Bow Lake Beauty (oil on panel, 9"x12")

I set up reminders for all the FCA jury deadlines earlier this year. Last week my phone began to remind me daily of the impending cut-off for the Small, Smaller, and Smallest exhibit (works up to 164 square inches). Those reminders were beginning to get on my nerves :-).

On Thursday I decided to take off my hand brace and see how it withstood a painting session. I limited myself to short sessions and long breaks with ice and heat for my hand. Habits gather rust. Planning a painting is much easier when you're doing it regularly. Finding a subject was the biggest challenge. I have a huge collection of reference photos but nothing new felt right. I selected these trees along Bow Lake because I've painted this view before (Here). Having the mood and plan in my head was half the battle. This ensured I didn't spend a bunch of my time planning...I could just dive in and paint.

My hand cooperated reasonably well. It's a bit shaky and small, repetitive movements are a challenge. But, we made it through and I'm pretty happy with the result. Whether Bow Lake Beauty is accepted into the show or not, I really enjoyed painting again! Have a great weekend!

 

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Sand Harbor watercolour sketch

We visited Sand Harbor State Park on the Nevada (east) side of Lake Tahoe yesterday afternoon and I did this little watercolour sitting on a rock looking out onto a gorgeous beach. Ron spent his time wandering the pathways with the camera. It was a very quiet and relaxing time together. Ahhhhh, vacation!

 

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Misty Matsushima (oil, 10"x10")

Today I spent half an hour puttering on Misty Matsushima again. In addition to adjusting the values in the island forms, I painted the lightest water and sky areas. Since the lightest values are very thin at this point, I may still go back in with thicker paint once this layer is dry. For a few days I will think it over.

Cheers!

 

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Rocky Tak Coast (oil, 10"x10")

Here's the second instalment of Rocky Tak Coast (started on January 15). Today I added the water and I think I like it so far.

 

Here's where it was this morning when I began painting...

I'm off to paint some more!!! Cheers!

 

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Rocky Tak Coast start (oil, 8"x8")

I based this painting on a photo I took near Shichigama, Miyagi prefecture in Japan in November 2011. This is a rugged coast very close to the epicentre of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the northern coastal region of Honshu. We were there about six months after the tsunami - some of the area had yet to be cleared, and to this day has not been re-built significantly. Debris continues to wash up on beaches, in Japan, and elsewhere in the Pacific.

For those interested in my process (which I SO enjoy), heres just a bit of background.

This is the photo reference I am using.

I started this painting in acrylic and blocked in the cool and warm, light and dark areas. Here's what it looked like after the initial block in of very wet acrylic paint on this absorbent mat board. Several days ago, I covered this mat board with several layers of acrylic medium and Golden's GAC 100 to seal it well. I've painted on the bottom left half only. I'm going to let this dry before I paint the water. So far I like it! Cheers!

 

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Bow Lake Sentinels (oil, 9"x12")

I loved my painting time yesterday and today and I can't wait to do more. I've missed mucking about in my paint. This was fun, most of the marks made today were done with palette knives. That's so much fun - it makes such surprising ( and sometimes alarming) marks. It requires wholesale scraping off at times, it's MESSY! If you wait too long, it's harder, sometimes impossible, to scrape down and rework. Sounds somewhat like life doesn't it? However, since oil paint takes quite a long time to dry to the touch, never lose hope :-). I'm not sure if this one is done but I'll let it dry for several days before I mess with it further.

Cheers!

 

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Getting ready for another show…

I returned home from an awesome trip to Cuba on Monday.  I made some quick adjustments to “The Ride” and “Beach Buds” yesterday and included them in my jury submission for the FCA’s Absolutely Art show May 12.  I felt the skin tones were too light and cool in my first postings [links above].  I like them better now.  What do you think?

The Ride [oil, 9”x12”]

Summer routines are wonderful to look back at and forward to…  One of the great things about spending time at Moose Lake Gospel Camp is the waterfront activities.  The kids love ALL of it but having a generous boat owner willing to pull them on the tube is a highlight.  In this painting I’ve tried to capture the joy of the ride. 

Cheers!

Tokyo Beach Buds [oil, 9”x12”]

The two little people on the left are my grandkids, Kalista (6), and Kai (3).  The gal on the right is a new friend the kids made on Decks Beach near Tokyo Teleport.  This is an amazing area in Tokyo Bay…  man made islands with fun things for families to do and connections via ferries, boats and trains.  We had so much fun.  Cheers!

