Loon Call Lake I-VII

Today we took the canoe and went up to Loon Call Lake which is another lake along Ansruther Lake Road and is within the Kawartha Highlands Park. It is less than a mile (1.6km) before Wolf Lake and we had stopped to take a look at it earlier this year (see post on 21 July 2014) as we were heading home.

It is what is known as a Canadian Shield lake which was formed millions of years ago when the continental ice sheets moved, depressing the land and scooping out thousands of lake basins as it carried away most of the soil leaving the bare rock exposed.

Loon Call Lake is a fairly small, long narrow lake compared to some of the other nearby lakes.

Loon Call Lake I

It is approximately three miles (4.8km) in length with an irregular shoreline which in some places drops off sharply and has a number of islands. The lake reaches maximum a depth of 56' (17m) with the average depth being 16' (4.8m).

With it being an infertile lake it is regularly stocked with splake (a cross between lake and brook trout) which is one of the major fish along with bass (both large and small mouth), sunfish and yellow perch.

The launch site is at the northeast end of the lake and as usual we paddled to the end of the lake where we stopped to have lunch.

Loon Call Lake IV

We were in a small inlet and Ron started fishing and I took out my sketchbook to draw while we let the wind and the current carry us back.

Before we were out of the inlet he caught a sunfish and after I had taken it off the hook and released it, with his next cast he caught a 14" large mouth bass which was released back as well.

As usual I made a number of sketches and took reference photographs and will probably at a later date turn them into paintings.

Loon Call Lake V

There are two paintings that I want do in the not too distant future that are both in almost the same location.














Loon Call Lake II

The first one is of a marker which is in the channel between the shore and one of the larger islands. It is of a solar patio light mounted on a post. I thought it was a wonderful idea and I am sure that when it originally had only a plastic marker many boats hit the rock before they could slow down and maneuver away from it.














Loon Call Lake III

The other is of a chair sitting all alone on the rocky island among the tall pines far from the cottage located on the southern side.














Loon Call Lake VI

It wasn't long before the sun was getting low in the horizon and we were back at the launch site.















Loon Call Lake VII

On our way down Highway 28 and stopped in Burleigh Falls to have supper at the Lovesick Lake Restaurant and Grill before returning home.

Farm House I

Today I was in the mood to draw, so I went through my portfolio which contains a number of sketches that I started on location while out with the KAGS Outdoor Painters' Group and decided to complete this drawing that I started last year (see post on 18 June 2013).

I started on the larger section of the house, making changes to the buildings as I worked on the roof first and removed a section of the roof on the smaller part of the building and had it join to the back part of the building.

Next, I worked on the chimneys. I ran the first one down the front of the house and set the one on the front building into the back part of the roof and set the chimney on the smaller part of the building through the middle section of the roof.














From there I added more details to the roof on each of the buildings and then, added a couple of windows to the smaller section of the house and fixed the size and shape of the windows and the door on the larger part of the house.

Next, I added in the frames onto the windows and put in the details on the door and the steps.

From there I worked on the old tree at the side of the house and added a tire swing to the lower main branch.

Lastly, I put in the horizon line in the background and indicated the grasses around the base of the building and by the edge of the pathway.

While the outline drawing is complete, I am still not entirely happy with it and I will give it some "mantle time" while I decide what other changes are needed.

Moon Glow I

Today I didn't have a lot of time to work on my art and I came across this drawing that I had started a couple of years ago (see post on 05 March 2012).

I put the shadows beneath the gunnel on the inside of the boat, followed by darkening the stern and outside of the boat, being careful to leave the moonlit area of the bow untouched.















This original 3" x 4-1/4" pen and ink drawing when matted and shrink wrapped will be available for $30.00.

I would like to thank new collector Mr. Hiroshi Saito of London, Ontario on his purchase of Sunlit Poppies (see post on 06 June 2014).

Tied Up 3

While driving home along River Road I came across this scene of a boat tied up to a pier waiting to go out on the Otonabee River.

I stopped and did this little drawing of the boat gently bobbing on the water.














I can already see that this drawing at a later date can easily be turned into a painting.

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

Peaceful Morning 1

Today the weatherman says, is the last day we will have temperatures reach 70F (21C) until the spring next year. I can only hope that they will be wrong as usual. But the nice thing about today with the humidity making it feel like 84F (29C) was that we had a fabulous thunderstorm with lots of lightning.

I pulled out a piece of paper that already had some colour on it and decided to draw a lake scene with a few islands.

With the darker colour at the bottom of the paper for the reflected light in the water I drew in the closer island on the right side of the paper.

On the left side I put in a smaller island and the horizon line.

Lac Blanc 1

Today I was painting with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group at St. Matthews Church in Buckhorn, Ontario.

I just couldn't get into painting and since I had brought along a number of photographs from my summers spent in Québec I did this drawing of Lac Blanc, which was walking distance from my aunt's cottage on the shores of Lac Sergent.














I have many fond memories of my summers in Lac-Sergent, which is in a community in the Portneuf Regional County Municipality in Québec where my uncle, François Desrochers was the mayor of Lac-Sergent from 1981-1985.

I may at a later date do more drawings and/or paintings of Lac Blanc, which had a number of charcoal huts near the lake which were moldering away, as well as some of Lac Sergent where we would sometimes go out on the lake in the canoe or on the catamaran.

Boat Sketches

Today went to the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto to see the Canadian International Air Show which is held every year over the Labour Day weekend.

It features the Canadian Forces Snowbirds (431 Air Demonstration Squadron); an internationally known team of serving pilots that perform demonstrations throughout North America flying the easily recognized red and white Canadian built jets, the Canadair CT-114 Tutor.


















We found a nice place on the shores of Lake Ontario to sit and enjoy the show. While we were waiting for the show to begin I sat and sketched some of the boats sailing on the lake and tied up in the nearby harbour.

This original 7-1/2" x 7-1/2" graphite pencil drawing when matted and shrink wrapped will be available for $40.00.

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