ACEO - Shapes 5

It is a hot, 88F (31C) and humid day 95F (35C) and I thought I would paint inside instead of working in the garden.

I decided to make this piece into an abstract.

First, I drew a couple of rectangles using a pencil.

Starting in the upper left corner I painted that square with Antwerp blue.

For the lower left corner I used a mix of Antwerp blue and alizarin crimson to make a rich purple colour.

Next I moved to the upper right corner and painted it alizarin crimson.

Lastly, I painted the bottom right corner with a mixture of Antwerp blue and cadmium yellow.

I would like to thank Ms. Frances Doane of Toronto, Ontario on her purchase of Threatening Skies (see post on 14 November 2014).

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.

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

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

Burleigh Falls 14-16 - Three Works in Progress

The hot and humid weather continues with the temperature being 87F (30.6C) and with the humidity feeling like 98F (36.C).













Burleigh Falls 14

I thought taking a run up to Burleigh Falls would be an enjoyable day outside by the water and doing a few sketches.














Burleigh Falls 15

I worked more on sketches of the rocks and trees with a little of the water showing, rather than having the water as the main part of the sketch.














Burleigh Falls 16

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

Chemong Lake I and II - Two Works in Progress

It is always nice to go out on Chemong Lake as Ron enjoys the fishing with the lake having large and small mouth bass, muskie, walleye, yellow perch, black crappie, bluegill, pumpkinseed and carp.

I enjoy the ever changing seasons and the wide variety of subject matter to photograph, draw and paint and occasionally I will also throw a line into the water and go fishing.

It is a fairly shallow lake reaching a maximum depth of 21' (6.4m) and is about 1 mile (1.61km) wide and 9 miles (14.5km) long making it the largest of the Kawartha Lakes and it is a part if the well-known Trent-Severn Waterway system of locks and canals.

Chemong Lake is connected by narrow waterways to both Upper Buckhorn Lake and Pigeon Lake to make up what is known as the Tri-Lakes.













Chemong Lake I

The J. A. Gifford Causeway between Bridgenorth and Ennismore in Selwyn Township separates the north and south ends of the lake.

Many years ago, before the Causeway was built it was not easy to travel across the 0.7 mile (1.1km) distance across the lake between the two hamlets.

It wasn't until the 1840's that a ferry service provided transportation to shorten the time it took to travel between Bridgenorth and Ennismore. Unfortunately this service was dropped after a few years due to the high cost to the local government to maintain.

Early attempts to construct a bridge ended in failure. Then in 1854 a delegation of residents made the request to county council to build a bridge.

In 1869, a floating bridge was constructed by William Trunnum, which cost $1,000.00 to build. It was finally towed into place and opened on 24 May 1870.












Chemong Lake II

It was known as the world's longest floating bridge due to its almost 1 mile (1km) span.

For obvious reasons the bridge was referred to as the "Bridge of Terror" by the locals due to the middle section of the bridge often being underwater and some of it being carried away when the ice left the lake during the spring thaw.

In total there were three floating bridges built before the current Causeway (named after James Alfred Gifford, a long time Reeve of Ennismore and Warden of Peterborough County), was opened on 23 June 1949.

It was rebuilt in the early 1960’s and they are currently doing more maintenance to the structure.

I will post each of these sketches at a later date once I have completed the graphite pencil drawing or applied the ink.

Mares and Foals I-VI - Six Works in Progress

It is another hot 84F (28.9C) and humid 94F (34.4C) day with rain and thunderstorms being a possibility in the late afternoon or evening.

Today I was driving by one of the horse farms at the bottom end of Peterborough and stopped to work on some sketches of the mares and foals in the field.

The ages of the foals varied from less than a month old to  being about three months old; with the younger ones sticking close to their mother's sides.

Mare and Foal II

Sometimes I miss having a foal in the barn and watching them grow and develop their own unique personalities.

Then I think about the flip side of the coin and even though it is worth while there is a lot of time and work that needs to be put into them on a daily basis to teach them good manners and lay down a solid foundation for their future training.

Unfortunately, at this moment I do not have the time to devote to raising a foal.

Mare and Foal V

But there are many farms in the area, like this one where I can come and watch the foals and smile at some of their antics out in the pasture.














Mare and Foal I

I also took reference photographs and some of these sketches I may develop into portraits of the mares and foals.














Mare and Foal III

While I may also decide to combine some of these sketches together for a painting of mares and foals in a pasture.














Mare and Foal IV

Only time will tell what the end result will be of these sketches, but the most important thing is that I was able to spend an enjoyable afternoon outside with the mares and foals.














Mare and Foal VI

As I develop each of these sketches into outline drawings I will post them at a later date.

Four Seasons - Four Works in Progress

It is a bright, sunny day and the temperature was 80F (26.7C) and the humidity has returned making it feel like 85F (29.4C).

I thought today would be a good day to work on the Four Season paintings I had started last year (see posts on 07 July 2012, 18 July 2013 and 14 July 2014).














Spring Forest 3

I put in the tree trunks on the horizon line using French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna.

Next using a pale mixture of Antwerp blue and raw sienna, I painted in the leaves on the background trees and washed in the grass.

Then adding a small amount of French ultramarine blue to the green I put in the low bushes and shrubs at the base of the distant trees and the grasses at the bottom of the main tree and then set the painting aside to dry.














Summer Forest 3

Using various mixtures of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna, I painted in the tree trunks.

I kept the more detailed darker trees in the foreground and made them less detailed and paler as they went further back.

I set it aside to dry and started on the next painting.














Autumn Forest 3

Using raw sienna I put in the far background; then gradually adding burnt sienna did the under the paint for the middle and foreground.

With French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna going from lighter coloured indistinct tree trunks in the background to darker and more defined trees as they appear closer into the middle and foreground. 

For the grasses and growies in the middle and foreground I used various mixtures of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, raw sienna and alizarin crimson.













Winter Forest 3

Once again using French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I painted the background and middle area trees.

Next I used a pale mix of raw sienna and burnt sienna for some of the leaves that insist on hanging onto the branches through the winter.

With cobalt blue I painted in the shadows cast by the trees and set the painting aside to dry.

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

Bath Time - A Work in Progress

It is 76F (24.4C) on a beautiful, sunny day with a nice breeze helping to keep the humidity away.

I wanted to work on paintings that I had already started and try to get some of the completed.

I decided on this one that I have been working on since last year (see posts on 11 and 16 July and 28 December 2014, 21 January, 08 February and 24 May 2015).

Using mixes of raw sienna and burnt sienna I went over the rubber duck to add a little more shape.












With various mixtures of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I completed the towel and using a dark mix of the same colours I added a little more definition to the eyes.

I painted the first of the three bars of soap with a green made from raw sienna, Antwerp blue and French ultramarine blue.

Next I started on the second bar of soap which is inside the seashell soap dish using mixtures of cobalt blue, French ultramarine blue and a touch of burnt sienna.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have completed the remaining bars of soap and started to work on the seashells.

Upper Buckhorn Lake - A Work in Progress

Today I was in Buckhorn and visited with my friend Irene who owns property on Upper Buckhorn Lake.

There are a number of trees on the shoreline that act like a frame as you look out over the lake from her deck.

I did this little sketch while we had an enjoyable time and chatted over a cup of tea and enjoyed the day and the view.

This sketch lends itself to be developed into a watercolour or an acrylic painting and quite possibly I will do one in each medium.

I will post the paintings at a later date as they are completed.