ACEO - Stillness 1

Today I was at KAGS painting with the Outdoor Painters' Group.

I brought a number of small pieces to work on while I was there and decided to start with this one that I had started last year (see post on 27 December 2015) while I was playing with combinations of the various blues in my palette.

I thought I would make this piece look as though it was from Stoney Lake with its many small pink granite islands.

First I put in the islands using alizarin crimson as the base and gradually added combinations of burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue for the shadows and texture in the rocks and for the rock reflections in the water.

This was followed by putting the pines onto the islands, starting with the furthest back ones to the closest ones.

If you would like more information about ACEO please go to my post on 11 March 2010.

The ACEO shown here is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 300lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

White Water I - A Work in Progress

I pulled out this drawing that I had started last year (see post on 15 October 2015) and thought that I would like to possibly get it finished today.

Starting with the closet rock I placed in the shadows and then the cracks and crevices.

I did the same for the rocks behind the first rock and then added some grasses on top of these ones.

Next I put in the waterline and gradually added in the water ripples and the waves caused by the fast moving water.

I added some splash marks at the base of the foreground rock.

I will post this painting once I have finished the birch trees and added in the background.

Gathering Storm - A Work in Progress

It is a milder day 24F (-4.4C) than what we had on the weekend and the snow that started yesterday afternoon continues to fall and is supposed to continue into tomorrow.

I pulled out this painting that I haven't worked on in a long while (see posts on 29 May 2010 and 08 August 2013).

I started by indicating lightly with pencil the distant shoreline first, then added a couple of islands into the lake one further back than the other and added some trees onto both. Lastly, I added an island on the left side of the painting close to the foreground and put in the main pine tree trunks on top of the rocks.

I added another layer of raw sienna into the water just below the sky to darken the reflected colour slightly.

Once that dried I applied a pale wash of alizarin crimson just above it to indicate the rocky shoreline.















Next I made various green mixtures using Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue, raw sienna and aureolin.

I started with the distant shoreline and put in trees above the rocks across to just beyond the rocks of the second island as I knew some of them would be covered by the trees on both of the island.

With a slightly darker mixture of green I put two pine trees onto the smaller island on the left side first.

To finish the trees on the first island I made a dark colour by adding alizarin crimson to some of the darker green and painted in the dead tree.

Going back to the green from the first island I started putting in the largest pine tree when I was interrupted by unexpected company.

I will post this painting at a later date as I complete more work on the various islands.

Field Poppies I - A Work in Progress

Although today is warmer at 8F (-13.3C) the wind chill is making it feel a lot colder at -14F (25.6C) and we are supposed to get both snow and freezing rain later in the day.

I thought I would work on another sketch of poppies today this time a field of them standing tall against a bright morning sky.














For this painting I will use a canvas that was called Background 59 (see post on 18 December 2015) which should work quite well.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have transferred the sketch onto the canvas and started painting in the background grasses and leaves.

Poppies and Fence Post I - A Work in Progress

Happy Valentine's Day! At least today is warmer at -11F (-23.9C) and not very much wind when compared to yesterday.

Since it is not going to be a nice day I thought I would work on sketches of poppies, which are bright and bold flowers and seeing them in bloom in the early part of the summer always cheers me up.

And since I need some new paintings for the upcoming Floral and Still Life show in April what could be more appropriate.

I pulled out some of the yellow based acrylic backgrounds that were made using the remaining paint and decided that Background 73 (see post on 26 January 2016) would work well with this drawing.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have transferred the sketch and started painting the fence post.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Cross Roads - Spring

Today is my daughter's birthday and it is also the coldest day of this winter season with the temperature at -18F (-27.8C) and the wind making it feel like -43F (-41.7C).

Last night as the temperature dropped you could hear the nails in the wood sounding like gunshots as they contracted against the wood due to the cold.

















I wanted to do a sketch of a crossroad, with each of the roads being in a different season and having different kinds of horses. I started with Spring and using riding horses.

I will post this drawing at a later date once I have added more details to the horses and the background.

Morning Fog 1 and 2 - Two Works in Progress

Today I wanted to do a little more work on these two paintings that I had started a few years ago (see post on 12 September 2013).

Using a pale mixture of Antwerp blue and burnt sienna I washed in the first layer of the fog on each of the paintings being careful to leave the sun untouched and set them aside to dry.

Next I added a small amount of cobalt blue to the original mixture.

Then I wet the area of the sky and painted it in, again leaving the sun untouched.

Morning Fog 2

I lifted a small amount of colour from the sky around the sun before I them aside to dry.















Morning Fog 1

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