Lily Pond

The end of summer is coming and the rich lush greens that are so difficult to paint because they are all so close in hue and value are starting to change to yellows, golds, and the occasional red. The grasses in the distance in this sketch have begun to make the transition to fall and stand out against the still green trees.

Beaver Pond on Barron Canyon Road

On Tuesday I drove up Barron Canyon Road and stopped by a beaver pond and did several sketches of the trees and water. There were still a few black flies and deer flies around to contend with. Despite the aggravation of the insects I hung in and had a great day painting.

The Laurentians

A study of a view across a field to the Laurentian Mountains in the background. This was painted a few miles from our house looking north. The photograph of the painting shows the sky darker than the sky in the painting. I'm still working with my polarizing lens and trying to replicate the colour and values on the monitor to match the paintings. Jeff Mahorney has some fascinating links from his blog to sites that explain colour management and the problems that arise when trying to duplicate colour when moving from paint, to camera, to monitor. I'm looking forward to reading what he has to offer in terms of practical advice for art bloggers.

Cardinal Flowers

This is the final painting after several studies. I liked the 6 x 6 piece but I thought the flowers at the top looked squashed so I changed the dimensions of the painting to 6 x 8 to accomodate the tall bottle and the curving flower stem. The background didn't look quite right so it got changed to a more neutral grey, I'm not sure if I like it or not.

The initial painting in a 6 x 6 format

Preliminary Studies

Cup with Tangerines

I haven't been posting much lately as my internet service has been poor. I have lost so many pictures, notes and emails into cyberspace lately that I decided to give it a rest. Yesterday this cup was painted by by Marina and myself at Round Lake. We had a great day painting and finished off the day with wine and pizza when her husband showed up with the goodies! Yay Sergio.

Pear 1 - 4

These small paintings were painted in 10 minutes each in the Carol Marine workshop last weekend. I have since done several of these groups of small paintings in an effort to improve my drawing with the paint brush, to practise being aware of value proportions, and to paint on a ground of the most saturated colour and greying the other areas around the focal area.

Red Delicious

I'm home from the Carol Marine workshop in Greenville, New York. It was an unbelievable experience. The Greenville Arms Inn where the workshop was held was a perfect spot: an original inn built around 1890, converted and made very comfortable for the home of the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops. Our teacher, Carol Marine, exceeded all expectations as a teacher. She is knowledgable, energetic, and generous. She led the group through a number of extremely helpful and enjoyable exercises, which I feel as I continue them at home I will grow much more quickly as an artist. As a person Carol was delightful to be with, totally funny, sweet, and natural. I would encourage anyone who wishes to grow as an artist to take one of her workshops and follow her blog. The study above is an example of one of the lessons on value that we worked on.