Maui Big [oil, (8”x10”]

I’ve reworked this painting recently… After my October 15th post, I realized that I messed on up on the size of the people and therefore the beach wasn’t reading “BIG” at all. I think I missed the value on the water and the wet sand on the first go too.  I think I like it better now…  I wish I was there! Have a great weekend!

The Gloaming at Sheep River Falls [oil, 24”x24”]

I’ve been preparing for the FCA Spring show and the CCPS juried show, which are both coming up on March 10 here in Calgary.  I will have 4 paintings in the CCPS show at Heritage Park and, hopefully, a few at the FCA “All Things Spring” show in Edgemont .  More to come on this later. 

Yesterday I did some more work on this painting and it’s off to the FCA jury now.  I’m getting the feeling that I was looking for in this painting now; the sense of late light across the foothills behind just hitting the tips of the trees and the bright sky still reflecting lightly on the river and rocks.  This spring day was beautiful!  Enjoy!

The Gloaming at Sheep River Falls WIP [oil, 24”x24”]

I’ve been working on this painting for the past couple of days.  I began it just like the last two and I think this subject is perfect for that method because of it’s distinct areas of lights and darks.  Subjects with lots of patterns of darks and lights would be much more difficult to pull off. 

I find it very useful to post my paintings as work in progress…  it forces me to do some of the critical thinking that may have gone by the wayside as I listen to music and push paint around.  In this case I think the larger shapes are holding together alright.  But, I’m struggling mightily with the trees that are overlapping on the left – one is on the foreground bank and the other is across the falls and below.  I’m pretty sure the far tree is going to be cut down tomorrow…  I’m mulling it’s fate over this evening :)

Cheers!

Rock Isle Lake Thaw [oil, 16”x20”]

 This is the second painting done using a method demonstrated by Rick Berg last at my CCPS meeting.  The steps differ from the usual way I paint in oils in several respects.  For those that are interested in those steps, here they are in short:

This is a photo of Rock Isle Lake on Sunshine Meadows.  It’s gorgeous!  This was an early June day and we had 3 seasons in 5 hours – fall, winter, and spring.  I have another photo from a slightly lower and wider angle that I photoshopped [adjust, threshold] to convert to simple black and white shapes.  I had a board previously painted red and I sketched these large shapes onto it, first with pencil and then outlined with a black Sharpie. 

I then painted these shapes with black acrylic gesso.  Once that was dry I glazed the entire surface with acrylic Transparent Red Iron Oxide [Golden’s].   Then I got out my oil paints and worked in the lighter colors for sky, water, and the highlighted rock shapes.   I left the greens and finishing the rocks until the last stage.  At this point I found I was painting as I normally do…  but I got a bit stuck on the reflections.  I found a YouTube video that helped quite a bit.  I’m pretty happy with how this one turned out and I think I’m finally beginning to paint with a particular style of my own.  It’s the largest oil painting I’ve done.  Once this is dry I may go back into it and up the contrast in the sky just a bit.  Enjoy!

Sunshine Waterfall [oil, 12”x12”]

It’s a beautiful day here in Calgary, but I didn’t feel up to the preparation and carting that painting on location requires.  I opted to paint indoors and went just a little bit larger canvas than I use outside.  It was fun to have the space to use slightly larger brushes.

I used a photo reference in black and white taken at the Sunshine Meadows paint-out 3 years ago.  It was miserable up on the meadow that June day – we had all kinds of active weather including sleet, tiny hail bits, rain, and lots of wind.  When I’d had enough of that and my fingers were too stiff to paint, I gathered my gear and retreated to the cafeteria to visit with my painting buddies.  This little waterfall is immediately behind the cafeteria/lift building and we took lots of photos of it once we were warmed up.  I changed the lighting to make it more dramatic and painted it on a red ground which gives this cold subject a warmer feel.  Cheers!

Closing In [oil, 8”x6”]

A storm is just rolling into the picture and obscuring most of the sun.  There’s a dark heaviness in the air but the sun is so valiantly shining through. 

I painted for the first part of this with a palette knife…  but I find the paint goes on so thickly and unevenly.  I think it could be a fun way to paint but I should get a lesson in how to do it right first :)  After a while I grabbed my brushes and finished up in my comfort zone. 

Shout out to my art blogging friends – would love to have some tips on how to photograph thickly painted surfaces like this.  It’s nigh on to impossible to get the color without the glare from the peaks!  Please message me if you have ideas…  thanks!

