Live and Learn

I´d been thinking about doing a watercolour painting of a blue jay when last week I found a blue jay feather in my backyard. It was pretty much impossible to look at the feather without wanting to paint it, so I did a quick little watercolour... 

After the feather was done I started on the whole bird. I think this piece might turn out to be an elaborate preliminary because I´m not please with the composition. I misplaced the bird and now his tail feathers are getting smooshed into the edge of the picture frame. Hmm, so maybe the week your two year old has been sick and cranky and wearing you out a little is not the week to start a finicky new painting. When I´m doing a watercolour I don´t draw the outline of what I´m going to paint because I don´t what there to be any pencil lines in my painting, but this is one time when it may not have hurt to pencil in the bird before I started painting.

Dog Days of Summer

Phew, it's been a fun summer! I know it still is summer, but for my own part I'm feeling the need to buckle down and get things done, a feeling I associate with September and the return to school. I like that feeling-- it makes fall feel like a second spring in the sense that you're ready to start things afresh. The fact that the weather is starting to get a little cooler is also preparing me for the surety that summer has to end some time. And since I did some camping last week, my summer is feeling pretty complete. Although a trip to the zoo would really top it off nicely.

Something I'm looking forward to in September is the Grimsby Festival of Art which happens Sept 10. This will be my first year as an exhibitor at the GFA and between the beautiful setting and the throngs of people who come to admire and purchase art, I think it should be a good time. I'll write some more about the Festival and what I'll be doing there when the date gets a little closer.

In the meantime, here's a watercolour painting I did of two pet dogs that was commissioned as a gift for the owner who lives here in Hamilton. I'm pleased to say the painting was a gigantic hit! Because the gift was arranged as a surprise, there weren't many photographs to choose from for source material so I worked from one of the toughest photos I've used yet, see below...

Sketching in the Rain

Yaaaay, the chord that connects my camera to my computer arrived in the mail today! It was mistakenly left behind in British Columbia when we returned home. Now I can download the recent vacation photos I took and pictures of some of my artwork. As I think about it, the list of things to be thankful for is limitless. That was clear to me as I sat in my backyard this afternoon sketching birds and trees while Clarence napped. After something of a dry spell, there was a good long rain today in Hamilton. Sitting under a big sun umbrella on the deck, I was able to do some sketching and stay dry. Now that's what I call summer vacation. The birds looked happy too, as they cooled off in a light rain and snacked on some bird seed.

There's also a new little painting that I'd like to share but it will have to wait a few days since the piece is a commission that's intended as a gift for someone who hasn't received it yet. I had better not ruin any surprises!

p.s. What's something you're thankful for?

Reaching My Limit

After a number of weeks away, I've returned home from a holiday to the Western most Canadian province of British Columbia. The trip was very enjoyable: most importantly we had a chance to visit with family that lives out west. We also did some sightseeing but didn't do as much hiking as I thought we would,  mostly because I came down with bronchitis and wasn't feeling ready to tackle any mountains. And I'm still getting over the chest infection, this time with the help of the right antibiotics. As my family doctor explained to me the other day, it's no wonder that I'm still coughing up unmentionable material because the doctor at the walk-in-clinic that I went to in B.C. prescribed me medicine that's meant for skin infections. Argh! I guess I now have first hand experience with the placebo effect. The antibiotics and puffer I received from my family doctor are unquestionably more effective. I know-- I have some nerve coming home from a wonderful holiday and whining about being sick but I theorize that a bit of complaining is therapeutic.

I'm eager to share some travel photos but the chord that connects the camera to the computer was forgotten at my mom-in-law's place. I'll be awaiting its return and eagerly checking the mail for the next week or so. Since I'm not occupied with going over the many pictures we took, I'm ruminating on how being away from home has a clarifying effect. An advantage of being out of your regular element and away from work is that the remove allows you to reflect on what you're doing at home and see what can be done differently. Aside from noticing how Clarence's toys can be better organized, I've realized that I should present the reproductions of my watercolour paintings as limited editions.

