October Paddle and Paint

Debbie and I paddled and portaged in to Byers Lake in Algonquin Park last Tuesday and back out on Saturday.  It was rainy, wet and cool the whole week but we had a fantastic time anyway.  Just the two of us with the whole lake to ourselves for most of the week.  There is a 1470 meter portage with lots of moose muck followed by a 660 meter portage with a big hill to get in to the lake so anyone we did see was looking for solitude so it was very peaceful. This is an unretouched photo taken from our campsite,

My plan was to spend the three days on the campsite learning how to paint with acrylics.  It was rainy wet and cool so all I managed was three paintings.  That wasn't enough to get very good with them but it was enough to learn that I will enjoy taking them on future canoe trips.  All paintings are 8" X 10" acrylic on gessoed watercolour paper and all were painted while sitting on our campsite.



This is my first ever acrylic painting.  It isn't a great one and I struggled to understand just how to use the medium but for a first attempt I was exhilarated.  I forgot to pack a rigger so my smallest brush was a #4 flat which made painting branches a chore.  I tried sticks and pine needles but nothing seemed to work.  With oils I would have just scratched them out.



This is the second painting and the worst of the three.  I got too cocky and totally blew it but a lot was learned.  Mostly I learned not to forget a rigger.




This is my third painting and I am excited about it.  It was fun to paint and it turned out pretty well.  I had the background shore too warm and bright so the painting had no depth.  I loved that with acrylics, as with watercolour, I could put a thin wash over the area to push it back.


The second best part of it all was that I could throw the finished paintings in a bag and not worry about them getting ruined on the trip out.  The absolute best part was that Debbie and I have started paddling in October again.