My New Friends

Okay the jury isn't quite in but acrylic paints may become my new best friends.  I am still struggling and there is a lot more to learn than with oils.  Oil paint was more consistent.  On really hot days it softened up and on really cold days it stiffened up but not annoyingly.  Acrylic paint on the other hand is very humidity sensitive.  Some days it doesn't dry at all and I can blend as with oils and on others it seems to dry before I get it to my panel.  I can spritz water and/or retarder but the question is how much on any given day.

These three paintings were all painted with acrylic paint on three different days.  The paintings don't excite me but my progress does.  Once I learn to work with their idiosyncrasies I think I may love them.  They allow me to work back to front instead of dark to light or light to dark and that has many advantages.

 The first painting was painted at Cedar Haven farm.  An inspiring location that is very artist friendly.  The clouds aren't perfect but maybe my best so far.  The other two were painted at the farm of a friend.  I told Deb that I could paint on her property once a week for a year and I would still want to come back which reminds me that I do need to get back up to visit my friends at LongLane Bed and Breakfast again.  There are still lots of paintings to be done there too.

Painting Darkness

I have only ever attempted a nocturne once before and I failed miserably so I was both excited and nervous to be standing on top of the escarpment watching the sunlight fading and city lights slowly blinking on.

When painting outside, at night, we try to limit the time spent looking at our dimly lit board and palette so that we can maintain our night vision.  This also means that when we look at our painting with a flashlight our pupils are wide open and the painting looks nice and bright.  When I actually saw this painting in daylight I was surprised to see how dark it was.  All in all it was an amazing experience and I am very excited about the result.

Onward and outward.

This is Fun

I have been struggling.  I was fighting with oils so I switched back to my trusty watercolours and struggled even more.  I want to develop some skill with acrylics so that I can use them on canoe trips and when travelling so I decided to play with them for a while.  In the past I used them thick out of the tube just as I would oils and that didn't work very well for me.  I couldn't deal with how fast they dried. Monday I misted my palette with water and a little retarder and voila.  I had a blast.  The paint stayed wet long enough to use my oil painting skills and yet dried fast enough that I could paint over sections that I didn't like.  Did I just find my medium?  Maybe.


Painting is fun again.

This was painted on a very grey day at the end of Ferrie Street in Hamilton.  It was cool and very damp.  It had rained all morning and the solid grey sky started to break up into rolling cloud masses just as we started to paint.



Sunday I will be painting Coote's Paradise from the "High Level Bridge" as part of the "Day on the Bridge" festivities.  There will be beer and wine tents, food trucks, live music and one of the best views anywhere.  It should be the perfect storm for me.  I can't wait now.

Re-inspired

I have been struggling lately and have been very unhappy with everything that I have been doing.  Debbie and I went to a "Lunch at Allen's" concert.  The group is made up of four singer/songwriter Icons in the Canadian music industry and they played some of their oldies and played them with a wonderful intensity. I was inspired to go back to my roots.  I pulled out my watercolours and headed to Courtcliff Park on a gloriously sunny and warm day.

This scene is normally a meandering creek but with the record rainfalls that we have been having it was a lake.  This big old willow is reminiscent of a painting that I did some time ago both in oils and watercolours so I was in my comfort zone and having fun.  It is a little overworked here and there but all in all I am very happy with it.

It Feels Good

I am not doing my best work but it feels so good to be able to make some time to paint again.

This first painting is an 11" X 14" oil and was done on a return trip to the Rail Trail in Ancaster.  It was a dismal grey sort of day where nothing much was inspiring until I saw the light reflecting on the very wet and muddy path.  I decided, given the dreariness, that I would try a Paynes Grey underpainting without wiping the lights off.  Never again.   It was however good for the soul to be out painting again and I am happy with much of this.



This second painting is a watercolour done in the sketch group at the AGB. It isn't perfectly drawn but it was a blast to do and I am for the most part very happy with it.  It was Dave's first time as a model and we will definitely have him back.  I am discovering how much I  have forgotten about watercolour portraits but it is so much fun to be doing them again.

Meet Bluesy Wayne

Today started off well.  Our sketch group model was a Burlington blues guitarist named Wayne.  He sat and played absolutely perfect blues while we sketched him.  It was difficult tapping my foot, dancing and painting at the same time but he really was amazing and a pleasure to paint.  I couldn't strive for a perfect likeness because of all the movement but it was a fantastic morning all the same.



And then tonight I heard that Stuart McLean died.  Debbie and I have been listening to his stories for years and have seen him live a few times.  Rest in Peace Stuart.  We will miss you.

How Long Has It Been?

Wow!  It has been almost four months since I have posted.  Between renovations and selling our house it has been a very busy four months.  I was determined to get out today and I am glad that I did.  It wasn't a fantastic day as far as painting goes but it felt really good to be outside with a brush in my hand again.

There was lots of wonderful snow on the ground however it was a very dull grey day so there was no colour anywhere.  I was looking around for something exciting in all the greyness without much luck but I looked up just as the clouds thinned just enough to warm the sky behind some trees.  I made it even warmer and fiddled a bit too much with this but I am happy with it.

Overworked or not it felt great to be out there.