Construction Safety Helmet

Today I wanted to finish the third outline sketch from the Still Life class at KAGS from last week (see posts on 02 and 05 November 2018).

I thought it was suitable that the construction safety helmet was supported by a brick in this display of hats.

I also liked the fact that the brick was not one of the run of the mill flat red bricks, but had core holes called keys and on the long sides of narrow edge had a number of indents.

This brick was made for strength, quality, weight reduction and cost reduction.

I may go in at a later date and do more work on the brick and add shadows and highlights onto the helmet.

Fire

Today has a high of 32F (0C), with the wind making it feel like 27F (-3C) and we are going to get at least 2" (5cm) of the heavy, wet packing snow.

While it does make everything look pretty and it is great for making snowmen and snow forts, it does make shovelling the walkway hard work.















Needless to say we are going to enjoy a nice fire in the fireplace tonight, the first one of the season.

It is probably one of the things I enjoy most, as the cold weather sets in until it disappears in the spring next year.

Copper I

Today I had to go into KAGS to open the studio for the still life class. The theme was metals and we had two wonderful displays.

Carol and I were the first to arrive and we set up a large display featuring items that were made of brass, copper or silver on the large table in the centre of the room.

The rest of the group arrived later and what they brought in was set up on a smaller table which featured things made of either silver or brass.

I decided I would do a separate drawing featuring each of the different kinds of metal. I chose copper as the first metal and used a pitcher, a tall vase and a kettle from the display.















I liked the shape of the pitcher and started by placing it on the left side of the drawing first. This was followed by my putting the tall copper vase slightly behind and to the right of the pitcher.

On the right side of the drawing I put in the copper kettle which was a heavy enough piece that would balance the height of the two pieces on the left side.

Next I added the draping and some of the folds of the cloth beneath the kettle and the other copper pieces.

I will post the one in brass and the one using silver at a later date.

ACEO - Winter Creek 2

Today I wanted to complete this little painting that I started a couple of years ago (see posts on 15 September 2016, 17 January and 11 July 2017).

With a pale mixture of French ultramarine blue and cobalt blue I brushed in some shadows on the snow covered fields.

I darkened the mixture and added some ripples into the water on the creek.

Next I added burnt sienna to the darker blue colour and put in the tree branches and dark spots onto the birch tree on the left side of the painting.















Using various shades of green made from French ultramarine blue, raw sienna and new gamboge I painted in the various clumps of trees growing in the fields.

Lastly I added the various grasses and growies throughout the painting using mixtures of burnt sienna, raw sienna, new gamboge and aureolin.

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.

Three Hats

On Thursday last week I was at the Still Life class at KAGS where I worked on three drawings of some of the various hats in the display (see post on 02 November 2018).

I finished this line drawing today from the class. It is of three different hats, a broad brimmed lady's straw hat with a ribbon, a white boater and a cowboy hat.

The three of them made a nice display, with the Lady's hat resting at the top of a cylinder on top of a cloth covered box in the centre.














With the boater hat leaning against the box on the left side and the cowboy hat as it leaned against the box on the right side.

I enjoyed placing the folds of the cloth, as it draped down the box and onto the table creating interesting patterns.

I am not sure if I will go back into this drawing at a later date and add in some shading, or leave it as an outline sketch.

Buckhorn Artists' Group Blog - Show Updates

I have updated the Buckhorn Artists' Group blog with a listing of shows some of the various artists in the Group are exhibiting their work in during the month of November.

If you get a chance come out and visit them at one or all of the shows.

REPTILIA

Today I drove down to Whitby to pick Ron up at work and bring him back, so he could leave his truck in the yard instead of bringing it home.

After having breakfast, we ran a few errands in the area getting things that Ron needed for fixing things at the house, the barn and various machines and vehicles.















While we were at our last stop we saw a sign for REPTILIA located at 1400 Victoria St. E. in Whitby, Ontario, which is Canada's largest Reptile Zoo and Education Facility.

So we decided to stop and see what the facility was like and to view the animals.

It was wonderful to enter the bright, open and very clean, building.

We were surprised that Reptilia is open every day (except Christmas Day) from 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p. m. with the exception of holidays where they are open from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p. m.

The staff was friendly, informative and outgoing.

They let us know the times for the next public feeding of the reptiles and the time of the next live show featuring three of the animals.

We started going through the Zoo which features over 250 reptiles, amphibians, a few arachnids and a Grey Parrot in its 15,000 square feet (1,394 square metres) of exhibits.
















Green Iguana (Iguana iguana)

It was not long before they made an announcement that they would have a demonstration of feeding a Red Spitting Cobra and members of the staff showed us where to go to view the Red Spitting Cobra being fed.

It is amazing the speed at which the cobra took the bait. If you blinked you would have missed the strike and how quickly it swallowed its prey.















Red Spitting Cobra (Naja pallida)

We continued walking through the wide corridors, stopping at each display; in some cases the animals were easy to find, whether they were moving around in their habitat, curled up by a rock, or draped over a branch relaxing.

Others you had to try and find them in among the leaves, in the water or behind a rock and in one instance, one of the snakes had buried itself the mulch at the bottom of its home with only the head peeking out as though laying in wait for prey.















Monitor Lizard

A while later there was a live show and with one of the zookeepers of three of the animals in the zoo; in this case a Pakistani Leopard Gecko, followed by an Alligator Snapping Turtle and lastly, a Caiman.

The zookeeper give information about each of the three animals, asked the audience questions about their knowledge of the animals and answered all questions asked by the crowd.

Each animal was brought through the audience and everyone was given the opportunity to touch the animals if we wished. I of course did and Ron declined.

From there we continued going through the zoo, finding more interesting animals at each display. My only disappointment was that the Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum) stayed hidden.

Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys temminckii)

This just means that I will have to go back again and perhaps next time he will be willing to come out of his cave and get his photograph taken.

Once we had gone through and looked at each display, we entered into a children's play area, complete with mazes, climbers, slides, toys and many other things to keep them occupied. Including the big kids (I almost didn't make it out of the maze).















Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)

As we were heading out we noticed that there were two birthday parties going on in different rooms each of which included a live animal show, a visit from REPTILIA's mascot Sir Chompsalot.

Our last stop was at their Gift Shop/Store where they sell supplies for reptiles and occasionally have a few ready to be adopted. I picked up a t-shirt to add to my collection of places I have visited.















Blanding Turtle (Emys blandingii or Emydoidea blandingii) is listed as an endangered species on the IUCN Red List.