Autumn Maple 1 and 2

This morning I looked out my kitchen window and saw over a dozen robins on the front lawn. They are up very early this year and hopefully we will have an early spring.

Today I was at KAGS with a few of my previous students to help them with leaves on trees and the various ways they can apply the paint to achieve the effect they want in their paintings.

I used as an example of using a sponge to create leaves one of the pieces I had started with the Lakefield Creative Arts Group last year (see post on 23 March 2015).

Most of the students had tried this method at one point or another in a previous lesson on painting trees and they also brought in some pieces where they had practiced with leaves and wanted to know how to put in the sky and tree branches behind the leaves.

Another method of painting leaves is to splatter water on the paper in the area where the leave are to be placed and then float the leaf colours into the water to let them blend. I set this painting aside to let it dry.

I went back to the first painting and with French ultramarine blue and painted the sky in behind the sponged in leaves; and then I did the same with the second painting.

I will post each of these paintings at a later date once they have been completed.

Confirmed Shows for 2016 - February

This is a listing of confirmed shows that I will be exhibiting my artwork at this year and into next year. I will update the list as more shows are added.

Kawartha Artists’ Gallery, Peterborough, Ont.
KAGS
24 Feb - 24 Mar 16 The Abstract Show
Opening Reception 28 Feb 16 from 1-4pm.
13 Apr - 05 May 16 Floral and Still Life
Opening Reception 17 Apr 16 from 1-4pm.
15 Jun - 10 Jul 16 Figuratively Speaking
Opening Reception 19 Jun 16 from 1-4pm.
24 Aug - 11 Sep 16 Black and White Plus 1 Colour
Opening Reception 28 Aug 16 from 1-4pm.
28 Sep -23 Oct 16 Nature's Palette
Opening Reception 02 Oct 16 from 1-4pm.
26 Oct - 13 Nov 16 Outdoor Painters' Show
Opening Reception 30 Oct 16 from 1-4pm.
30 Nov -18 Dec 16 and 04-15 Jan 17 Warm in the Cold
Opening Reception 04 Dec 16 from 1-4pm.

Kawartha Arts Network - Art on Kent, Lindsay, Ont.
KAN
14 Apr - 07 May 16 Petals
Opening Reception 16 Apr 16 from 1-3pm.
09 Jun - 02 Jul 16 Annual All Members' Show
Opening Reception 11 Jun 16 from 1-3pm.
07-30 Jul 16 Transportation
Opening Reception 09 Jul 16 from 1-3pm.
01-24 Sep 16 Mixed Masters
Opening Reception 03 Sep 16 from 1-3pm.
29 Sep - 22 Oct 16 Then and Now Part 2
Opening Reception 01 Oct 16 from 1-3pm.
27 Oct - 19 Nov 16 Feast for the Eyes
Opening Reception 29 Oct 16 from 1-3pm.
24 Nov - 17 Dec 16 and 05-14 Jan 17 Affordableism
Opening Reception 26 Nov 16 from 1-3pm.

The Evinrude Centre, 911 Monaghan Road, Peterborough Ont.
08-10 Apr 16 The 16th Annual Peterborough Garden Show

Fenelon Falls Fair Grounds, Fenelon Falls, Ont.
KawarthaArtsFestival
03-04 Sep 16

Dancing Blueberries, 360 George St. N., Peterborough, Ont.
28 Sep - 03 Nov 16

Extendicare, 860 Alexander Court, Peterborough, Ont.
07 Nov 16 - 02 Jan 17

Please come out and enjoy the artwork displayed at one or all of these shows.

Yellow Sky 2 and 3 - Two Works in Progress

Today I didn't have very much time to paint so I pulled out a number of small paintings that had backgrounds but nothing else on them. Unfortunately I have a large number of those from various demonstrations I have done on painting different kinds of skies for various art groups over the years.

After pulling out a number of paintings I decided to start with these two pieces (see post on 14 December 2011) that I started quite some time ago.














Yellow Sky 2

The first one was a graduated wash of raw sienna and I turned it from the vertical format I had originally planned for it set it as a landscape and added in a number of tree trunks and main branches.














