White Cup #3

Another look at the White Cup. I have painted about 11 different studies of this object and I like this one about the best of the last 10, it is loose and painted quickly.

Tangerine

After taking Carol Marine's workshop this summer in New York state I really understand the need to be able to draw quickly and accurately, something that I cannot yet do. I painted 4 small paintings of this subject before I started the 'final' one, each of the 4 preliminary studies revealed some more subtle aspect of the subject, making the final painting flow more easily. I am going to spend much more time this fall and winter working on my drawing skills.

Red Delicious

A quick sketch at Marina's a few weeks ago

Piggy Bank

This little piggy I painted a while ago with my friend Marina and I never posted it. It was a fun afternoon and we did a couple of versions of this delft ceramic bank that my mom gave me a few years ago.

Grey Day with Poplars

Marina and I drove around to some of our favorite painting spots but could not get inspired, the day was grey with rain coming in. Finally we turned down onto Schoolhouse Road to look for a spot that we had thought we would come back to one day. The sky was now completely overcast except a thin line of sky to the east which was bright yellow/coral. The bright line of the sky and the brilliant poplars which seemed to glow with light from within gave us the inspiration for the paintings. By the time we were finished it had started to rain. Undaunted we sat in the car and drank a cup of hot tea and felt our day most enjoyable and successful.

The Guardians

I am trying to keep my paintings loose, describing large colour areas and focusing on design rather than detail. This is much harder than it sounds. When standing outside in nature your eyes take in a million subtle changes in colour and value and it is so easy to zone in on one small area of the painting and keep working there. I find the discipline required to keep it big and keep it loose usually breaks down as I get more tired at the end of the day.

On the Way to Mattawa

This little sketch was painted on the day Marina and I went on our road trip to Mattawa. A lake lies beside Highway 17, with a small park with picnic tables, where travellers can get out of their cars and gamble about enjoying the beautiful natural world. We met a dog called Mary which I thought was cool.

Between the Showers

On the day this was painted rain showers rolled in one after the other all afternoon. It was a beautiful day between, and I did manage to almost finish this sketch before I got rained on.

The Poplars

After a very intense day yesterday painting at Crooked Slide Falls near Combermere Marina and I painted nearer to home off one of the small gravel roads in Laurentian Valley. We had only a short time to paint and so had to get things down quickly. I think we were both exhausted but because we had not been able to get out to paint lately we were determined to make our best effort. I had to make a few changes, actually I scraped the poplars off and repainted them completely painting lots of blue sky holes, in my studio that evening.

Slough on Forest Lea Road

Between the rain and the abyssmal featureless overcast conditions of the past seven days I managed to get out and paint a couple of times. On the day I paintined this sketch I drove a few miles from my house down Forest Lea Road into the bush and set up Marina's Solteck easel which she has lent to me while she is in Germany, and painted looking north across a slough. The colours are beautiful and so inspiring, I had a wonderful time while painting this piece, does it show?