Butterfly 9 and 10

This morning while I was out doing barn chores I saw that the butterflies are out and flying around, which are something I enjoy watching.

The first one I wanted to do was the Clouded Sulphur Butterfly (Colias philodice).

I often see large groups of them in the late spring through to the middle of autumn grouped around puddles and damp spots on the driveway.

This one I saw in the garden by the bird bath, which was surrounded by tulips and daffodils.

Butterfly 9

I may add more spring flowers to this drawing at a later date.

My second drawing is of a Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) which is my favourite butterfly.















Butterfly 10

As a child when I lived at in Toronto, I used to collect the caterpillars, feed them milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and watch them when they left their chrysalis as butterflies and then released them back into the wild.

ACEO - Autumn Trees 12

Today I am sitting the show at KAGS called Figuratively Speaking and I worked on completing a some of the small paintings that I had started last year (see posts on 05 October 2015).

Unfortunately, I cannot post the sketches of any of the nudes in the exhibit on this blog as there are people who do not know the difference is between pornography and art created with the sole intention of portraying the nude body as art. This is a respected art form which has been around for centuries and can be found in museums and art galleries throughout the world.

If you would like to view the paintings I have in this exhibit or view in other exhibits, as well as paintings, drawings and sketches I have worked on in Life Drawing studios please follow the link to my Life Drawing Portfolio.

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.

Farm Buildings 4 and 5

Today I went out with for a drive and took the dog with me for a change.

She has come to enjoy going with me in the car and once we go out the driveway and onto the road she goes and lies down in the back of the car and watches the world go by.















Farm Buildings 4

I headed north up to Bancroft and along the way I stopped to do a sketch of an old barn with a run in shed attached to the side.

When I turned onto a side road, I took Kyora out for a run along the shoulder and then returned to the car and headed along another side road which would eventually get us back home.















Farm Buildings 5

I found another farm with a large farm house and barns which were almost hidden from sight in the distance.

When we returned home, I let the dog come with me while I did the barn chores before going into the house and making our suppers.

Trees 1-4

Today I thought I would like to do a number of small drawings of trees in various landscapes.

For the first one I thought I would like to have the main tree being a tall pine which I placed to the left side.

Next I put in a couple of smaller pines on the right side and then to complete the drawing I added a small maple to the left side and a birch tree with the pines on the right side.

Lastly, I put in some grasses and growies into the foregound.

Tree 1

For the second one I thought I would like to do another drawing this one with just pine trees.

I started with a tall pine tree on the left side of the paper whose top went out of the drawing.

On the right side I placed my second tallest tree whose top went almost to the edge of the paper.

To either side of the tallest tree I placed a couple of mid sized trees.

On the furthest right side I placed a smaller tree to balance the drawing.

Tree 2

Lastly to the left of the first midsized tree I placed two smaller trees.














Tree 3

For the third sketch I used a mix of coniferous and deciduous trees in various heights.

I left space in the foreground to add grasses and growies as well as a few shadows from the trees going across the snow.














Tree 4

For the last sketch I thought I would like to do mixed trees again and place them as though they were on a fence line dividing a farmer's fields.

White Water I

I would like to finish this drawing that I had been working on earlier this year(see post on 15 October 2015 and 17 February 2016).

Starting with the rocks in the middle I added low lying bushes at the base of the birches.

Next I put in the three birch tree trunks, branches and added a few leaves on one of them.

I put in the rocks on the far side of the river and added the shadows and crevices into them. Below the rocks I put in some water ripples

Lastly, I added in the distant trees.

This original 3" x 5” pen and ink drawing when matted and shrink wrapped will be available for $30.00.

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

Clear Lake III

Today I wanted to work in pen and ink and I chose this drawing that I started quite a while ago (see post on 09 June 2013).

I liked the way the leaves draped down over the rock face, with a couple of them brushing against the water.

The background behind the rock was all in shadow.

The sun touched leaves cast shadows across the pink granite rocks and the pink colour of the granite was reflected into the water.

This original 3-1/4" x 7” pen and ink drawing when matted and shrink wrapped will be available for $30.00.

Shades of Orange

Today the KAGS Outdoor Painters' Group went to the Stillwater on the Lake Bed and Breakfast in Peterborough, Ontario.

It is a beautiful place, with lovely gardens, great views of the Chemong Lake and a peaceful atmosphere.

After spending most of the morning taking reference photographs and doing quick sketches of many things that I wanted to paint at a later time I settled at a large table in a sheltered spot and decided that I would paint the view in front of me of the lake.












With using a half sheet of watercolour paper and knowing how quickly the paint would dry in the warm weather  I was going to make some changes to the scene and keep things fairly simple.

Using large brushes and three colours French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and raw sienna, I changed the afternoon scene into a sunset where the sun has just gone below the horizon but the lovely orange glow remains on the clouds.

This original 15" x 22" watercolour painting when framed will be available for $395.00. SOLD

Thank you for taking the time to view my artwork and I hope you will return often to see the postings.