While I was in B.C. I saw a few open air art markets and it struck me that I don't want to make a gazillion prints of my work and that the ones that I've had made so far are of a reproduction quality that warrants their being individually numbered and signed. The one tricky thing with making my giclees limited editions is that the ones that I've already sold do not include that documentation. If you've already purchased a giclee from me and would like to have it numbered, signed, and dated please let me know and I will do that for you. My inventory and sales information is up to date so I'll know what number to give your image. For each of the paintings that I offer as giclees, the run will be limited to one-hundred prints.



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Home, Sweet Home

Day 14: A photo focusing on eyes

Day 17: A photo with street lights

Day 15: A photo of whatever you please

Day 18: A photo depicting an emotion

(hint...happiness)

Day 19: A photo that involves landscape
That's Webster's Falls in the backgound

Day 20: A photo of whatever you please

Clarence's handiwork.

 It was very important that all three kitties be riding the bulldozer.

Day 21: A photo of the sunset

I'm slowly but surely making my way through the photo challenge. However to speed up the process, I've skipped over Day 16: A photo experimenting with light trails. I have yet to master the exposure settings on my camera. I should really sit down with my camera's instruction manual but at the moment there's no time. My family and I are leaving for British Columbia tomorrow and I still need to pack. Gulp. I have till tomorrow afternoon, but still, who am I kidding, packing always takes way longer than I think it will. So when I return to Ontario, I'll revisit the elusive Day 16 and figure out how to take a photo with light trails.

Highlights of the week gone by included strawberry picking; the fruit of which I photographed in my kitchen sink just before I set out to wash 14 litres of strawberries. You would think having large amounts of fruit in your house is very healthy, but all those strawberries induced me to eat a great deal of whip cream and scones. It's simply wrong not to eat almost as much strawberry shortcake as you can while strawberries are in season. The scones are a byproduct of William and Kate's wedding. At the time they were married, all the attention on Britain made me want to eat something quintessentially British and scones seemed like the best option. I found a really nice scone recipe and haven't looked back since.

As for this week, it's only just begun, but it already has one highlight. I very much enjoyed strolling over to Sam Lawrence Park to photograph the sunset this evening. The park has a nice garden and provides a wonderful panorama of the escarpment and downtown Hamilton. Shucks, I'm going to make myself homesick and I haven't even left for holidays yet.

The Thoughtful Cowboy

Day 11: A back and white photo

Day 12: A photo experimenting with bokeh

                                       

Day 13: A photo edit that you like

The 30 day photo challenge I embarked upon a number of weeks ago is going to take many more days than 30, but oh well. Here's the latest installment. My favourite of the bunch is Day 12, a photo experimenting with bokeh. I am no photographer and I didn't know what bokeh was before I looked it up on wikipedia, so here's the link in case you don't know what bokeh is either. The bokeh photo is of a ball that's a round mesh made of green and blue plastic wires. I pointed the camera lens at the exterior of the ball and focused the camera on the opposite, interior side of the ball. It's neat how the blurry plastic strands in the foreground sort of look like battling lightsabers. 

If Day 12 is my attempt at being artful, than Day 13 is me being silly. Clarence was eating lunch and ended up with such a perfectly curled mustache of almond butter, that I felt compelled to draw a cow boy hat on his head to match the old West mustache. I used Adobe Photoshop elements. As I look at this now, the hat would've benefited from me seeing what a cow boy hat looks like or maybe just editing in a real cowboy hat. But what can I say, it was fun using the Photoshop brush.

Day 11 is simply sweet and that's thanks to the lovely little daughter of a friend and a cute raincoat. A nice note to end on, I think.

The Sky's the Limit

Here's a horse painting that I finished today and although I know the piece is complete, I'm fighting the urge to keep playing around with the layers of watercolour in the sky. Rendering the horse in this commission was enjoyable, but I was especially fortunate in that the photograph I painted from has a beautifully overcast sky. It's been a while since I've done anything that featured a large open expanse, so rendering the brooding sky from this photo was an extra delight. One of the advantages of painting from a photograph is that you can add or subtract elements in order to enhance the composition. In this case, I took out the machinery and fence. I should mention that the lovely person who commissioned this painting is married to an awesome photographer who took the great shot that is the basis for the painting.