Kabocha Squash and Garlic - A Work in Progress

Today I was greeted to 54F (12C) first thing in the morning and it is to go up to 73F (23C) with the humidity making it feel like 84F (29C) this is just an unkind joke Mother Nature is playing on us before the temperature goes below seasonal later this week.

This afternoon I went to the second of four classes with Michel St-Jean in realistic painting at KAGS (see post on 07 October 2014).















I had transferred my drawing onto the tinted canvas panel and was starting to add the shading details onto the canvas panel as a guide.

The next stage was to paint the drawing in tints tones and shades of grey going no darker than a seven on a tonal scale. This technique is known as grisaille and was used by the old Masters (for more information on grisaille see posts on 07 and 21 October 2013).














I will post this painting at a later date after I have completed the shading details and finished painting the grisaille.

Glamour I and II - Two Works in Progress

These are a couple of sketches I did from a Still Life class I did last month at KAGS.

The first one is of a wicker basket filled with rolled up facecloths and a couple of bath scrubbies which I plan to paint in bright colours.

There are also a couple of bottles of nail polish which I will probably paint one in orange and one in red.

Glamour I

The second is of a perfume atomizer, nail polish and a glass container holding tubes of lipstick.













Glamour II

I will post each of these paintings at they are completed.

I would like to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving Day.

Glamour - A Work in Progress

Last month the theme for the first Still Life class at KAGS  was 'Once Around the Bathroom'.

We had a wide variety of subject matter, everything from bathroom tissue, towels, electric razors, soap, sponges, aftershave, nail polish, perfume bottles, toothbrushes and toothpaste.














It was difficult to choose what I wanted to paint and I finally settled on a grouping of toiletry items and did this sketch.

I will post this piece at a later date once I have applied some paint to the paper.

Spoon Gourd 1 - A Work in Progress

I woke up to a very frosty and foggy morning with the temperature having dropped overnight to 28F (-2C) and if we are lucky the high today will be 52F (11C), just a taste of things to come.

This is another painting I worked on from the Still Life class at KAGS earlier this week (see posts on 09 and 10 October 2014).

This painting is of an ornamental spoon gourd which is often split in half, allowed to dry and used as a decorative spoon, hence its name.

I continued with the same theme as the other paintings by having the resting on a bed of Maple leaves and used raw sienna, new gamboge, aureolin and burnt sienna for the background.

I will post this painting again as it gets closer to completion.

Squash - Three Works in Progress

Yesterday at KAGS our theme for the sill life class was squash and gourds. The main painting I was working on (see yesterday's post) had to be set aside to dry so I decided to work on some sketches of a number of the other squash that were in the display.

Since pumpkins are probably one of the best known squash, I did a sketch of one of the small pumpkins that were in the display.

I liked the various Maple leaves that were scattered throughout the display and continued with having them as a base for the drawing.

After completing this one I decided to do a couple more.

Sugar Pumpkin

There was such a variety I was spoiled for choice. I finally settled on one of the ones that looked similar to a pumpkin.

Since this one was more flattened instead of round I did it in landscape rather than portrait format. That way I wouldn't have the sides of the squash at the edges of the painting and a lot of space above and below.














Carnival Squash 1

The next squash I picked because it was warty instead of smooth and it looked as though the bottom of it had been dipped in green paint.

Next I took all three paintings and put in a background of mixtures of raw sienna, new gamboge, aureolin and burnt sienna.














Crookneck Squash 1

I will post each painting at a later date as more work on them is completed.

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

Squash and Gourds - A Work in Progress

Today the theme for the Still Life class at KAGS was Squash and Gourds; as usual we had a wide variety of things from which to choose.

I did one small section that had ears of Indian corn and a variety of squash and gourds in an old wooden butter bowl. With a dried bottle gourd and a Carnival squash on a bed of fresh fallen Maple leaves.














Once I had completed the drawing I washed in a very pale base of raw sienna and added various mixes of new gamboge, raw sienna and a touch of burnt sienna into the background.

The paper was so saturated with water that it had to be set aside to dry before I could do any painting on the still life.

I will post this painting at a later date once I complete some of the squash.

Today I have gotten my dog early from the Peterborough Humane Society since she came in heat yesterday and they cannot spay her for at least a month. So I have her at home now until next month when she will be spayed and then she will be mine permanently.

Katchewanooka Lake I and II - Two Works in Progress

I added a little more detail to these sketches I did last month when we went canoeing on Katchewanooka Lake.

Ron had gotten home in the afternoon and with it being windy and the threat of rain in the forecast for the evening we didn't want to waste a lot of time driving so we went to Lakefield.

We launched the canoe into the Otonabee River from the public launch on Water Street.

The Otonabee is a 34 mile (55km) long river and is a part of the Trent Severn Waterway. It flows through Katchewanooka Lake and goes down to and through Little Lake in Peterborough and finally drains into Rice Lake.

Map courtesy of Google Earth imagery.

We paddled across the river in between Prince Andrew Island and went to the far side of Gordonstoun Island. We could feel the strong current pushing against us as we crossed.

Katchewanooka is a Cree word meaning Water of Many Rapids and there are a number of the rapids which are still in existence today and can be seen between the various locks and channels.

We stayed out of the main channel and continued north beyond the marina and came around Hague Point.

As we passed by markers C113 and C114 we entered the bottom end of Katchewanooka Lake which is the first of the Kawartha Lakes.

It is roughly 5 miles (8km) long and 1/2 mile (.8km) wide.

Katchewanooka Lake II

It has a maximum depth of 30 feet (9m) with the average depth being 7feet (2.3m).

The larger boats and cabin cruisers have to be careful and stay within the marked channel because of the multitude of hazards throughout the lake; they include foul ground, rocks awash, shoals, sunken piling and tree stumps.

We continued to the left and followed along the edge of the Lakefield Marsh. It is 200 acres (81ha) of wetland that was saved by local people from development. In 1996 this property was acquired by the Otonabee Region Conservation Authority due to the very generous involvement of local people for the conservation of a provincially significant class 1 wetland, source water protection, conservation education and nature appreciation.










Katchewanooka Lake I

We continued until we were almost at Webster Island and could see 175 acres (71ha) of forest, which was dedicated to the Lakefield College School in 2008; before turning around and heading back.

Ron caught a perch, but none of the other sporting fish such as large and small mouth bass, muskie, walleye, bluegill, and carp for which the lake is known.

I will post each of these pieces at a later date after I have put the ink onto the drawing and have them completed.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork and I hope you will return often.