Rubber Ducky 1 - A Work in Progress

It seems as though I am working on rubber ducks this month so I thought I would continue and do a little more work on this piece that I had started earlier this year (see post on 28 March 2016)  of just
the rubber duck and a towel.













Using a wash of French ultramarine blue, Antwerp blue and burnt sienna I brushed in the background.

While the background was drying I made up various mixtures of blues for the towel using Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue, Cobalt blue and burnt sienna.














Using up to five layers of the various blues I painted the towel until I was happy with the depth of colour and set it aside to dry.

I will post this painting at a later date once I start work on the duck.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Four Seasons - Four Works in Progress

I decided that I wanted to do forest scenes each slightly different showing the four seasons.

The first one I pulled out was called Grey Sky H (see post on 18 July 2013) to be my spring painting.














Spring Forest 3

I drew in a large tree for the foreground and indicated the horizon line where the background trees will be painted.

The next painting was called Blue Sky A (see post on 07 July 2012) which would become my summer painting.















Summer Forest 3

I pulled out this paintings that I had started last year (see post on 18 July 2013), at which time it was called it Blue Sky F.














Autumn Forest 3

I drew in a main tree and a couple of slightly smaller trees to create interest and lightly indicated a few of the smaller background trees.

The last painting was called Grey Sky J (see post on 18 July 2013) and would become my winter painting.














Winter Forest 3

I drew in a large tree for the foreground and put in the horizon line where the background trees will be painted. I may also add a few more closer trees once the snow has been painted.

I will post each of these paintings at a later date once more work on them has been completed.

Daisies I - A Work in Progress

After working on yesterday's painting I thought it may be interesting if I did another as a companion piece with the taller daisies on the opposite side and who knows I may do a third one in the landscape orientation.

Once again I used masking tape as a resist to create the daisies where I wanted the white of the paper to show.

I used various mixtures of Antwerp blue, alizarin crimson, raw sienna, burnt sienna, new gamboge, Cerulean blue and French ultramarine blue for the under paint which was applied wet on dry paper.

I set this painting aside to dry and will post it again at a later date once I start to work on it in the negative.

Daisies - A Work in Progress

This is a painting I started earlier this year in a watercolour class with Emil Varga (see post on 05 March 2014).

The under painting was already completed with the basic growies and grasses and now it was time to add more details by painting in the negative which is a slow and thoughtful process.

I mixed various dark colours using Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, raw sienna, Cobalt blue, Payne's grey and alizarin crimson.

Using the blacks, browns, greens and purples I gradually added the dark grasses and growies and wove them in between and behind the existing grass shapes.

Sometimes this can be discouraging, when you spend a fair amount of time and at first it doesn't seem as though much has been accomplished. But the end result is usually well worth the effort.

I will post this piece at a later date once more work on this painting is completed.

Bath Time - A Work in Progress

Back in March I did some sketches of rubber ducks (see post on 27 and 28 March 2014) I liked the sketch so much that I set up a sea shell with a couple of bars of soap and a sea shell shaped bottle containing bath oil and then added the rubber duck.













I will post this piece at a later date once I have applied some paint onto the drawing.

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

ACEO - Summer 1

With it being almost time to bring the hay into the barn for the horses, I thought I would do a painting of sunlit hay fields.

I brushed in the sky using a mixture of cobalt blue and French ultramarine blue, gradually lightening the colour toward the bottom of the sky.

I added a little new gamboge to the sky colour and brushed in the distant field, then added a little more cobalt blue and some raw sienna to the green mix and put in the closer field.















Once the paint was completely dry I lightly drew in some trees, a barn and a fence line on the distant hill and a couple of trees and then put in a couple of trees on the top of the closer field.

I started by putting the roof on the barn and adding the fence line with a mix of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna and then I lightened the colour with water and painted in all the tree trunks.

Next I mixed various greens using French ultramarine blue, new gamboge, aureolin and raw sienna. Using a sponge I pit the leaves onto the trees.















To finish the painting I used the darker green mix and added some blades of hay blowing in the afternoon breeze.

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 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

Hippocampus

Today I was sorting through an old box of my Mom's stories and photographs that she had collected and kept for many years.

In this box I came across one of my early watercolour paintings that I did with my first set of Grumbacher watercolours. I would have been 10 years old at the time.

I remember doing the painting and thought it was either thrown away or lost when I moved.

Now I realize I must have given it to her as I know it was one of her favourites.

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