Kyora

Kyora is has learned many things over the past couple of months and is proving that she is almost as smart as I thought she would be when I first spent some time with her when she was at the Peterborough Humane Society.

She has learned not to chase the cats and has made friends with the horses and even Tai likes her, which is a big change for him considering he would chase after She-Ra if she went out in the pasture with me and chases after the cats if they cross through the paddock.














For the most part she comes when she is called and stays in sight when we go for a walk through the fields and woodland.

I posted this photograph of her while she waited to see which path I will follow through the fields before she goes charging off ahead of me.

Magnetawan Reflections - A Work in Progress

This is a continuation of one of the paintings I started last month in the Lucy Manley class at KAGS (see post on 10 December 2014).

Using Titanium white with a little cerulean blue added, the upper part of the sky was painted and the same colour added to the reflections in the water. Next a little French ultramarine blue was added to darken the colour and change it slightly and the closer reflections in the water were brushed in using vertical strokes.















Working on the distant shoreline the orange tree tops were put in with a mix of cadmium red, cadmium yellow and Titanium white. This colour was also used for some of the dead ferns at the edge of the closer shoreline and added into the water reflections below the far shoreline.

A little more Titanium white was added to the orange mix and the distant shore was given more definition and the fern reflections were painted.















With a yellow green mix of cadmium yellow, cerulean blue and Titanium white, some of the bright tree reflections were painted below the far and closer shores.

When I stood back to look at the painting the bright green reflection below the far shore was too bright and seemed to attract the eye to it and needed to be toned down.















Adding a little more cerulean blue and a touch of burnt sienna to tone it down, the brightest tree and the reflection were painted and the same colour was added in a couple more places throughout the painting to tie everything together.

I will post this painting again at a later date when the closest shore and trees have been completed.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Palomino - A Work in Progress

After a workshop with Lucy Manley earlier this year (see post on 26 March 2014) I used the left over paint front my palette to create a background for another painting.

When I pulled this one out and turned it around 180° I could see a semi abstract image of a horse's head and I changed the name from Background 3 to Palomino.

Using a piece of tracing paper I laid it over the painting and drew in a few more details, trying to still keep it fairly abstract, but to add a little more definition to the painting.

I then tightened up the image on the tracing Paper, making sure that everything was aligned and balanced.

The background was darkened with graphite pencil and then transferred the main lines onto the panel.

I erased all excess graphite from the panel and lightly went over the pencil lines so I could follow them easily when I started to paint.

Now I have to decide what colour to do the mane and forelock.

Also how dark to paint the eyes and nostrils, then see if I want to make any changes to the background.

I will post this painting at a later date once the painting has been completed.

Background 9 and10 - Two Works in Progress

When I had finished working on Magnetawan Reflections for the day (see post on 10 December 2014) as usual I used the leftover acrylic paint to create a background for a painting.















Background 9

Using a palette knife I picked up the paint and applied it to the panel  blending it slightly and keeping the layer of paint fairly smooth and not very thick. After having covered the 8" x 10" panel there was still a fair amount of paint remaining.

In this case I still had enough leftover colours to cover a small 5" x 7" panel using the remaining burnt sienna, cadmium red and a little cadmium yellow.

I applied it onto the panel with a palette knife first and then used a brush and water to blend the paint on the panel to give it a flat, smooth finish.

I will post each of these panels at a later date.

Background 10

More Hallowe'en Stuff - Two Works in Progress

These are two more drawings from the Hallowe'en eve still life class at KAGS.














Witch's Kitty

The first is of a small black cat with beautiful green glowing eyes wearing an orange bow tie and matching witch's hat.














Jack in the Hat

The second is of a smiling Jack o' lantern wearing a black witch's hat.

I will post each of these pieces as more work on them is completed.

Christmas Bags, Boxes and Ornaments - Two Works in Progress

Today in the Still Life class at the Kawartha Artists' Gallery and Studio our theme was Christmas Boxes, Bags and Ornaments.

It was fitting subject matter considering it has been snowing since last night and I had to brush off close to 5" (cm) of snow off of my car before I could head into Peterborough for the class.













Christmas Bags, Boxes and Bows

Because of the snow and the road conditions I was late arriving for the class but there was a wonderful display set up and I was spoiled for choice.

I decided to do a couple of small paintings and completed the drawing for the first one and started on the second one before it was time for lunch.













Christmas Balls, Boxes and Bags

I was sitting the Gallery in the afternoon and despite the weather a number of people came through to paint and to see the art show.

I will post both these pieces at a later date once I have started painting them. 

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

Magnetawan Reflections - A Work in Progress

This is the third of three paintings I did with Lucy Manley at KAGS last month.

First the entire canvas is covered with a background colour in this case raw sienna and set aside to dry.















Using cadmium red the darkest areas are indicated as well as the different shorelines, the heights of the background trees, reflections and any major trees.

Using a mixture of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna with a touch of alizarin crimson the darkest areas are painted in first and while the paint is still wet cadmium yellow is added to the dark mixture to give a warm dark green.















This is used for the greens foliage in the shadowed area and more yellow is then added for the mid tone greens.

Using almost pure cadmium yellow with just a touch of the mid tone green the lighter tree branches are painted.















The sky is indicated using Titanium white with just a touch of cadmium yellow to give it a little warmth. Small areas of sky are scattered through the upper branches of the trees.

I will post the next stages of this painting at a later date.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.