Newest Finished Painting

This was intended to be more or less a 'study' so I did it on a 12 X 16 inch canvasboard.

it turned out rather nicer than I thought it would and in fact is perhaps the first one I have done with my friend John that 'might' be a little nicer than his version.

It is from a photo I took a few weeks before just down the street from me.....a flowerpot on a mailbox support.

I hope you like it.

P.S. It is so far unsigned as I intend to do a few little touchups to it before i declare it finished.

Painting 7

This is not my own composition although it resembles many of the places I visit in the north.

It is changed substantially from the original but nontheless it is NOT from a photo of mine.

It's a little dark and that is really how I wanted it....a little broody and the sky is decidedly unsettled....but to me it's a 'warm' painting.

Hope you like it.

Painting # 6

This is a scene looking down Mercer Lake from the middle of the lake not far from the landing.

Done in the late evening in the fall it 'tries' to show the late evening sun on the tops of the trees on the western side of the lake.

A favorite spot of ours for camping for many years it usually has no visitors at all in the late fall....when we usually find ourselves there.

I have shown this time the painting done in 3 stages....that's all I could remember to take with my camera.

#1 picture shows just the wash for the sky and water.

#2 picture I have added some greenery and a little shore.

#3 picture had a little more detail and shows the light on the tree tops.

I hope you enjoy it.

Painting # 5

This painting is my first in a new-for-me larger size....12 X 16.

I have to say that I much prefer the larger size.

More paint to push around but less fiddley and easier to correct any mistakes ( although I NEVER make any ).

The scene is from the west end of Lake Nipissing in an area generally called the West Arm.

The road in is not usable by anything but the most highly strung trucks or a quad or a nice long walk if that's your style.

It's called Hidden Island after a camp that used to be situated here years ago and attracts some pretty determined fishermen and women.

I hope you like it.

Painting # 4....Sugar Shack Road

This painting is of a road to a sugaring off shack not too far from my house.

It is completely surrounded by huge maples and this day it was incredibly green.

This painting is 9 X 12 and is as usual in acrylic.

John and I both did it but he took a liberty and inserted a deer on the road in the foreground....a nice addition but slightly beyond my ability I think.

I think I might have captured the feeling of the dirt road and the light and shadows that played across it.

Let me know what you think.

My Studio.....LOL

Here's a picture of John and I working in my studio....which my wife INSISTS on calling the kitchen.

There she is, in the background......disaproving of our kitchen space gobbling.....oh well.....at least she ended up with something to hang on the wall.

Visible in the background is a loon I carved and yes.....we're in Northern Ontario so there are the obligatory snowshoes.....not yet put away for the winter.

As well note the homemade easel with my own 'special' touch of 'rails' on each side where I rest a homemade dowel so I can more easily make straight lines and details on the paintings.

We sure had fun this day!

Third Painting

April 15,

Just finished my third painting and my second one done with John and, as usual it is done from one of my photographs.

Although he works with the same medium...acrylic, John is using a larger canvas than I am...about 16 X 20 while I am still using the 9 X 12 ones.

This is a picture of my friend Peter's farm near Peterboro Ontario where he raises sheep for both breeding sales and meat.

This view is from an overgrown orchard looking toward his old red brick farmhouse.

I was quite pleased with this one and felt that I had at least captured some of the shadows that were present.

It was a warm sunny day in the spring and we had just finished a full day of pulling lambs.

Once again I hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think of it.

Second Painting

WOW!!

It's been about 3 weeks and John and I have both been busy doing firewood for next year but we managed to get together once a week and do a painting over a 2 week period.

This one is yet another horse and barn but from a different location.

It was from a picture I took a few years ago during a snowstorm at full zoom with my

Canon S3 IS.....full zoom being 12 X so a lot of compression is shown in the barn and background.

This painting was done over a 2 week period taking about 5 hours in total.....with several re-works!

I did it completely on my own and didn't even show the preliminary work to John.

At the same time he came over once a week and we worked on yet another painting.

All in all I'm very happy with this one.....and most of all I think I 'accidentally' captured the snowstorm and the atmosphere that goes with it.

I hope you enjoy it and as always....please feel free to leave any criticisms and/or comments.

Here is the very first painting I ever did in my life. It's acrylic on a canvasboard about 9 X 12 inches.

Looking back I realize it's weaknesses but I was VERY pleased at the time with it and still think it was a nice first effort.

I painted this at my kitchen table with my painter friend John....himself a very experienced and acomplished painter so I had the benefit of his experience and criticism.

This is done from a photograph taken just down the road at a local fellow's place who does sugaring off for a hobby.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Opening Shot

This Blog should really have commenced on Feburary 28th....the day I decided to do my first painting ever.
Not to worry....I'll backdate some of the entries to reflect my starting on that date.
I decided to start this Blog after visiting another one by a friend and realizing it was enjoyable to follow their progress at my leisure....so here we go.