Anna's Hummingbird

I would like that thank Derek Scott (SSP Scottstudio Photography) who kindly gave me permission to paint this absolutely beautiful Anna's hummingbird. I was hunting for pictures of hummingbirds (still perfecting my skills in photographing them) when I was captured by this beautiful portrait of a hummingbird.



"Anna's Hummingbird"
6" x 4" hotpress watercolor paper
© 2008


I had some fun today at a big warehouse sale at Opus today... lots of people and some absolutely great deals. I've completed loaded up with canvas, matts, and frames. Now I have no excuse to have more paintings done.

Little Blue Tit

I had some extra paint on my palette from my house painting so I quickly did up this little painting. Blue tits (I believe) are the English version of the local chickadee and from what I understand they have the same kind of personality.



"Little Blue Tit"
4" x 3" canvas paper
© 2008

My Parents House, a Work in Progress

When I'm not experimenting with my watercolours, I have been working on a painting for my parents. It has been a long time waiting for this painting... but I've finally have a version on the go that I am happy with (so far anyways).



untitled, a Work in Progress
14" x 11" oil on stretched canvas
© 2008


I started out by creating a fairly detailed drawing of the house and a loose outline of the background. I fixed this with a fixative and then put a very thin layer of gesso to bring back some tooth the canvas. On top of that, I laid down a layer of Quinacridone Gold (mixed with mineral spirits). Then, when that was dry enough... I began blocking the painting with various blues, greens, white, and red.

I'm pretty happy with it at this stage and in the next couple of days I hope to block in the colours on the house.

Hot Times in GasTown

This painting is based on a photograph I took during the Jazz festival in Vancouver, British Columbia last summer. That particular weekend was one of the few hot weekends that we saw that summer. I can't remember the name of the building (or the street address either) other than I know it is in GasTown. The architecture really caught my eye, especially the ornate detain around the stone windows.



"Hot Times in GasTown"
4" x 6" watercolour on paper
© 2008


The colours seem a little washed out in the scan as they are much more vivid in real life.

White Trillium

Finally found some time to try out my new 300lbs hot press paper this week (its been an incredibly busy week). I really like some of the properties of the hot press... the colour lifts easily and I really like the softness of the edges that I'm able to achieve. Some of the things I don't like: the colours seem dull... though that is probably me trying to mix to many colours together. I have more pieces of paper to play with and I should have a few more paintings posted this weekend.



"White Trillium"
4" x 6" watercolour on paper
© 2008

Morning Still

I wanted to test my skills at a fast/loose style and choose one of perhaps thousands of photographs of the British Columbia landscape that I have taken.



"Morning Still"
9" x 12" oil on stretched canvas
© 2008


I am not entirely satisfied with the beach area, but I think I'll let this one sit for a couple of days and see if anything in particular jumps out at me. All my new Daniel Smith paints (Cadmium Green Hue, Rich Green Gold, Quinacridone Gold, and Asphaltum) were used in this one as well as some old favourites (Cerulean Blue, Titanium-Zinc White, and Sap Green). I kept the palette fairly simple... but not too restrictive.

Morning Stroll

Another off my 'to do list' and into the completed pile. It feels good to get some of these paintings completed so I can then turn my attention towards some larger paintings that I have been meaning to do/complete.



"Morning Stroll"
3" x 4" watercolour on paper
© 2008


I've been working on somewhat alternating between birds and other subjects for paintings lately. I've been having an inclining to paint some of the hundreds of photographs that I've been taking around British Columbia... in fact, I plan on starting a new landscape/seascape tomorrow.

Strawberry Cheesecake

I think this one is finished... (see my Work in Progress probably will let it dry for a couple days and see if there are any other little things that need to be done. The glare is pretty bad (tried my best... but the paint is still very wet) and I promise to get a better picture once it has dried a little. I got to use one of my new oil paint colours on this one: Asphaltum which is described as a chocolate brown. It is so close to a chocolate brown... That I do believe I am going to try painting a nice chocolate dessert.



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


edit: I've taken a better picture of the painting... no more unsightly glare! I also thought I would post a photo of it on the wall... it sure looks snazzy next to my coffee painting.



© 2008

Sunny Perch

This is another one of my little bird paintings that I have been playing around for a little while now. I was getting frustrated with the greens (both the convenience and the made-to-order greens) so I placed this one to the side. But, now that I've received my new green (rich green gold from Daniel Smith) I've given it another try. And... I do like the spring freshness that I've been able to achieve now.



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

Strawberry Cheesecake, Work in Progress 2

I got a little bit more work done on my Strawberry Cheesecake painting and I do believe that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel on this one. The paper cup that the cheesecake is in is turning out to be a pain in the butt to get to a point that I am happy with.



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


There are a couple of other dessert paintings that I want to do when this one is done... I even treated myself to a couple of new colours from Daniel Smith to use in these new paintings, one being a really nice chocolaty colour for use in a chocolate cake painting.

untitled, Work in Progress

I have been working on this painting, off and on, for about a month now... and I do believe I am starting to get to the final layers. I've been building the colours up on this one slowly, applying thin layers of colour over an initial layer of transparent red earth.



untitled
10" x 8" oil on stretched canvas
© 2008


On the tree stump I've added one of my new Daniel Smith oil colours (quinacridone gold to be precise... oh lala! What an beautifully rich colour!!) and I am amazed at how much warmth it added to the stump. Today I will be concentrating on the bird and his feathers and hopefully will have this one done soon.

Stop and Smell the Flower

A quick little watercolour painting from me tonight... playing with some of my new Daniel Smith watercolours (and my oils... I'll post an update of that painting tomorrow). My new colours (watercolours that is) include: new gambouge, mummy bautxite, quinacridone gold, and rich green gold. I'm having soo much fun with these colours, especially the quinacridone gold!



"Stop and Smell the Flower"
3.5" x 2.5" watercolour on paper
© 2008

Private Commission: Spring Chickadee-dee-dee

Just finished my last of this set of commissioned paintings... just letting the paint dry. I struggled with the colours on the blossom for a while... tweaking with glazes over the last week or so... I relatively happy with it now. I'll let this one sit by my easel for a couple of days just to make sure there isn't anything else I want to tweak.



"Spring Chickadee-dee-dee"
4" x 6" oil on paper, commission
© 2008


I ordered some Daniel Smith oils to try and I am hoping that they will be here this week (fingers crossed). I'm looking forward to playing with them!

Take Five

This is one of my largest watercolours in a long while... and I enjoyed it so much that I have already cut up more paper this size and larger. I used, with kind permission, a reference photo by Kenny P (MrClean1982 on flikr!) for this painting. I was captivated by the look and details of the wonderful photograph.



"Take Five"
4" x 6" watercolour on paper
© 2008