Playing with Food

I've added a second item into this painting... it's actually the paint brush I've used to paint this painting. I'm slowly working through different poses with my pairs and figuring out which one would look the best in a painting. My favourite so far is 'grumpy' from a few sketches ago, but I've also been suggested to try painting 'reclining' by another artist. Perhaps I'll try both.



Playing with Food, watercolour and ink
© 2009

Early Spring Leaves

I'm really happy with the way this one turned out tonight, especially the fresh spring leaves. The weather is starting to warm up, and today I noticed the first spring bulbs starting to push up towards the sky. I can't wait for all the blossoms to erupt and all the colours to appear.


"Early Spring Leaves"
2.5" x 3.5" watercolour
© 2009

Back to the Pears

I went down to my local market this past weekend and picked up more pears (Bartletts... most delicious) which means more pear sketches during my coffee breaks. Well... at least until I run out again. I got my sights on a much bigger market this weekend... Granville Market. Lots of local produce and fruits... and lots to photograph!


Stemless Pear, watercolour and ink
© 2009

Cherries... Yet Untitled

I've been going through some of the hundreds of reference photos I took this summer of... well, fruit. These cherries captured my attention so they are now on my canvas. I decided to try a black and white under painting with colour being glazed on top (similar to my candied apple painting I've recently finished. I think the colours on the cherries will really standout... though, for comparison I'm going to be painting a very similar cherry painting using glazing but no under painting (similar to my grapes painting). I'm very curious to what differences will crop up between the two techniques.



untitled
8" x 8" oil on canvas
© 2009

Sand Dollar Sketch

Oout with the fruit and in with the sea shell collection. Now that I have gone through all my fruit... I've turned my attention to my sea shell collection from the west coast. First victim... I mean item is one of my many sand dollars. I had a little fun with the colour... layering down my primaries and letting them mix. Next was the inking... oh so relaxing and so much fun.



Sand Dollar, watercolour and ink
© 2009

The Blues, Finished

I finished this one this past weekend and ended up doing some major repair on the neck of the guitar... though, I don't think I quite got it right yet. There were a lot challenges on this one mostly from the the neck but also from the body of the guitar. I found that even being slightly off really through the whole object's dimensions off. It was definitely a learning experience and I even got a guitar lined up for my next one.



"The Blues"
reference by clarita100 at morguefile.com
14" x 11" oil on canvas
© 2009

Clear Skies

A happy little chickadee on a clear crisp day. Well, it wasn't actually clear out here (pea soup fog for five days now), but I am sure this is what a clear day would look like. Perhaps we'll see some sunshine tomorrow.



"Clear Skies"
2.5" x 3.5" watercolour
© 2009

Orange Sketch

One of my favourite discoveries on the west coast has been these little oranges... blood oranges. Wonderfully sweet and bright red inside. I never saw these critters on the prairies. I think I'm going to have to pick up a good number of these and send them home to my parents to try.



Orange, watercolour and ink
© 2009


It was a busy day today and I got lots of painting done... though, I never actually finished a painting. Perhaps this is making up for my extra productive weekend where I finished three painting.

Lily of the Valley

A new little chickadee tonight using a photograph of a flower I took a couple years ago as the background. I've been looking for an excuse to paint these lily of the valley's and I think I found the perfect picture for it.



"Lily of the Valley"
2.5" x 3.5" watercolour
© 2009

Candied

This one was started months ago and I have finally gotten around to picking up my brushes again to finish it. I'm happy with the way this little painting has turned out. Looking at it on the wall, though, I can see a few changes I would make if I were to try it again. Most of the changes are really just how I would have glazed in the different colours on the upper part of the apple. Overall... it looks great next to the other 6" x 6" paintings hanging on my wall.



Candied
Photo Reference by Michael King
6" x 6" oil on stretched canvas
© 2008

Reclining

This may be my last pear sketch for a little while... well, at least until my next trip to the fruit market. No colour in this one. I discovered in "Grumpy" done a couple days ago that my new favourite sketching pen is not waterproof. Oh well... its still my favourite pen so I will have to experiment with putting down my colour washes first and then add the ink.



Reclining, watercolour and ink
© 2009

Dreamin of Spring Blossoms

With the snow starting to melt and dreams of spring on my mind... I painted this little guy amongst some of the first blossoms that I see in my area... pansies! Soon spring will be here and I'll have all the spring blossom references I can wish for.



"Dreamin of Spring Blossoms"
2.5" x 3.5" watercolour
© 2009

Grumpy

Another pear sketch tonight.... this one looks a bit grumpy... hence the name. I can see the allure to painting these fruit and I do believe that one of these days a new pear painting will grace my walls. Until then... my grumpy pear sketch.



Grumpy, watercolour and ink
© 2009

Pear Sketch

Is it considered playing with your food when you paint it before eating it? I had lots of fun and enjoyed the challenge of drawing from life at coffee break today. A resolution from last year was to draw/sketch everyday... and though, I didn't necessarily do good on that... but, I am going to try to do just that this year. We'll see how long I last this year!




Pear Sketch, watercolour and ink
© 2009

Snowy

I kept myself busy this weekend painting this guy... a beautiful snowy owl (photo courteous of Daisyree Bakker from Wetcanvas. This painting was definitely an exercise in negative painting. That is, not painting the object (feathers in this case) but painting the shadows and around the edges. The shadows/feathers were painted using a minimal of colours: indigo, burnt sienna, and some burnt umber. I used a full palette of yellows and oranges for the eyes (I can't remember them all... but I know there is some quin orange and new gamboge).



"Snowy"
Reference photo by Daisyree Bakker
6" x 4" watercolour
© 2009

Chickadee Sketch

No new painting tonight so I thought I would share a page from my sketchbook. My chickadee paintings are created from combinations of sketches and reference photos.... the sketches help to figure out the anatomy of the birds and placement of the scenes. I like to keep a sketchbook handy at my desk and I tend to 'doodle' when I'm on the phone, waiting for programs to run, or generally just taking a quick mental break. In the end, I get lots of these little doodles that I can use to compose future paintings.



Chickadee Sketch, ballpoint pen
© 2009

Dark and Stormy Night

There was more snow again last night which inspired me to paint this little fellow today. Flipping through some of the painting that I have completed recently I noticed that I have not painted too many wintery pictures. That will have to change. Even though I do complain of the snow... there is a calm happy feeling watching it slowly float to the ground. Or... sometimes it is blizzarding so hard that one can hardly see across the street. I think the later image more closely represents the painting below... either way, it was fun to paint.



"Dark and Stormy Night"
2.5" x 3.5" watercolour
© 2009

Oh, and the forecast for the next five days... rain. Go figure!

Singing of Spring

Felt like painting something a little 'springy' with all the snow on the ground lately. I know I shouldn't complain about the snow (and it does look very nice indeed from indoors)... but it has been making getting around town rather hazardous. I've been keeping my trips in the car short and local... really just getting groceries close by and nothing more. The weather people are calling for lots of rain tomorrow and I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.



"Singing of Spring"
3" x 6" watercolour
© 2009

Ruby Red

Happy New Year! I spend most of today painting this guy, which is also one of my goals for the new year. This year I plan on painting at least one 4" x 6" picture each week along side all my other mini's (ACEO's) and (hopefully) larger oils. These weekly challenge paintings will be available through my Etsy store.



"Ruby Red"
4" x 6" watercolour
Reference photo by Natalie (Dreamin) from Wetcanvas
© 2009


My hope with this new challenge is to create more and procrastinate less. Hopefully it will work. I still have a couple of oil paintings that I am working on still and I will be posting some update photos of those by the end of the weekend.