Wanna Play? - A Work in Progress

I had some time and wanted to work on this painting that I had started during a Still Life class at the Kawartha Artists' Gallery and Studio (see post on 27 March 2014).













I will post this painting at a later date as more work is completed on the stuffed toys.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Koi 5 and 6 - Two Works in Progress

Today I did another fourteen sketches of koi for the painting called Koi Pond that I had started as an abstract showing movement in a class I took in the spring (see post on 21 May 2014).

I think I now have enough sketches of koi on tracing paper in various sizes and positions that my next step is to cut them out and place them onto the photocopies of the background.


Koi 5

Once I am happy with their placement on the photocopy I will tape them into place and after doing all four I know in which direction the panel should go and at that point I will have the sketches enlarged to the size to fit on the panel.














Koi 6

As usual I took two of the sketches and transferred them onto smaller pieces of watercolour paper which I will post at a later date once they have been painted.

Coon Lake I-X - Ten Works in Progress

It is so nice having Ron home during the early part of the week as we can get away and go out in the canoe when the lakes aren't as busy with all the weekend cottagers.

Even though the skies were overcast with a brisk wind blowing making the weather a little on the cool side for a summer day in July we enjoyed ourselves.

Coon Lake IV

Today we went on Coon Lake as it is located on the north side of Highway 28 just east of Burleigh Falls.

It wasn't very far away, especially with the chance of rain in the forecast; we didn't want to spend our time driving instead of being out on the water.

Once we had the canoe and our gear unloaded and into the water we paddled as usual to the end of the lake and allowed the current to carry us back to the launch site.

Coon Lake VI

The lake isn't all that large although it does reach depths of 50' (15.24m) with the average depth being around 22' (6.7m).

What I enjoyed was exploring the irregular shoreline and the many small bays and inlets.

As we headed toward the shallower north west end of the lake we came across a rundown cottage on a small island.

I did a couple of sketches of and made sure I had plenty of reference photographs.

Coon Lake VII

It was one of those unique fixer uppers and perhaps we will find out who owns the place and if they would be willing to sell. It would be another project for the future.

While going around the back part of the island I had to keep a sharp eye out for submerged logs and rock shoals just below the surface of the water. It was very weedy but it had a multitude both the yellow and the white lily pads.

As we drifted back towards the southeast section of the lake there were a number of steep rocky drop offs.

Coon Lake IX

Ron had a great time catching four large mouth bass, a small mouth bass, a sunfish and a small muskellunge all of which we live released back into the lake.

I was fortunate to be able to get photographs of a Great Blue Heron fishing near the shore and took as many photographs as possible until we got too close and he flew further down the lake.

I did a number of sketches of the lake, shoreline, trees, birds and the water lilies and also took a lot of reference photographs.

Coon Lake X

I should be able to produce many paintings over the winter of Coon Lake.














Coon Lake VIII

I know it won't be long before we return to Coon Lake.















Coon Lake I

On the way home we stopped at the Burleigh Falls Lodge Resort and had supper in their Island Grill restaurant where we enjoyed their fish and chips.














Coon Lake II

It was a wonderful way to end the day and the rain held off until we made it safely home.














Coon Lake III














Coon Lake V

Evening Grosbeaks III - A Work in Progress

This is the last of four sketches (see posts on 20, 22 and 25 July 2014) of Evening Grosbeaks that I would like to paint.















I didn't have much time today to do more than indicate where I will place the seven birds and some of the growies, but at least I have a basics in for the sketch.

I will post this sketch at a later date once the outline drawing has been completed.

What's New? - A Work in Progress

We were very fortunate that the rain held off yesterday until 8pm and it continued to rain throughout the night including having a major thunderstorm at 2am which lasted for almost two hours. The rain finally ended around 6am and as I headed for the show at Lockside Trading Company it was cloudy and looked as though it would start to rain at any moment.

It didn't take as long to set everything up again as I knew exactly what was being hung up on the grids which made things a lot easier.

With the overcast skies not too many people came out for the morning but as the day progressed the clouds disappeared and the sun came out bringing with it the crowds.













I did a little more work on this painting that I had started in one of the Still life classes at KAGS (see post on 27 March 2014).

I started by working on the curtains to give a little definition to the folds.

Next I darkened the shadows beneath the duck and then worked on getting the duck to look a little more round in shape.

I will post this painting again once the toy duck is completed.

Art@the Locks

I don't normally do outdoor shows where I take my own tent and set up everything inside it and then have the hassle of taking all the paintings and tent down each night only to do it all over again the following day. Especially not when they are calling for rain all weekend long.

However, I enjoyed this show where I shared my tent with fellow artist Cindy Allan who picked out a lovely spot right beside the locks at the Lockside Trading Company in Youngs Point. When I was not painting or speaking with the public I spent my time taking photographs of the various boats as they passed through the lock.














The day was 72F (22C) with a gentle breeze blowing and it didn't start to cloud over until everything was safely put into the vehicle.

I would like to thank new collector Ms. Sharon Black of Selwyn, Ontario on her purchase of Snow 1 (see post on 10 March 2011).

Hopefully, tomorrow will be the same as today and the rain will hold off until the end of the show.

Evening Grosbeaks II - A Work in Progress

This is the third of four sketches (see posts on 20 and 22 July 2014) of Evening Grosbeaks coming in for bird seed in the winter.














I have completed the outline sketches of seven Grosbeaks, two females and five males on the ground feeding with one male in flight.

The main grass stalks and growies are also indicated. I will post this piece at a later date once I have transferred the sketch to the watercolour paper.

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