Russian Day

The Plein Air Convention organizers brought in Nicholai Dubovik from the Surikov Institute of the Russian Academy in Moscow. He spoke with such truth and depth while doing a demo. First comes drawing, and then the plein air experience - it is the most organic proces in the education of an artist. Students go out painting for 2 months in the summer when the light lasts until 1:00 am, 1000 miles north of Moscow. A program is being setup for artists from North America to go and experience this - for 2 months.

Plein Air Convention in Las Vegas 2012

So here I am in Las Vegas, seeing the beauty and the amazing energy and power of this ocean floor. I had hoped to see the desert in bloom, and there are a few flowers but because of drought llast fall, there is very little this year. Was in the Valley of Fire and the Red Rock Canyon - unreal! And the Convention is over the top. One day down, from 6:30 to 8:00 and so much information and experiences. Tony Pro, Jeremy Lipking and Alexey Steele did a portrait demo together on stage (photo). Too many fantastic artists to mention them all. Did go to the zoo called The Strip to see the Monet exhibit at the Bellagio Hotel. Exhibit was worth it, the Bellagio water fountain is fantastic, the strip is another story........

Challenge #8

This is for The Complete Artist online workshop challenge this month - sliced oranges, another fruit, glass and a shiny metal object, all on a white cloth.

Equinox Heat Wave

It is the beginning of spring and here we had unusually hot weather. Mary and I went down to the river to paint. Ice was still floating on the water.

Still Life with Oranges #4

The journey continues.....the mug looked simple to draw, in its slanted style, but was actually quite demanding.

Still Life with Oranges #3

It is very revealing to continue on the same subject - white vessel, white cloth, oranges - even though I change it around a bit. There is so much to learn and see and work on. Carol Marine is coming to Toronto in August, so Mary and I are getting ready

Still Life with Oranges 2

Like this one better, getting more decisive with the brush strokes.

Still Life with Oranges

I have a project to work on for my continued education on basics - and this is my first set up. Shapes are better, I was struggling with warm and cool shadows, and I want to improve my brushwork.

Banana Plantation

Living Fence Posts

Another one from Costa Rica - many fence posts are trees, and tend to sprout.

In the Cloud Forest

My final painting from Costa Rica, I am now home.

Amapola

Flowers against the misty background of the jungle and volcano. The background and the mist is always lighter than I think, so this was actually my second attempt.

Scenes

Because of the high humidity, the mountain range is very blue. I painted it as such, but thought it was too strong, and did a quick repaint, lightening up the blue. I think it is better. Unfortunately it was just painting paper and I tore the paper...but the learning was worth the exercise.

Starfruit Still Life

This still life is painted for the online workshop that I am doing. The starfruit came from a tree close by and the red flowers are from the jungle - no idea what they are called. The feel like plastic and hang in a cluster.

Pineapple Field

It is beautiful driving through the countryside. Besides banana, papaya and orange plantations, there are the grey/teal coloured pineapple fields. The mountain range is very blue in the distance, because of the humidity.

By the Stump

Today we all painted on the veranda, whatever was in front of us. The one side is filled with lush vegetation and interesting blooms that peek through.

In the Rain

Yesterday it rained and rained - hard - of course - it is the rainforest afterall. The banana tree in our yard stood out because it was closeby - everything else was blurred by the rain and humidity.

Jungle Path

Late Wednesday afternoon, I carried my equipment down to the stream, set up my easel on a patch of gravel and looked back up the way I had come. Daylight was minimal, mosquitoes started to bite, and howler monkeys COULD be nearby, so I painted as fast as possible. It was an exhilirating experience to be one with the jungle like this.

Vista

This one lone tree standing over the rest called for my attention. The air is humid so the background is lost in mist. It is very peaceful here.

Arenal Volcano

We have a perfect view of the volcano, but it is mostly shrouded in clouds. Now and then, the clouds move and we get to see the peaks, which are steaming and puffing. Everyone here has a personal feeling towards the mountain, and now we do too.

Queen of the Night

Gave these gorgeous delicate and oh so fragrant flowers another attempt - they are tricky and acrylic makes it even trickier. But I am learning. It was a joy to be with this flower as it danced and swayed in the breeze.

Across the Road

The building is wonky, both in my painting and in real life. I am undecided if this works ok in a painting or not - whether it would be better to adjust the structure....

Naranjas

This painting actually has more green in it, but the photograph is a bit off. I am starting to get a feel for acrylics and am happy to have them here because of the humidity. The girls were getting oranges for morning juice from the tree beside our casa - of course they had one of the local men up in the tree while they stood at the bottom with a basket. It was a painting in itself.

