Stormy Sky I - A Work in Progress

Around this area there is a lot of wetland along the Miller Creek system, which gives a natural habitat for a wide variety of wildlife.

Many kinds of birds abound on the Snelgrove Brook at the back part of my property.












I am amazed at the number of ducks, geese and swans that return to nest every year; together with herons, kingfishers and ospreys that can often be seen hunting for food and the various song birds nesting among the cattails.

This painting is of a heron that frequents a section of the Brook on my property. I saw him one day with a storm rolling in from the east.

I will post this painting when I have finished adding the storm clouds into the sky.

Spring on the Farm I

This is one of the local horse farms and this morning they had a mare with a new born foal out in the front field.

I stopped to take a couple of photographs and do this quick sketch.










Perhaps at a later date I will do a watercolour painting from my sketch.

Spring on the Farm I is an original 3" x 4-1/4" matted and shrink wrapped pen and ink drawing available for $30.00.

By the Window - A Work in Progress

Today I was painting with the Outdoor Painters Group and we had a pot luck lunch at Merriday's home.

There was a vase of flowers by the window just off the kitchen and I liked the way the sun touched the vase of flowers.

Since it was fairly late in the day I decided to do a fairly loose painting to capture what I saw there.

I will post this painting at a later date once it is completed.

Old Barn I

I didn't have much time to work on art today so I thought I would like to finish up this little 3" x 6" pen and ink drawing.

Old Barn I is available, matted and shrink wrapped for $30.00.

Poppies and Fence Post - A Work in Progress

While at the Shades of Summer show I spent some time working on drawings of poppies. This is the finished drawing for a new painting of poppies growing at the base of a fence post.

I saw a scene similar to this along Highway 507 toward the end of June and though t it would make a lovely painting.

I will post this painting at a later date after I put in the background washes of sky and greenery.

St Peter's on-the-Rock - A Work in Progress

I was going through some older photographs and came across pictures that I had taken of  'Church on the Rock' a number of years ago when the Buckhorn Artists' Group had a paint out at Helen's and she took us out in the boat for a tour of the lake.

St. Peter's on-the-Rock Anglican Church is on a small island on Stoney Lake in the Kawartha Lakes tourist area of Ontario.

The Church is open from May to September and this charming place of worship is only accessible by boat.

Once I was satisfied with my drawing of the church I transferred it to my watercolour paper. I then masked out the Church first with white painter's tape rather than liquid frisket as it is all pretty much square shapes and I wanted to draw on the tape where the open door and windows would be so I could match up the reflections in the water.

Using French ultramarine blue I washed in the sky and then brushed a slightly darker mixture into the area of water. While the paint was still wet I lifted some of the reflections of the church with a dry brush.

Since the photographs were taken in September the colours on the deciduous trees had started to change. I put them in fairly softly with various mixtures of French ultramarine blue, raw sienna, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson. Using vertical strokes I put their reflections into the water as well.

With a mixture of burnt sienna and a touch of alizarin crimson I painted in the rock reflections and a couple of rocks that were showing above the water. Adding a little French ultramarine blue to the rock mixture I brushed in the window and door reflections.

Mixing up a dark green from French ultramarine blue and raw sienna I placed in the pine tree reflections before the water area could completely dry. With a slightly stronger mixture I indicated some of the pine trees.

I then removed the tape from the church and started a started putting in some of the dark areas like the roof and windows and with a lighter wash started adding the shadows and various details to the building.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have more of it completed.

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

Crossing the Stream I

This is a scene I have often observed in the pasture as the horses cross the stream on their way back to the barn.











It is a good sketch for a future painting. I just have to decide on the medium, the season and the colour of the horse.

This is an original 5" x 9” framed, pen and ink painting available for $165.00.