Between Training Miles - A Work in Progress

After 40 years of Harness racing at the Kawartha Downs Track in Fraserville, Ontario, today almost became the last day for the Track to continue to have the horses race as on 31 March 2013 the Ontario Lottery and Gaming's slots at racetracks revenue-sharing deal ends.

How the province of Ontario which receives 1.1 billion dollars from the horse racing industry, but has pledged a mere 500 million dollars in transition funding to the industry is simply ridiculous.















Why would the OLG even try to separate the horse racing industry from its gaming activity is beyond me. Whether you put money into a slot machine, on a table playing cards, buy a lottery ticket or make a bet on a horse it is all a form of gambling.

I thought it only fitting that I post the sketch for a painting of harness horses in the barns between training miles at Kawartha Downs.

I will post this drawing at a later date once more of it is completed.

Open Field 1 - A Work in Progress

This is another of the small paintings that I started last year by using the various blues from my palette and painting in skies (see post on 28 October 2012). I pulled this one out which was called Blue Sky G and decided it looked a lot like one of the fields behind the barn.

I started by sketching in by twin pines that are on the fence line of the back field before the sugar bush.















Next I put in the middle field fence line with the various trees at the edge of the field. I indicated some of the grasses that grew along the edge of the field by the rock piles.

I was just getting my paints out to start work on this painting when I had unexpected company arrive, so I will post this piece at a later date once it is completed.

Easter Surprise - A Work in Progress

With tomorrow being Good Friday the Still Life Group at KAGS is doing an Easter theme.

We had a number of Easter bunnies including a Lindt gold chocolate bunny and a Beatrix Potter Peter Rabbit. We also had various baskets, coloured Easter eggs, and some flowers.

I didn't like all of the pieces and decided not to use a number of them. To make a more interesting composition I moved some of them around and added some extra eggs and cut flowers. With fewer things to draw I was able to have more time to paint.














I put down the base yellow for the forsythias, the bottom part of the pot with the calla lily and a couple of the coloured Easter eggs.

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

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

Mr. Bud I - A Work in Progress

Even though there is snow still on the ground the trees are starting to show that spring is just around the corner.

Today I have to go to the Executive meeting at KAGS so I decided that I would go in a little earlier and work on a couple of paintings.













I started this painting earlier this year (see post on 06 January 2013) as a guide for an acrylic painting on which I am working.

I added the soft yellow seaweed into the forecastle of the boat and to the right side of the painting on the reef. More different types of sponges and corals were added onto the reef and onto the side of the Mr. Bud.

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

Pottery 5 and 6 - Two Works in Progress

Today the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group had Neil Broadfoot as a guest instructor. He demonstrated how to do still life drawing and brought in a wide variety of subject matter.

He started us off with basic shapes and theory on how the shapes change when looking at an object at eye level, below eye level and above eye level.

Then gave us exercises to do with the light source on the different shapes and theory about highlight, light, reflected light, shadow and cast shadow.

By then it was time for us to break for lunch.

Pottery 5

After lunch we worked on developing a composition and how drapery can lead the eye through a painting.














Pottery 6

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

Suppertime? - A Work in Progress

I wanted to work on the knifefish today and at least get it completed (see postings on 15 Mar 2012, 31 Oct 2012 and 30 Dec 2012).

The dark stripes had already been completed and I started by painting in the white stripes on either side of the central black stripe. Then I added the white to the lips of the fish.














I added a little yellow to the white and painted in the dorsal fin stripes and then the yellow on the face. I then added a touch of cerulean blue to the yellow mix for the shadows and a hint of burnt sienna to the top of the head.

Mixing some cerulean blue with white the main body of the fish was painted and pure white was added for the highlights and some definition of the fin.














The remaining fins were painted with painted with cerulean blue at the base where the fins are almost transparent blending into a pale yellow and the outer edges tipped with a mix of the yellow and burnt sienna.

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

Hidden - A Work in Progress

Today I wanted to work on something small that wouldn't take a lot of time so I pulled out Sponge Work A (see post on 29 December 2012).

After looking at it for a little while I could see the shape of a rabbit among the foliage. So I changed the name of this piece to Hidden.

I washed in the background with new gamboge leaving the rabbit shape untouched.

Using a little alizarin crimson I painted the inside of the ear and the nose.

Next using burnt sienna I applied washes over the head, ears and body of the rabbit gradually darkening some areas to create the illusion of roundness.

While that was drying I applied a mixture of alizarin crimson, French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna and put in the eye.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have completed the rabbit on worked on the foliage.