Westbrook Sunday   ..11" x 14"   ..O/C

This piece was painted on a white gessoed canvas. I found it to be a strange and unfamiliar surface to paint on because my last number of paintings were executed  on Masonite panels over a long period of time.  I guess that I had become comfortable over time with that painting support. I did however remember and still liked the "bounce" or "springy" feel of the tight stretched canvas when the loaded brush was placed on the surface.

My personal preference has become to use Masonite panels for any painting sizes 11" x 14" and under and to use stretched canvas or linen for sizes over 11" x 14".

For most plein air work, I tend to stick to , 11 x 14, 10 x 12, 9 x 12 or 8 x 10. These are, to me, the most manageable to use and carry, especially during our unpredictable winter weather.

Durning warmer weather or summer when it is less windy, I have used stretched canvas in favourite sizes of, 12" x 16", 16 x 20, 20 x 24 and even 24 x 30.

...And larger just for fun...

'til next.

The Calm And The Turbulence   ..11" x 14"   o/p

Usually, after laying in the composition of the painting, I continue with laying in the dark washes of the shadow sides of the main objects, establishing their values, then the lighter side.

The bottom or foreground in this case, was established thirdly.

I think that this method or 'order', ( sounds like a rule to break) allows me to continue working with the subject of the painting, bringing it to a more finished look or at least gives a good hint as to how it may look when closer to finish.

I feel that this is an important stage of the painting because the finished or near finished 'look' of the main objects and foreground at this point will influence or help determine how I will handle the sky.

In the majority of my paintings , I employ this method.

It just seems to me to make more sense to have the main objects or subject determine the sky effect than to have the opposite, the limitations of the prepainted sky influencing the rest of the painting.

From here on it is simply a question of adjusting values and perhaps bringing some of the sky colour/colours into the rest of the near completed painting.  ..Just my humble opinion !

'til next..

Winter Roadside Sumac    ..11" x 14"    ..o/p

It happens from time to time. I was traveling north on a fairly busy hi way,  looking for a scene to paint. As I reached near the bottom of a small hill, I spotted the scene that excited me as a painting. I really liked the colours and the composition seemed ideal as it was.

As bad luck would have it, this particular portion of the hi way did not have a shoulder wide enough to allow me to pull over and park my vehicle let alone set up to paint safely from oncoming traffic.
I decided to make another pass of the scene and take a picture from my moving car. At least I would have a photo reference for a future studio painting.

By unintentionally slowing down a couple of cars behind me, I was able to fumble with my camera enough to take a quick photo through the driver's side window, all the while, I am sure, my vehicle moved aimlessly forward. I recovered my 'driving position' and carried on up the road, trying to cover up my embarrassment from the occupents in their passing cars.

I do not recommend this unsafe, embarrassing method of shooting reference photographs !

'til next.

Deserted Farm In Winter  ...11" x 14"  ...O/P

My palette for this painting consisted of, Prussian blue, permanent rose , cadmium yellow, burnt sienna, yellow ocher, a Portland grey light mixture, cadmium red light and titanium white.

My medium for this painting, as usual, was an odourless solvent.

The panel was Masonite that had two applications of gesso applied to the surface. No sanding was done to the surface pryer to applying paint. In this particular painting, the surface was left white.

The method in proceeding with this painting was to use a lot of medium with the colour and to apply it to the surface in a loose manner , indicating the big shapes of the house, the background trees, the large "clump" of trees on bottom right and the smaller, lighter bush on the lower left of the panel. Darker shadow areas were loosely laid in on top of the previous wash of dark bush colour. The sky was then washed on...

What we had now on the panel was a loose wash drawing of the scene with little or no detail. This, maybe needless to say, was done "squinting" from time to time, checking some things as colour values and colour perspective.

Once the 'wash'  has had a chance to evaporate, the final,  less saturated local colours were applied to the appropriate areas, paying attention to the drawing in general and 'lost and found' edges. ( We do not want that 'cutout ' look happening ! ) Finally, the thicker paint was applied to the brighter and closest areas of the painting.

I found that this method of execution to be quite organized, yet allows for a great deal of freedom from start to finish.

'til next...

On The Way To Carleton Place   ...11" x 14"   oil/panel

This piece was painted on a gesso (two coats) prepared Masonite panel. The gesso surface was left rough and no flat colour was added  to the surface prier to painting. The composition and layout were layed in loosely with colours mixed freely with odourless solvent until the whole surface was covered. This layer of colour(s) is now the underpainting.

Once the surface had evaporated, the layout was reinforced with the dryer local colours of the objects and built up to their final finish, while working all over the panel. This action can be quite intuitive. 

While at this stage of painting, I think it is wise to step back from the painting from time to time to examine the 'impressions' and 'values' of the paint strokes just layed, compared to the whole. It  helps to look through 'squinted ' eyes while doing this exam. I also check for lost and found edges as well.

Picking out and painting the final details and accents will bring one to the finish.

Except for waiting the first washes to evaporate, it seemed as though most of the painting 'happend' by itself in short order.

'til next..

A Roadside Sketch   ..5" x 7"   ...Oil / Panel

It is what one does if it is determined that the weather is too cold, cold and windy, cold and not enough light, or, who wants to get out of a warm vehicle ?...The procrastination goes on and on. It can happen any season of the year. But for me, it happens mostly in late winter, right around now !

Now is a good time to get out the 'thumb' pachode box, the little panels and the limited palette and a rag to clean your brushes.This is all the equipment one will need to do a quick sketch, without having to 'stomp' the feet for circulation or chase a blown canvas down some ditch.

How much information one needs for a quick sketch is determined by you or maybe the conditions under which you are working. There is nothing to say that you can't  take it home , give it a few last licks and call it a "quick reference sketch".

...And you have accomplished something today.

'til next..



Snow Doons   ..11" x 14"   ..o/p

This painting first started by me applying a reddish orange wash to the entire surface. I let it set for about five minutes and then rubbed the surface lightly to remove the excess runny wash. I had not tryed a background wash for a number of paintings and I wanted to see the visual effect of using the new palette on it.

I do like the result of the background 'peeking' through where the paint is applied around the contour of the foreground tree on the left. I prefer this "look" to the "close crop look". I think it is softer.

The painting was started with a loose wash in the darkest value of the object's mother colour. The painting was further refined as each later colour/value was added to the appropriate object. Lastly, the detailed subjects were added as finishing touches.

Again, I must say that I enjoyed playing with this new limited palette.

'til next..