Foggy Day - A Work in Progress

With the mild temperatures we have had over the last week, most of the mornings have been fairly foggy and I thought for the watercolour class at KAGS a simple foggy morning would be a good painting.

Using a limited palette of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna for most of the background of this painting and gradually darkening the colour as the closer trees become more defined would work well; and we may not even require a third colour for this painting.

Then entire paper was wet and then a light wash of the grey mix was applied. Then the paper was set aside to dry slightly as more pigment was added to the wash colour.














With the darker paint the distant horizon was put in with a few soft indistinct trees.

Adding a little more of the two colours the next layer of trees were added as well as a little more of the background.

Some of the students wanted to do a lake in the foreground, while others wanted to have a fence line with trees.

At this point I had each student do another background on a smaller piece of paper and in two weeks we will complete one of each.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Cold Day 2 - A Work in Progress

The first of the grackles have arrived at the feeders, which is nice to see and it means that spring will soon arrive.

I didn't have a lot of time to paint but, I wanted to get a little further along on at least one painting so I pulled out this little piece that I had started a few years ago (see post on 27 November 2013).

Using a mixture of French ultramarine blue and cobalt blue, I brushed in the sky leaving some of the white paper showing through for clouds.

I darkened the mixture slightly and put in the ice covered water.

Next I added a little bit of burnt sienna to the blue mixture to make a warm grey and indicated the tree trunks on the distant snow covered hills.

By then my friends arrived to pick me up and we would to go to the art supply stores close to Toronto.

I will post this painting again once it has been completed.

Forest Stream 1 - A Work in Progress

I wanted to paint today but didn't really know what I wanted to work on, so as I looked through the many smaller pieces I had started over the years I decided to work on this one (see post on 13 February 2013).

I thought it would make a nice winter forest scene and indicated the placement of the larger trees and also put in a small stream running through them.

This painting was originally called Grey Sky 1 and I have changed the name to Forest Stream 1.














At the back of my property I have 4 acres (1.6ha) of mixed hardwood consisting mainly of maple, birch and elm which I thought would make in interesting painting.

Working from the back forward I put in the distant tree line with a pale mix of French ultramarine and burnt sienna.

Gradually darkening the mixture slightly I added the first of a slightly closer tree, then the next closer tree and for a change put in the markings on one of the birch trees to get an idea of the values needed for the painting.













I will post this painting as more work on it is completed.

Autumn Forest 4 - A Work in Progress

Today I sat the show at Art on Kent which is called Blast from the Past.

It is a display of some of the artifacts and historical photographs from the collections of the Victoria County Historical Society focusing on the people and places throughout the Kawarthas.

This is the first part segment of a two part collaborative exhibition.

The second part will be exhibited in the fall.

This show was well attended and I was only able to do a small amount of work on this painting which I will post at a later date once it has been completed.

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

Cross Roads - Winter

It is another warm, sunny and beautiful day with the temperature reaching 54F (12.2C).

The crow wouldn't have survived outside on his own. His eyes had sealed shut overnight and after I cleared all the crusting from around his eyes so he could open them and see again he is doing much better.

He is eating well and is a little more active than he was yesterday and I moved him from the box into one of the large dog crates and put a couple of branches across for him so can sleep on a perch.












If he keeps improving I will release him back into the wild once his eyes are clear.

Today I wanted to do the last of my Cross Roads sketches (see posts on 13 and 25 February and 06 March 2016) which is Winter.

I thought it fitting to do a sketch of two sleighs having a race to the cross road.

I will post this sketch at a later date, once it has been completed.

Crow Rescue

Due to the warm weather, the ice and snow melting and the temperature dropping overnight we have a very foggy morning. But we are having above another seasonal temperature day at 51F (10.6C).

Today I saw one of my little hawks has arrived back from the south and will be nesting in the hawk box under the eaves on the house.













I have an injured crow to nurse back to health. I saw him this morning when I was filling the bird feeders. Usually the crows fly off when I appear on the front lawn, but this one stayed in the elm tree.

This afternoon he was eating a little and slowly hobbling around; when he stopped he just stood shivering with cold.

I got a small blanket from the house and walked very slowly toward him and he didn't move, not even when I dropped the blanket over him. There was no struggling, he let me wrap him in the blanket and bring him into the house.














It looks as though he was attached by other birds, most of the feathers are off his head and neck, fortunately there is no damage to his eyes although they are weeping and I have cleaned most of the crust from them.

Once he was warm I moved the box out onto the porch with food and water, but he is proving to be an escape artist and has gotten out a couple of times. But he stays quietly even when I pick him up and carry him back and put him in the box.

We will see what tomorrow brings.

Bunny and Basket 1 - A Work in Progress

It is another warm, although overcast day with the temperature reaching 62F (16.7C). It won't be long before all the ice and snow is gone.

The cow birds have arrived and it won't be long before the grackles make an appearance, just a few more signs that spring is not far away.

Because it won't be long before the pussy willows are out, I decided to do a little more work on this painting that I have been picking away at each month (see posts on 27 May 2014, 06 January and 22 February 2016).

I completed the pussy willows that were already started and will decide what I wish to do with the rest later once more of the painting is finished.

Using various mixtures of raw sienna, burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue I painted the head covering.

Next I worked on the vest with alizarin crimson adding Antwerp blue into the shadows.

I painted the ribbon with cadmium red, cadmium yellow and aureolin and will do the ribbons on the lower sections of the bunny once I have painted the lace.

Lastly, I painted in the head with aureolin and raw sienna. A pale wash of alizarin crimson was put into the cheek area.

A black made from French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson was used to put in the eyes, freckles, whiskers and mouth.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have completed the bunny.