Toadstools 1-3 - Three Works in Progress

It is a very mild non winter like day with the temperature reaching 44F (6.7C).

I didn't have a lot of time to work on art today trying to get everything ready for Christmas, but I wanted to get these three little paintings that I had started earlier this year (see posts on 20 and 31 October 2015) a little further along.

Since I wanted the toadstools to be at eye level, the trees and forest behind them would be from a worm's eye view.

Toadstool 1

In order to paint in the background I needed to apply liquid friskit to the toadstools to protect them.

The nice thing about the masking fluid is that you can put it on over top of a painted surface and as long as it is totally dry it will not damage the painted areas.

As each piece was masked it was then set aside to allow the friskit to dry.

I do not have the time to do any more work on them today.

Toadstool 2

In the future I can now put all the verticals into the background from the foreground to the top of the painting without leaving any distortion.

I will post each of these paintings at a later date as the backgrounds behind the toadstools are completed and the friskit is removed.











Toadstool 3

Backgrounds 60-61 - Two Works in Progress

These are two canvases I used for the left over paint from yesterday to put in a background.














Background 60

For the first one I used some of the titanium white, cadmium red and most of the alizarin crimson.















Background 61

With the second canvas I used the remaining titanium white and alizarin crimson as well as all the black.

I will post each of these canvases at a later date once I start another painting.

Hoturo - A Work in Progress

It was time to put in the water and add the rocks and trees of the closer shoreline on this painting I had started earlier this month (see posts on 10, 12 and 17 December 2015).

I started with the rocks as a base for the shoreline and put in the rocks using various mixes of ultramarine blue, titanium white, alizarin crimson and cadmium red. 

Next I lightly sketched in the main tree tops and put in the base of the trees with vertical strokes using burnt sienna, ultramarine blue and raw sienna.

With light and dark mixes of ultramarine blue, raw sienna, Hansa yellow and burnt sienna the tree tops were put in keeping the sunlight on the right side.

I started the waves from the distant shore and worked forward, keeping the furthest away the lightest colour and gradually darkening the waves as they got closer to the front.

More details were added to the closer waves and a little of the under paint was allowed to show through to give warmth to the water.

Once the painting was dry the image of the boat was moved around on the canvas until I was happy with the position and then it was transferred onto the painting.

I will post this painting at a later date once work has started on the sailboat.

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

Sailboat 5 and 6 - Two Works in Progress

I had a little bit of time today and wanted to work some work on a painting and I chose these two that I had started earlier this year (see posts on 29 August and 30 October 2015).

Since the sailboats were already masked out I wouldn't have to wait for the friskit to dry.

Working back and forth on both paintings I washed in the sky using Antwerp blue, leaving a few lighter areas for wispy clouds.

By the time I finished the sky on the second painting the first one was dry and ready for the next step.

Sailboat 5

Adding a little French ultramarine blue to the sky colour I put in the lightest part of the water.

I added a small amount of burnt sienna to the blue and put in the darker waves.

I did the same thing to the second painting and then into the foreground waves I used a grey of burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue to darken them a little more on both pieces.

Next I lightly drew in the horizon line on both pieces.

Sailboat 5

I added a little more burnt sienna to the grey wave colour and with vertical strokes painted in the distant shore.

I will post both of these paintings at a later date once I have removed the friskit and start to paint the sailboats.

Uncle Albert's Farm - A Work in Progress

I am concerned about my Patch kitty. Ron saw her last weekend when he did the barn chores for me but so far he hasn't seen her and Christine hasn't seen her at all this week.

I am starting to walk a little without the crutches but I still need to use one when going up or down the stairs but things are improving every day.

I wanted to do some drawing today and I pulled out this sketch that I had started a couple of years ago (see post on 22 October 2013).














I added a horse on the other side of the fence, and then I brought in a few more branches from the right side of the drawing.

I want to add a couple more animals, such as a couple of cats, a dog and perhaps a few more chickens or pair of geese. I will post this painting at a later date once more work on it has been completed and I have added the other animals.

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

Background 57-59 - Three Works in Progress

These are the backgrounds I put on canvases using the remaining acrylic paint from yesterday.














Background 57

The first one was created using mainly the leftover  ultramarine blue, cerulean blue and a little titanium white.














Background 58

For the second one it was mainly burnt sienna, titanium white and a little ultramarine blue.














Background 59

This last one was a mix of titanium white, raw sienna and Hansa yellow.

I will post each of these canvases at a later date once I know what I would like to paint.

Hoturo - A Work in Progress

I really shouldn't have been surprised to see a flock of about eighty snow buntings flying around the infield of the track this afternoon; especially since last year with the snow having been so deep, we feed over two hundred of them for about a month until the weather warmed and some of the snow started to melt.

Having put in the under paint and blocked in the background on this piece earlier this month (see posts on 10 and 12 December 2015) I wanted to get more work done on this painting today.

Starting at the top of the painting on the sky I used ultramarine blue with a small amount of white.

I left some of the cloud areas untouched so the warmth of the cadmium red would show through the white.

I gradually lightened the sky colour as I worked down to the horizon line by adding a little more white and some cerulean blue.

Once the paint had dried I started adding the clouds using titanium white as the base and added various mixes of cerulean blue, ultramarine blue, with a small amount of burnt sienna.

I took clouds down into the tree tops of the closer shoreline so when I painted in the trees they would show through the branches.

Using various mixtures of ultramarine blue, Hansa yellow, cerulean blue and raw sienna I painted in the distant shoreline.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have put in the water and closer shoreline.