Sunny Outlook

So this one might not be a step up in size (still working on the 4" x 6" painting... a reveal will come soon) but I thought I would post it anyways. The scan for some reason has really washed out the colours in the rock that the bird is sitting one and the green and blue in the background. It's really much more colourful in real life.



"Sunny Outlook"
3" x 4" watercolour on paper
© 2008


update: I've scanned in a much better picture of this painting.

Summer Berries

I am slowly moving up in size with my paintings... actually, I am using up some of my already cut pieces of paper. I have my eyes on a half sheet of cold press, but I want to finish up some of the other pieces before I do that.



"Summer Berries"
3" x 5" watercolour on paper
© 2008

Sweet Dreamer

A quick little one while I am waiting for the larger ones to dry. I saw this pose and I just couldn't resist painting a little scene to go with it.



"Sweet Dreamer"
2.5" x 3.5" oil on canvas paper
© 2008

Emerging

One down and several more to go... I've been working on this painting for a little while now and I am happy to say that it is done. This was painted as a companion piece to my other tulip and I am planning one more piece for this set. The third painting is still in the planning stage (won't start it until I get a few more of my incomplete paintings finished).



"Emerging"
3" x 5" oil on canvas paper
© 2008

Strawberry Cheesecake, a Work in Progress

Its been a few days since my last post, but unfortunately I do not have any finished paintings to show tonight. So.... here's my latest Work in Progress. Its a companion piece to my coffee painting, painted on the same size stretched canvas. I have a bit more work left on it... just waiting for the paint to dry in a few places so I can continue adding the layers.



"Strawberry Cheesecake"
6" x 6" oil on stretched canvas
© 2008


I actually have several paintings (all oil) on the go right now in various stages of completeness. I'm finishing up some of these smaller ones so I can dive into a larger canvas un-distracted.

Mid-Afternoon Pause

Its been a little while since I've posted (or finished) a watercolour that I thought I would post one tonight. This particular guy is a mountain chickadee (reference from Dave Slaughter from Wetcanvas)enjoying a mid-afternoon break. I really had a fun time playing with colours... adding blues and purples to the shadows. Its really hard to see the purples/blues... but in real life they sure add a lot of life to the shadowed areas.



"Mid-Afternoon Pause"
3.5" x 2.5" watercolour on paper
© 2008

Private Commission: Little Titmouse

I just finished this one today (hence the slight glare on the painting... paint is still very wet). The photo reference is from one of Barbara's (thanks Barbara!) fantastic bird photographs. There is one more painting in this set and when I'm done that one I'll post the entire group together.



"Little Titmouse"
4" x 6" oil, commission
© 2008

artSpacific: Opening Reception

Today was the opening reception for artSpacific and was pleasantly surprised that my painting Frozen in Time was awarded the SDAG "Work of Distinction". This is my first award at a show and hopefully there will be many more in the future!



Opening Reception
© 2008


The one thing that I did learn/see at the show... is that I need to start bringing up the sizes of my paintings and increasing my body of work so I can enter more shows and galleries. I may be a little slower at producing these larger works (only get an hour or so an evening to paint) but it is now a goal of mine.

There is another show deadline in June that I am going to strive for four new paintings to enter. So... stay tuned!

Poppy Perch

One last little one until I've finished off a couple of commissions. I wanted to try a wider variety of colours (okay, the black and white of a chickadee may not be a wider variety of colour...) on the black gesso to see how they look against the black. My favourite part of this painting... the way the alizarin crimson seems to glow against the black.



"Poppy Perch"
2.5" x 3.5" oil on canvas paper
© 2008

Peek-a-boo

I had a lot of fun painting this one... a nice little relaxing painting for a quiet Sunday afternoon.



"Peek-a-boo"
2.5" x 3.5" oil on gessoed paper
© 2008

A Closer Look

I'm back from my short break with a new little chickadee painting. This is a bit of a warm up to get back into painting after my week long break.



"A Closer Look"
3.5" x 2.5" oil on gessoed paper
© 2008


One of the things that I am really enjoying about the black gesso (using Golden brand) is how quickly and vibrant the paintings seem to be. The colours seem to jump off the page with a little bit of extra 'sparkle' that I don't seem to get with the white gesso. I'm not going to stop using white gesso.... but I think I'll go back and forth between the two.