Artists-by-the-Sea, St.Andrew's NB, 2011 in support of Hospice, Charlotte County

Gonna Rain?

King of the Commons
unfinished - have photo to complete it

This was one to write home about.  In spite of the torrential rain dropping 50mls of water in the area on Saturday, we were still able to produce paintings.  A few of us were able to hunker down on the verandah of the Algonquin.  Fortunately, I had the where with all to grab some photos that I had of the St. Andrew’s area from last years event.  I know the whole point of painting plein air is painting what you see outside in front of you – but heavy rain is heavy rain and I opted for the photo route.  

Tide Going Out
Will touch up the little house

During the course of the day, Alma Campbell and I each completed three paintings.  John Colwell was a machine and completed a number of his whimsical acrylic florals with that thick delicious paint.  And it was wonderful to connect with Morag Walsh as well.  She managed to get a few plein air pieces done and completed a few more as well.  The company was wonderful.  Overall a really good day.  

Did I mention the skies parted and the sun came out about 4:00 as we were wrapping up for the day? 

Obviously from a photo

Standing Tall and Proud

Sunday was a scortcher.  Hot humid and 32 degrees.  Complete opposite of the previous day.  We were painting down on the wharf.  Donned sunglasses, sunbrella (neat word – wonderful tool), slathered sunscreen, downed tons of water and decided our next painting would have to be painted in the shade!  Unbelievable, we are so accustomed to foul weather that we cannot tolerate a lot of humidity and heat.

Spent the afternoon on the St. Andrew’s Commons – under a tree. Ahhhh!  

Old Reliable

Honestly, I think I was more afraid to start this commission than I have ever been when starting a portrait.  The owner of this tractor loves it.  He is more than proud of it. And so my conundrum (I love that word).   Painting nature is a bit more forgiving and less precise than rendering something that has been manufactured.  Tractors are specific, they have gears & grills, shiny parts and mucky parts along with very specific angles, perspective and proportions. 

The drawing has to be precise and representational of all the details.  No room for errors here.  Have to invest the time upfront to get it right.  Typically, I approach a painting with a very loose drawing focusing on volume – how much space the subject occupies, proportions, and the best composition to do it the most justice.  So I had to switch gears with this one. No pun intended.

In order to capture the softness of the spring sky I used a gel medium to keep the acrylic paint wet longer to allow for more blending.  Then I began working on the details of the horizon and the areas between the rail fence. 

Next I fussed with getting the reds right.  I mixed and tested and mixed some more.  Somewhere along the line I began to relearn that acrylic reds are difficult.  The colors deepen as they dry – whereas with watercolor they lighten.  Often deepening for several hours after the color has been applied.  Also acrylic reds have a tendency towards streaking. Layer after layer after layer of red and orange were applied.  The next day more layering of lighter reds. You get the idea. 

And finally, it is complete and I am at the starting stage.  This is when I stare at the painting with squinty eyes and a critical view.  Looking for any area requiring tweaking and fussing.  I generally wait two- three days before sealing the work and framing – just in case….

wanna play wanna play

This is a painting of our doggie.  Sadie is a highly spirited border collie lab cross and is always looking for someone to play with or for someone to pay attention to her.  She is very expressive and communicates with us quite clearly - Almost always about attention and/or food or food and/or attention!

She is getting on in years now.  We think she is about eleven - not sure as she was a resuce dog.  Her hair is turning quite white and she has started to slow down some.

This is a mixed watermedia painting on Ampersand Aquabord.  This surface is wonderful for painting textures such as fur and hair.

Daisy Fresh - Work in progress -completed

This painting was pure fun to work on.  Layer after layer of poured colors in combination with layers of masking compound,  When working in this fashion, you really have to plan you work - as it is not quite as intuitive as painting directly. The toughest part of all this is actually removing the mask.  

Then the fun really begins when you go back in and crispen (is this even a word?) up the edges and freshen up certain colors.The most challenging part is knowing when to stop and resisting the urge to overwork the painting. 

This painting is custom framed.  I haad to resist the urge to use a goldenrod colored inner mat - too  trendy - the finished result is quite lovely.  Greenish inner mat - off white outer mat with a v-grove.