Yellow Sky 3

On the second one I flipped it upside down to make it more of an evening scene. Again I indicated some tree trunks and main branches lightly with a pencil.

I will post each of these paintings at a later date once they have been completed, and now I had better get ready for my company which will arrive shortly to help me ring in the New Year.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Evening on the Lake - A Work in Progress

Today I was pleasantly surprised to have a Purple Finch at one of my feeders.

With today being Ron's birthday I didn't have a lot of time to paint but I wanted to do a little work on something so I worked on this one that I had started last year (see posts on 29 August, 22 October 2015 and 16 January 2016).














Using a mix of burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue I started to put in the waves, using lighter paint for the distant waves and gradually adding more paint to darken the colour for the foreground waves.

Adding more burnt sienna to the wave colour I put into the distant shoreline and once that was dry I added more French ultramarine blue for the closer slightly more detailed trees.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have removed the friskit and started painting the sailboats.

Background 76 and 77 - Two Works in Progress

Today I had to go to Toronto to take Christine to see a specialist and on the way back we will stop at a couple of the art supply stores so I can get a few things that I need.

The two pieces below were created by using yesterday's remaining paint.














Background 76

The first background was made using titanium white, Hansa yellow, raw sienna, burnt sienna and a touch of Cerulean blue.














Background 77

The second background was various blends of titanium white, ultra marine blue, Cerulean blue, alizarin crimson, cadmium red and burnt sienna.

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

Sunlit Birches - A Work in Progress

Today I couldn't get motivated to go down into Peterborough to KAGS for the Still Life class; especially since we had freezing rain overnight and it is going to snow all day and the temperature is 0F (-17.8C) and with the wind chill it feels like -12F (-24.4C).

Instead I decided to do some more work on this painting that I had started earlier this week (see post on 25 January 2016) in the Lucy Manley workshop.

I started in on the sky and added a slightly darker layer of colour into the sky using titanium white, burnt sienna and raw sienna.

Next I touched up the tops of the distant trees on the top of the hill against the sky using various mixtures of ultramarine blue, Cerulean blue, raw sienna, burnt sienna and Hansa yellow.

Using ultramarine blue with a touch of white I darkened the shadows from the main tree and added shadows into the foreground from trees that are outside of the painting.

I added another layer of pure titanium white to the high lit areas of the snow drift against the main tree trunk.

Next I wanted to work on the main birch tree in the foreground.

With the sunlight coming from the left side of the painting I put in the brightest highlights on the right side of the birch tree.

I started with titanium white and added a touch of Hansa yellow to warm it and put this colour in a few areas first.

Next I added a little raw sienna to the mix and worked on the next darker highlight on the left side and toward the center of the trunk.

Then a small amount of burnt sienna was added to darken the mix slightly for areas where the bark has pealed or been damaged.

On the shadowed side of the tree I used white and various mixtures of ultramarine blue, Cerulean blue, burnt sienna, and alizarin crimson.

With a small amount of the second brightest highlight colour I put a mark on the second largest tree as a guide for when I paint that tree on another day as the brightest value.

With not having very much more time to work on the painting I went to the small birch tree in the background and painted it with the blue grey shadow colours.

I will post this painting at a later date once I paint the second largest birch tree.

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

My First Horse Head

I came across this drawing that was in some of my Mom's old files that I am slowly going through before they are shredded.

On the back of the drawing is the date I drew it, which was 11 November 1961.

I can still remember when I did this drawing while laying on the floor in the living room, with my crayons and paper in front of the television watching Jon Gnagy "Learn to Draw" on Saturday afternoon.

I had also did another horse drawing of a Bucking Bronco with Jon Gnagy "Learn to Draw" and sent it to the Uncle Bobby Show (which was a Canadian children's show that aired from 1964 to 1979) and that drawing appeared on his show in 1964.

For Christmas that year, Mom got me Jon Gnagy's Learn to Draw kit.

My Mom, who painted wall murals in acrylic and miniature paintings in watercolour as a hobby, always encouraged me to draw and paint. She also made sure that I had all the art supplies I needed.

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