Lighthouse Park, Part 5

As promised, here's my update on this project. I've started to glaze in the sky colours (cruelean blue, alazrian crimson, ultramarine blue, and titanium-zinc white... thinned with galkyd lite). I'm really happy with the amount of depth to the painting that I can see developing... even at this early stage.



"Lighthouse Park, WIP"
8" x 10" oil on stretched linen
© 2007


I'm experimenting with painting in the ocean and clouds on other smaller painting right now. I've gotten a lot of excellent suggestions over at Wetcanvas and I am definitely going to try some of them out on this work in progress.

Nothin But Blue Skies

This little painting is an experiment (or practise if you wish) to help me find the perfect blue (or combination of blues) for the ocean in my lighthouse painting. One of the frustrating area's of my first lighthouse painting was the ocean. I just couldn't get it to look right or to have depth. I have issues with mixing my blues and I do believe that one of my problems is that I mix too much... thus creating a variation of mud. In this little painting, I tried to keep my mixing on the canvas paper to a minimum, which I think helped a little.



"Nothin But Blue Skies"
2.5" x 3.5" oil on canvas paper
© 2007


My palette for this painting was simple: titanium-zinc white, prussian blue, burnt siennna, and raw sienna.

Technorati Tags: art, aceo, wwao, ocean, oil, painting

Sunday Flight

When I feel like I am loosing my painting mojo... a chickadee can help me find it again. I just absolutely love painting these little guys .. they are cute, adorable, and relaxing. I use a limited palette when painting the birds... usually a combination of ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, and paynes grey. I can create all my greys (warm and cool) from these colours.



"Sunday Flight"
3.5" x 2.5" watercolour on paper
© 2007


I have put a bit of a colour layer on my lighthouse painting, though I am not happy with the clouds. Clouds have been a bit of a nemesis to me and I think it is going to be a lot of experimentation to find that perfect combonation of colours. I'll post an update a little later today.

Technorati Tags: art, aceo, wwao, chickadee, watercolor, painting

Stuffed Silly, Finished Painting

When I saw the reference photo of this guy... I just couldn't resist painting him. This guy has stuffed his cheeks so full of stuff that it looks like he is going to burst at the cheeks!



"Stuffed Silly"
3.5" x 2.5" watercolour and acrylic on paper
© 2007


He took a bit longer than it normally takes me to complete these little paintings. Fur has always been a challenge for me. I hope that if I keep practising painting fur that it will eventually take me less time to paint it.

Technorati Tags: art, aceo, wwao, chipmunk, watercolor, painting

World Wide Artist Tag

It looks like I've been tagged twice (Susan from Arts and Stuff and Nancy from Painting Small Impressions) to do this little blog game so I guess it is time that I sat down and did it.

These are the tagging rules:
1. List 7 random facts/habits about yourself.
2. Choose another 7 bloggers to tag and list their names in your blog.
3. Leave your 7 tagged bloggers comments to notify them of their tagging and to direct them to your blog for tag instructions.

Soo.. some random stuff about me.

• I am a trained and working engineering physicist. I work at a research laboratory in the safety department.


• One of my favourite subjects to paint are birds... but I am horrible allergic to them. I break out in hives and get completely stuffed up if I am close to them for two long.


• The strangest pet that I have ever had was a baseball size snail. If I didn't remember to secure the lid of his tank well enough... he would escape at night and leave a slime trail on the carpet.


• I grew up on the prairies in Canada... living in all three prairie provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta) before I started University.


• I cannot smell the gas that is put into natural gas to give it that 'rotten egg smell'.


• I am a computer game addict... my favourites being SimCity, Civilization, and the Sims. I have wasted many weekends playing these silly games when I should have been doing countless other things.


• I am a collector and horder of art supplies. I think I have enough brushes, paints, and other stuff to almost fully stock a art supply store.

And now... here's my list of people I tag.
1. Rose
2. Denise @ DMD Studios
3. Joyce Brandon
4. Nick @ Nick's Art
5. Rebecca Grantham
6. Teresa Turner
7. Paula Manning-Lewis

Stuffed Silly... Part 2

I've been pretty busy these last few days so I don't have any finished paintings to show (and now I've been tagged again... tomorrow... I'll do the tag tomorrow). Hopefully I'll have a completed painting tomorrow (either this one or a squirrel I'm working on). Until then... here's a little guy I've been working on. Last time you saw him I only had the undertones and the background completed. He's starting to look really good with some colour on the body.



"Stuffed Silly"
3.5" x 2.5" watercolour on paper
© 2007

Lighthouse Park, Part 4

I'm finally finished the griselle layer of the lighthouse painting. I'm pretty happy with it. This layer in places appears dark... but... the greyscale of the original photograph is dark in places as well to. Now... onto the colour!



"Lighthouse Park, WIP"
8" x 10" oil on stretched linen
© 2007

Magnolia Blossom

A quick 'looser' painting for me tonight. I felt the need to spread colour and to try a limited palette of paint. This consists of ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, hansa yellow light, titanium-zinc white, and alzarin crimson. I'm really happy with the way the greens in this painting turned... I think I found my new favourite combination to make green. Yah! My pinks on the other hand could use a little more practise.



