Blue Skies 1 and Grey Skies 1 - Two Works in Progress

We started the day with a foggy morning which gradually cleared to give us a beautiful blue sky.

But that was not to last, by the afternoon it changed to a grey sky, which progressed into a thunderstorm.

I thought I would paint the changing skies so I started with the blue sky.

I wet the paper and dropped Antwerp blue into the top of the sky and lightened with water toward the bottom.

Blue Skies 1

I then set this one aside to dry.

For the second painting which was the grey sky before the rain started falling.

I wet the paper and using a mix of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I brushed in the cloudy sky leaving some areas of white showing.

I wanted to put a bird in the sky, but I put it in when the paper was too wet and it bled.

Grey Skies 1

I will post both of these paintings at a later date once I decide which scene at the farm I want to put in the foreground.

Countryside Art Group Blog - Show Updates

On the first of each month I will update the Countryside Art Group's blog with a listing of shows where the various artists in the Group are exhibiting their work.

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

Calm Water 1 - A Work in Progress

Today I was painting with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group, and one of our members Emil Varga did a demonstration on how created coniferous trees using a sponge.

First masking tape was put across the horizon line and then the sky was brushed in using layers of French ultramarine blue and cobalt blue.

Once the sky was dry the background trees were brushed in using various greens made from the blues with raw sienna and allowed to dry while the tops of the rocks were lightly drawn with a pencil.

Using a sponge and dark green watercolour paint made from various mixtures of French ultramarine blue, Antwerp blue and cobalt blue together with raw sienna, burnt sienna and new gamboge.















While the paint was still wet, cadmium red, cadmium yellow and a mix of both colours were splattered and dropped into some areas on the green trees.

Next the rocks were painted in using various mixtures of alizarin crimson, burnt sienna and a little cobalt blue.

Once the rocks were dry the masking tape was removed and the reflections of the rocks were drawn in and then painted.

I will post this painting at a later date as more work on it has been completed.

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

Abandoned Farm - A Work in Progress

Today I am gallery sitting at A Place for the Arts, in Bancroft, Ontario.

After doing everything that needed to be completed to open the Gallery I thought I would work on this painting that I recently came across while going through an old box of paintings I found in the attic (see post on 10 October 2013).

I started by adding some trees into the background and worked my way forward by adding a few closer trees.












Next I began working on the farmhouse adding  shadows around the windows, door and under the eaves.

I was just starting to do some work on the barn when a number of people came into the gallery and the rest of the day continued to be busy.

I will post this painting at a later day once more work on it has been completed.

ACEO - Sunset Lake 1

I came across this painting that I had started a number of years ago (see posts on 27 April 2015 and 16 March 2017) and wanted to complete it before I went out to meet with friends for a late lunch.

I mixed a dark grey of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna and finished painting the pine trees on the island and added a couple of dead tree trunks between the live trees and added some grasses and growies at their base.















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. Fabriano 100% cotton, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

Rock Shadows - A Work in Progress

Today I am painting with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group.

I thought I would get a little more work done on this piece that I started a number of years ago (see posts on 30 January 2011, 12 March 13 2016 and 14 December 2016).

I started by making a pale green of the background colour using Antwerp blue and raw sienna and put it on the shadowed side of the birch tree trunks.

















Using mixtures of burnt sienna and raw sienna I indicated some of the larger areas of dark markings on the tree trunks.

With a dark of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson I started putting the dark lines onto the bark on the trunk and branches.

I will post this painting at a later date once the birch trees have been completed.

Hanging Baskets

Today is Mother's Day and I would like to wish everyone a very happy day.















When I let Kyora out this morning I found on the front porch my first Mother's Day gift. It was a flat of Marigolds.















Ron has watched while I fought with the many weeds that have taken over my rock garden and how long it takes me to remove them from just a small section of ground.















When I returned from grocery shopping I was greeted by four hanging baskets along the side of the house.















There was a fuchsia, which is one of my favourite plants and the other three were petunias, two were of mixed colours; pink, purple and red and the last one was a rich burgundy.















The nice thing about these flowers is that they attract hummingbirds throughout the summer.















Around suppertime Christine arrived bring Chinese food for supper, which was wonderful as I really didn't feel like going out to eat.















The other thing she brought for me was a beautiful hanging basket of very dark, almost black  pansies.















I moved the fuchsia to the hook by the maple tree at the front of the house and hung her basket on the hook by the kitchen window where I can see it every time I look out the window.