Costa Rica

I am in the rain forest in Costa Rica, next to the volcano Arenal. It is of course humid and warm, so I brought acrylics, thinking that this is the best medium for here. Must be true because that is what is in the galleries.
This is my first attempt at acrylics - ever, and is very different from oil and watercolour. So here goes...

Reminiscing Autumn

In October I managed to get some photos as the sun was setting over the last of the red sumac at Shaw Woods near Eganville. Need some critiques on this painting - not sure about it yet.
On another note, I have signed up to attend the Plein Air Convention outside of Las Vegas in April. There will be a lot of good speakers, painters, and even some plein air painting of the red rocks for all participants. Better get painting....

The Present

My dear friend Heidi brought me a birthday gift, and the wrapping was so beautiful that I had to paint it before opening. It will be opened on the weekend when she is here again. In the meantime, it is being enjoyed as is.

Friends

These shiny red pomengranates were asking to be painted, with a pear to set them off, and a dark background for drama. It is the mood of the day....

Mandarin & Ground Cherries

Happy New Year!
A tad late all around but things sometimes happen different than planned, so may the new year be absolutely magical.
I wanted to paint this little grouping before Christmas and poof, things went differently. Instead it waited and didn't whither, so it must have been slightly enchanted. Therefore I honoured it as my first painting of the year.

Nutcracker

Fierce little nutcracker......looks like he is on a mission. Victoria and I painted nutcrackers today, listening to the music since we are going to see The Nutcracker performance in Toronto this weekend.

Evening Sky

Now that the weather is getting grey and cold, I am resorting to photos taken throughout the summer and fall. This is behind our house, in my favourite cornfield. Mary and I gleefully got together to paint this scene this afternoon.

Last Glow

The cornfield behind us at sunset, shortly before the last rows were cut. Now the field is ploughed with a thin layer of snow on it.
I am getting a glare when photographing and therefore losing a lot of definition. Hope to have a solution soon.

DPW Painting Challenge - Lawren Harris inspiration

Today, Mary and I decided to do this week's DPW Challenge, which to paint something in the style of an artist we admire. Since the challenge is based in the US, we decided to give some Canadian input and picked the Group of Seven's Lawren Harris, whose work we both love and admire. His work has such clean simplicity, his colours are so joyful. I often go to the AGO in Toronto to visit the Group of Seven collection and have copied one of his Arctic scenes for learning purposes. This scene is from my summer visit to Tofino, Vancouver Island.

Smooth Sailing

Decided to do a larger painting of a sketch from this fall.

Indian Summer

When I came home, there was so much to do and catch up on, but it was Indian Summer - the last of the warm days. Mary and I went out for a plein air sketch by the river. We had great ideas of doing a second one but that was dashed by the early sinking sun and therefore cold fingers and stiff paint. Ahhhh, the joys of northern plein air!

Touch of Magic

This was my last quick little painting that I did at the end of the workshop. As I painted, a little deer came out of the dark thicket, walked around and disappeared again. There is always something magical here in the south!

At the Point

Just came back from a workshop with Ian Roberts in South Carolina. We did a lot of powerful exercises to increase our skill at temperature....plus always hue, value and intensity.....hard work!
Most days were nice and sunny but the one day that we went out to paint a scene was cold and windy. I aimed to be out of the wind and climbed up to the edge of the forest. The scene from there was rather favourable...I could see the water.

From the cranberry patch

Cranberries grow very close to the ground, so picking becomes an interesting exercise. When I looked up, this is what I saw in front of me.

Little Red Leader

Edge of Cornfield

Fall Forest

In the last few days, went out with some friends painting. I am still enjoying the cad orange/ultramarine blue/white combo and will stick with it for now.

Outdoor Study

It has been a busy week, and today an overfilled day but the weather was too beautiful to miss so I parked the easel on the driveway and did a quick orange/blue/white study....which is teaching me some great things. I think that my most enjoyable subjects right now are trees, paths/roads and the three colour scheme.

Smith's Field

Today I went to the field behind our house to paint the tree line while the cornfield was still standing. It is a pleasure to paint with just orange, blue and white because it helps me focus on values and temperature.

Shaw Woods

Yesterday was a gorgeous warm day and I went out to the Shaw Woods, 120 acres of old growth forest, to see if the sumac had changed colour yet. I found a patch that was half way there, with the sun slanting in on the front trees and a nice dark backdrop of forest. I really zoomed into the scene for the light effect, but might paint this again with a wider angle....maybe when the sumac is fully red....

Linda's Vision

Went outside to paint a value study for this week's DPW Value Challenge. Instead of black and white, I used ultramarine blue and cadmium orange (and white) for this week's DPW Value Challenge. We were to simplify a scene using only 4 values, but I got a bit carried away and have far more than that. The blue and orange helped me with the added aspect of warm/cool relationships. I think I will go out more often with this very limited palette.