"Magnolia Blossom"
4" x 6" oil on canvas paper
© 2007


Technorati Tags: art, wwao, etsy, magnolia, flower, oil, painting, miniature

Taking a Rest

Here is one of the smaller (ACEO) paintings that I've been working on while the lighthouse painting dries. This little hummingbird was painted with acrylic paints and there is even a little hint of gold in the feathers...



"Taking a Rest"
3.5" x 2.5" acrylic on coldpress paper
© 2007


Technorati Tags: art, aceo, wwao, hummingbird, painting, bird

Lighthouse Park, Work in Progress, Part 3

I am slowly working on this one... its taking a little bit longer than I would have thought for this layer. Oh well, some advice I have read is to spend as much time possible on this layer as one wants... it will define the other layers.



"Lighthouse Park, WIP"
8" x 10" oil on stretched linen
© 2007


mmm... now that I have it posted, I see a few things I don't like with the clouds. Will have to fix that. I'm happy with the lighthouse and the ocean part... I really just got the rocks/trees/brush left and a little bit of fixing on the clouds. Then... let it dry fully and the fun will begin with the colours!

I am also working on a couple little ACEO's while doing the lighthouse. I'll post them over the next couple days.

Lighthouse Park, Work in Progress, Part 2

I managed to get a bit more of this done today... still lots left to go though. I am really happy with the way that the depth of the painting is starting to develop. The photograph of the painting does flatten the image some... there are soo many more tones in the paint in real life.



"Lighthouse Park, WIP"
8" x 10" oil on stretched linen
© 2007


I see that Susan has tagged me... I'll post my part of the tag a little later. I just need to find seven other people who haven't been tagged yet.

Lighthouse Park, Work in Progress

Here's some progress pictures of my newest larger "work in progress" painting. This is based on a photograph I took about two years ago in West Vancouver, British Columbia.

This first picture is of my initial drawing/sketch stage. There were a few lines that weren't quite right that were fixed before the first coat of paint.



"Lighthouse Park, WIP"
8" x 10" oil on stretched linen
© 2007


This next pictures shows the beginning of my griselle layer. The griselle layer will help the define the shapes and depth of the painting. This is a new technique for me so lots of learning going on here! My griselle layer is painted using titanium-zinc white, raw umber, ivory black and gamsol. I still have lots left to paint and many omre details to add. I'll post the progress pictures as I go.



"Lighthouse Park, WIP"
8" x 10" oil on stretched linen
© 2007

George

George has been sitting on my pile of 'to finish' for quite a while now... so, tonight was the night to finish him. George represents the cat I don't (and can't) have due to my landlords rules. Here... George is sticking out his tongue at those rules.



"George"
2.5" x 3.5" watercolor on hotpress paper
© 2007


Technorati Tags: art, aceo, wwao, cat, watercolor, painting

Apple Blossoms

Apple blossom season is almost over here and the trees are slowly turning green. I managed to get a whole heck of a lot of blossom pictures... more than I could ever paint! But soon I'll be wishing for spring again to get one more blossom picture.



"Apple Blossoms"
3.5" x 2.5" oil on canvas paper
© 2007


Technorati Tags: art, aceo, wwao, oil+painting, robin, painting

Mountain Chickadee

I just heard that this one has safely arrived to its new home in Florida. It was given to IrishRose in exchange for one of her beautiful Mandala Encaustic paintings. If you haven't checked out her site... I hightly recommend that you do!



"Mountain Chickadee"
3.5" x 2.5" oil on canvas paper
© 2007


Technorati Tags: art, aceo, wwao, chickadee, oil+painting

Cherry Blossoms

Spring is the time of the cherry tree festival on the west coast. If you have never been to a cherry tree festival, I highly recommend it. It is something spectacular to see street after street lined with completely pink trees! This painting is based off a picture I took not too far from my place.



"Cherry Blossoms"
2.5" x 3.5" oil on canvas paper
© 2007


Technorati Tags: art, aceo, wwao, cherry, tree, oil+painting

Stuffed Silly, Work in Progress

I find that I work best with several 'works in progress' on the go. This way I can move between mini paintings as I'm waiting for parts to dry of if I have gotten frustrated with one of them.



"Stuffed Silly"
3.5" x 2.5" watercolour on paper
© 2007


I just started this one tonight... I'm working on it slowly, adding almost transparent layers one at a time. I find this is a time consuming... but very rewarding process. Stay tuned for further updates.

Technorati Tags: art, aceo, wwao, etsy, watercolor, painting, chipmunk

Lazy Days of Summer

With spring making its appearance, I am starting to anticipate the warm lazy days of summer! The walks on the beach, the walks in the parks, camping... The one other thing I absolutely love about the warmer weather... is listening to all the birds. Even in the city I can hear the calls and chatter over the din of human noise. This guy... well, he's keeping an eye out on the activity below hoping to catch himself a little bread crumb or two.



"Lazy Days of Summer"
2.5" x 3.5" oil on canvas paper
© 2007


Technorati Tags: art, aceo, wwao, chickadee, oil+painting

Chipper, Work in Progress

Here's a sneak peak at one of my newest little masterpieces. This one has been on the 'painting board' for a little while now. Each night I put another almost transparent layer of colour. Its hard to see... but in real life this little guy has a velvety look to him.



"Chipper, Work in Progress"
3.5" x 2.5" watercolour on coldpress paper
© 2007


Technorati Tags: art, aceo, wwao, squirrel, watercolor, painting