wanted to draw on the tape where the open door and windows would be so I could match up the reflections in the water.

Using French ultramarine blue I washed in the sky and then brushed a slightly darker mixture into the area of water. While the paint was still wet I lifted some of the reflections of the church with a dry brush.

Since the photographs were taken in September the colours on the deciduous trees had started to change. I put them in fairly softly with various mixtures of French ultramarine blue, raw sienna, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson. Using vertical strokes I put their reflections into the water as well.

With a mixture of burnt sienna and a touch of alizarin crimson I painted in the rock reflections and a couple of rocks that were showing above the water. Adding a little French ultramarine blue to the rock mixture I brushed in the window and door reflections.

Mixing up a dark green from French ultramarine blue and raw sienna I placed in the pine tree reflections before the water area could completely dry. With a slightly stronger mixture I indicated some of the pine trees.

I then removed the tape from the church and started a started putting in some of the dark areas like the roof and windows and with a lighter wash started adding the shadows and various details to the building.

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

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

Crossing the Stream I

This is a scene I have often observed in the pasture as the horses cross the stream on their way back to the barn.











It is a good sketch for a future painting. I just have to decide on the medium, the season and the colour of the horse.

This is an original 5" x 9” framed, pen and ink painting available for $165.00.

Changing Colour - A Work in Progress

It won't be long before school starts and the trees change from their summer greens to the golds and reds of autumn.

I put in a soft morning sky in pales burnt sienna; it seems to give warmth to the painting.

Background hills were painted in as was the green of the foreground grass and left to dry before the middle ground pine trees were added.

It looked a little too plan with just the pine trees so I used a little China white and added a birch tree. The leaves are cadmium yellow light which is a fairly opaque paint and will cover most other colours.

I am still not happy with this painting and will do some more work on it at a later date and post it once it is completed.

Birch Forest - A Work in Progress

Today I worked with a limited palette of three colours, French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and raw sienna.

I used pure raw sienna a washed in a background colour across all of the board.

Then adding French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna in various mixtures to the raw sienna I painted in background tree shapes. While the paint was still wet using the end of a brush I scraped out birch tree shapes.

Using various mixtures of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I painted in the area that I wanted to have my rocks and then scraped the shape out with a palette knife.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have added the markings on the birch trees and some leaves.

Buckhorn Artists' Group - Update

Today I updated the Buckhorn Artists' Group blog with a few details about what happened during the Shades of Summer Art Show and Sale.

Please go to the site and enjoy pictures of some of the paintings that were exhibited at the show.

Autumn Breeze - A Work in Progress

Today I decided that I would work in acrylic paint and thin it down to use in the same manner as I would a watercolour.

I used a limited palette of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna. I washed the entire board with a pale mixture of both colours.

Darkening the colour slightly I brushed in some background tree shapes. While the paint was still wet I lightened some areas to create a misty effect.

Adding a little more burnt sienna to the mixture I painted in a few closer tree trunks and again while the paint was still wet removed some areas for the mist.

With a darker thicker mixture of the two colours I painted in a solid layer of colour and using a palette knife I scraped out the rock shapes.

With the same dark mixture I painted in the foreground trees and added a few leaves with various mixtures of burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue.

The painting still needs a little more work and I will post later once it is completed.