Cold Day 1 and 2

This morning I woke up to 4" (10.2 cm) of snow on the ground. There is also more snow in the forecast, but at least it is a little warmer outside 22F (-5.6C) and the wind has died down.

I thought I would do a couple of drawings of the scenery as I looked out my kitchen window at the infield of the track.

By the entryway to the track by the barn, there are a couple of young maple trees on the bank which rises above the last turn.

It is here where the track is at its lowest level in between both sides of the land.

As you head into the first turn everything levels out and is almost even with the ground as you head into the backstretch.

Cold Day 1

Partway along the backstretch the track becomes higher than the ground and by the time you are at the second turn the infield side it is about 8' (2.4m) higher and on the roadside there is a 40' (12.2m) drop.

Midway between the second and third turn the track levels out again and after the third turn the track once again becomes higher than the land on either side, although nowhere near as much as on the backside of the track.

On the driveway side it is about 6' (1.8m) and on the infield side it is less than 2' (.6m) before it levels out in front of the house.

Cold Day 2

Just past the sentimental light the track starts to once again be lower than the banks on either side heading into the fourth turn.

Fire

It is another day with a forecast of pending snow, but at least the temperature made it up to 34F (1C) and once again the snow held off until the evening.














Which is why, tonight I am relaxing in the living room and enjoying a fire in the fireplace.

Race the Wind

The temperatures are remaining low 22F (-5.6C) and the day overcast and by late afternoon it started to snow while I was on my way home from the Executive meeting at KAGS.

After having supper I decided to work on this piece and finish the riders on the horses.













This original 10-1/2" x 13-1/4" watercolour when framed will be available for $235.00.

Frozen Lake 1-4

The cold weather is here and I am breaking the ice off of the horse trough with our high for the day going up to a balmy 22F (-5.6C), but the bright side is that the sun is shining.

I thought today I would take the dog with me and go to the Selwyn Beach Conservation Area and do a couple of sketches of the frozen lake while walking along the beach and on the trails.














Frozen Lake 1

Once we arrived at the park She-Ra stayed close beside me, normally she would be rushing ahead of me and wait until I caught up with her before racing of again. But I have to keep remembering that she is thirteen years old and starting to slow down.















Frozen Lake 2

I stopped and did my first drawing at the end of the first trail which led down to the beach and you could see the edge of Chemong Lake through the trees. From there I continued along the second trail which ran along side of the lake and stopped again to do another drawing.















Frozen Lake 3

I kept an eye on She-Ra, making sure she didn't go too far out on the frozen lake because the last thing I wanted was for her to find a thin spot in the ice and go through it into the lake. After I finished my third drawing I decided it was time to head back.















Frozen Lake 4

Just before we came to the trail which took us back to the parking lot, I stopped and did my last drawing of the lake before heading home.

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

OSWOA - Rocks and Water 4

Today was very windy with snow squalls and the temperature was 30F early in the morning dropped rapidly through the afternoon.

I decided that I would work inside today and finish up another of the paintings I started in the third Tuesday "Basic Watercolour" class I am teaching at KAGS.

With this exercise they were learning about the colour Antwerp blue which was used for the sky and water, different ways of putting leaves on trees, and how to scrape out rocks with a credit card or palette knife.

Antwerp blue was used with raw sienna to make the greens. Three different ways for creating the foliage were used in this painting.

The trees on the horizon line were put in using a brush, the leaves on the left side were applied with a sponge and the leaves on the right side were put in by wetting the surface of the painting in the areas the leaves were to be placed and Antwerp blue and raw sienna was dropped into the wet areas and allowed to mix on the paper.














The under paint for the rocks  was put in using Antwerp blue and alizarin crimson. While the under paint was drying a dark was made using the blue with burnt sienna.

The dark mixture was painted over top of the rocks and while it was still wet a palette knife was used on the left to lift out the rock shapes and a credit card was used on the right side rocks.

This dark mixture was used to paint the tree trunks and the reflections below the rocks.

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 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $30.00 and sold unframed.

ACEO - Twin Willows 1

This morning I woke up to a very heavy fog, but the temperatures had risen to 46F (7.5C), but that is not expected to last very long as we currently have a wind warning in effect for the area.

Going through my file of started paintings I came across Blue Sky J (see post on 28 October 2012) and thought I would like to use that as the background for a painting of my willow tree at the front of the lawn.

I sketched in two different views of the trunk and main branches of the tree and added a couple of the fence line maple trees into the background.














Using a mix of French ultramarine blue and alizarin crimson I put in the distant hills behind the fence line.

With raw sienna I painted over the blue sky colour on the paper and put in the dead grasses of the lawn.

Adding some Antwerp blue to the colour used for the distant hills, the shadows from the trees were put into the foreground.














For the tree trunk I mixed a dark colour using French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson and painted in the tree trunks, main branches and many of the smaller branches.

By the time all the smaller branches were painted the background maples were pretty well covered over and I decided not to paint them as I felt they would distract from the weeping willows.

Mixing Antwerp blue and new gamboge I put in the green leaves on the willow trees which would be in shadow.














Adding cadmium yellow to the mix the rest of the leaves were added and lastly with pure cadmium yellow a few of the leaves that were high lit were added into a few areas.

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

The ACEO shown here is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 300lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

Glasses

Today is the last day of the KAGS Outdoor Painters' Group exhibit and I am sitting the show.

While I was there I found a pair of sun glasses and a pair of wire rimmed spectacles that had been left on the front desk.






Since I knew the person they belonged to I phoned them to let them know where they were and while I waited for them to come in I did these little sketches.

I would like to thank new collector Mr. Martin Parker of Peterborough, Ont. on his section of Evening Arrival (see posting on 03 August 2011).