In the Shade - A Work in Progress

It seems that it is going to be a long hard winter with plenty of snow as it is snowing yet again today and the temperature is 23F (-5C).

I keep thinking of how the horses will enjoy summer when it comes around and spend their time on those hot, sunny afternoons in the shade of the trees.











I couldn't help but do a small drawing of Tai and Chi under a tree.

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

Oak Trees in Winter - A Work in Progress

Today is the first day of the New Year that I went to paint with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group at St. Matthew's Church.

There are a number of oak trees around the Church. Many of them have a lot of the leaves clinging tenaciously to the branches that will stay there until the early spring when the new leaves are starting the cycle of life again and the wind will take away.















While it is only slightly above freezing as the temperature has climbed to 36F (2.2C) and much of the snow has melted. I went outside to do this sketch of the oak trees by the parking lot behind the Church.

Once I finished my sketch it was time to go back inside and have a cup of tea to warm up and let my fingers thaw.

I will post this piece at a later date as I develop this sketch into a painting.

Sully - A Work in Progress

A nice sunny day and it is supposed to reach above the freezing mark by this afternoon, so since I was not planning on going out today I decided that I would start on a portrait of Christine's dog Sully.

I went through the many photographs I have taken of him over the years and chose to do a full body drawing of him looking straight at you with his usual happy and alert expression on his face.














After doing a number of small sketches this is the one I liked the best and I have just started working on the outline drawing.

I will post this piece at a later date once I have finished the outline drawing, transferred it onto the paper and started to work on the graphite pencil drawing.

Along the Beach I - A Work in Progress

Well, thanks to yesterdays thaw and rain my driveway by the end of the day looked like a river running beside the house carrying the water down to the main road.

But with the temperature dropping down overnight to 26F (-3C) the rain has turned to snow and the ice has a dusting of snow over top of it making it treacherous for the unwary who are walking on the ice. But at least it isn't foggy anymore, so there is always a bright side somewhere.

Today I worked on another of the sketches I had started while in Veradero, Cuba a number of years ago and I will post this drawing at a later date once it has been completed.

Veradero is located on the Hicacos Peninsula which is separated from Cuba by the Kawama Channel and although the peninsula is less than 3/4 mile (1.2km) at its widest point it extends almost 13 miles (20km) from the mainland.














We took a tour into the city of Matanzas, the provincial capital and wandered through the streets and visited many of the historical and cultural sites. The open market was a fascinating place to visit and we purchased some of the fresh fruit and a couple of shirts.

I thoroughly enjoyed going through a shop where they handmade books starting with the paper made from palm trees, which was hand cut, printed, stitched and bound. I purchased a blank book which I have not used, but I enjoy taking it out occasionally and appreciate all the work that went into creating   the texture of the paper.

Each day when we had returned from our excursions Ron and I would walk along the 6 miles (21km) of the beautiful white sand Veradero beach and watch the wind surfers and kite surfers skim across the surface of the turquoise waters.

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

Flying By - A Work in Progress

Finally we have made it above the freezing mark! It is 36F (2C) and of course it is raining which has turned my driveway into a skating rink. But I am willing to put up with that to have a nice warmer day even if it continues to be foggy.

I decided to do a little work on this sketch from when I was in Veradero of the beautiful white sand beach, the turquoise water and what beach would be complete without a few seabirds flying through the sky.

I will post this drawing at a later date once I have decided what type of gull or tern I wish to put into the sky.

One of the nice things about being in Veradero besides the diving and beaches of course, was being able to visit the Cuevas de Bellamar, or the Bellamar Caves which is one of the oldest tourist attractions in Cuba and has been open to the public since the 1860s.















It is located 25 miles (40km) southwest of Veradero near Matanzas city which is approximately 3 miles (4.8km) northeast of the caves which are open from 9am. to 6pm. daily and guided tours are the norm and the tour takes you through just a part of the Bellarnar caves which is sufficiently lit for visitors to enjoy the cave and to prevent tourists from getting lost in the almost 2 mile (3.2km) cave system.

There are a lot of steps leading down into the cave, which is very humid, warm and damp underfoot, with a network of clear streams running throughout but it is well worth the climb back up them when you have to leave this hidden magical world after seeing the many amazing crystalline domes and formations which come in such a wide range of shapes and sizes.

It is known for the multitude of stalagmites and stalactites which are believed to have been formed over 300,000 years ago. The tour will show you the beautiful cave murals left by the indigenous peoples, numerous fossils and the many interesting formations such as La Fuente de La Juventud (The fountain of Youth) and the Galería de Coco Rallado (Grated Coconut Gallery).

One day I will return to Veradero and take a trip to see some of the other caves in the area like The Santa Catalina and The Saturno.

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

Before the Wind I - A Work in Progress

It managed to make it up to 26F (-3C) today and with the climbing temperatures the fog has rolled in and has drastically reduced visibility. Perhaps tomorrow it will finally make it to above freezing, but I won't hold my breathing waiting for it to happen.

I went through a number of sketches and decided to start putting the ink on this one.












I will have to add a little more detail into the ship before I can put on the ink.

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

Dockside 1 and 2 - Two Works in Progress

It is 4F (-15.5C) perhaps we will make it over the freezing mark today, but I am not going to get my hopes up and it is a good thing is I didn't as 22F (-5.5C) was the high.

Today I am sitting the Christmas show at KAGS and I wanted to get a number of smaller paintings completed.

I wanted to do work on these two pieces and get them completed (see postings on 16 October 2012, 09 February 2013, 20 May 2013, 15 August 2013 and 10 December 2013) since I have been working on them for quite some time.

Dockside 1

As usual when I am working on these paintings the day seems to be fairly busy and I do not get as much work done on them as I would like.

I did manage to complete the posts in the first painting and put in the larger gull on the second.

I will post these painting once I have finished the rope and added a little more detail to the seagulls.

Dockside 2