Elbow Elbow [oil, 8”x10”]

I rebelled against my indoor, moving in activities Thursday and went painting with some friends.  We intended to paint Elbow Falls but the rangers had closed the park up while they assess bear activity.  According to some other hikers, the closure due to the bears has been going on since last Saturday.  So, we stopped just a bit earlier at Allen Bill Pond and took up places along the Elbow River.  I decided to paint a beautiful spot just a bit up the path where I could seen the elbow of the Elbow. 

It was great to get outside again!  Plein air painting is so much fun and it’s multiplied when shared with friends.  It was nice to see Sharon Williams, Ingrid Christensen, Jan Chalupnicek, and Linda Wilder again.  Check out their blogs/websites for some really great art.

Cheers! 

Elbow River Jam [oil, 10”x8”]

I spent a few minutes finishing up this one today…  it’s all done now but, as usual, I reserve the right to change my mind tomorrow ;-).  I feel like I captured the peaceful, yet uncontrollable, essence of the scene and I even like my foreground rocks! That’s a first as I usually struggle mightily with them.  It helps to squint down and not think of rocks at all.  There are lots of colors in those Elbow River rocks!

Lloyd Leaner [oil, 10”x8”]

There are so many scenes available to paint at Lloyd Park [SW of Calgary].  None are quite as tempting as this gnarly spruce tree which imposes itself in the foreground of many views.  It’s an interesting contrast to all the horizontals in the rest of the land/lakescape.  I struggled with the shapes in the background and although this was painted 90% on site last Saturday, I puttered a bit with it at home as well.  I can see that it’s important not to overdo the studio putzing…  the freshness needs to be retained.  Looking forward to more plein air this weekend at Leighton Centre!  Have a great day!

Little Falls at Big Hill Springs [oil, 6”x8”]

This little painting was also done at Big Hill Springs Provincial Park yesterday.  After a morning of chatting with passersby at the main falls, I took a rest break and then set up in a more secluded spot.  This little scene was so peaceful and calm.  Relative to some of the views it was quite boring.  However, sometimes “boring” is just restful… except we’ve lost our capacity to rest!  The sound of the waterfall was peaceful in the morning so I didn’t want to go too far away from it.  Consequently, I stood with a smaller waterfall spraying just a bit onto my left foot when I painted this scene.  Refreshing indeed - plein air painting was made for such a day a this! 

C’mon In! [12”x9”, acrylic on birch panel]

Vicky loves the water… I used a photo taken July 2009 as the basis for this painting.  In that photo, her left arm was waving around like a cowboy’s so I had to do some adlibbing and decided I didn’t need to do much, just suggest that her arm is behind her.  I think it’s fairly convincing.  I really, really struggled with her facial features, particularly her mouth.  I found myself smiling while doing this painting…  the expression on her face is so cute and she’s a bold little gal.  What fun!

For those of you that paint, I thought I would share a few “in process” photos.  The support is a birch panel [1/4” prepared with GAC100 isolation coat].  You can see the warmth of the natural birch glowing through the painting and it pulls the whole thing together with a “warm day” look.

1.  Drawing and highlights…  Left photo below: I increased the contrast on my photo reference and collaged over her left arm as a test.  Right photo below:  After sketching her features on the panel, I painted the lights in her features and reflection with titanium white. 

   

2.  After glazing some hair [quin gold] and skin tones [yellow/red] as a base, I struggled to find the right colors for her facial shadows. The reflections from the water looked to be blue.  Blue, yellow, and red…  all side by side.  At times she looked like she’d been given a serious beating – bruised!  I persisted with what I saw rather than what I think her skin color should be.  Difficult and patchy!

Again, I found the acrylic paint [both fluid and heavy body Golden] dried very, very quickly.  That left brush strokes and bit’s of paint raised.  In this shot I was still struggling with the shape her mouth and just that one little issue and she looked like…  a blonde Rachel [a cousin].

3.  I’ve darkened the water, puttered a bit with her mouth/chin shape,and darkened highlights in her hair.  I’m happier with her facial expression now.  I mixed up a very light skin tone [zinc white, yellow, and red] with glazing fluid.  I glazed all of her skin with this mixture.  The glazing fluid extends drying time, thus giving me more time to change the color up a bit and time for the brush strokes to flatten out.  I think it worked well to unify all her skin tones!   

Onward to the next painting…  Cheers!