Red Tin Rooster

Red Tin Rooster

6x6

Oil on Paper

I had a fabulous morning painting en plein air. I tagged along as a visitor to the Victoria Sketch Club and painted at the most beautiful private gardens. There was a small and very quaint rustic log cabin. The wood was weathered and moss grew in the chinking. I started with a thumbnail and then 'drew' on the paper using a stiff brush and cad red. I then painted the darks and shadows so they would be in place as the light shifted.Then we all had lunch and good conversation in the house as it has decided to pour with rain. A good day.

The Great Greats

As much as I am enjoying painting small daily paintings, I need a project I can sink my teeth into. When I had been at mom and dad's I had gone through some old photos with another project in mind. There some very old photos and this one of my great greats said it needed to be painted. As you can see the original photo is teeny tiny, quite faded and damaged on the back. I tried scanning it but that was unsuccessful, so thi morning I tried with my camera. Much better. I printed off a copy to grid up and will be working from the reference photo viewed through my wall mounted monitor. I drew the image on an 18x24  canvas and roughly painted in the darks and toned the canvas.Hmmm now to think how i will approach this painting. And yes I will be painting it in colour and applying value and temperature.

I will continue to paint daily on small paintings but also working on The Great Greats and updating their progress.

Marc's BBQ

Marc's BBQ

10x8 

Oil on Board

Today's painting is a quick plein air from my back yard. My son,Marcus, made this BBQ 5 years ago, and used it a few times before becoming vegetarian. Beside it is an overgrown herb garden box that my daughter, Colleen, painted.

Emmi's Fence

Emmi's Fence

6x6

Oil on Canvas Panel

I actually painted this painting last evening. I was sitting watching TV and I glanced out the window and saw my neighbour's fence and boulevard garden. I quickly did a thumbnail and went to my studio and set up a few small daubs of oil in my pochade box. I used only 2 small brushes, a flat and a round. Using the KISS rule it only took me about 45 minutes to paint. What I put down stayed, no fiddling. I really like it. When I showed it to Glen he knew right away where the scene was.

Beach Explorations

Beach Explorations

6"x6"

Acrylic on Canvas Panel

Yesterday while in Parksville, BC, I went to the boardwalk and snapped some photos of people on the beach. I am such a chicken I use my ultra long lens so I am not intrusive. This was a lovely little family scene. They were really focused on being in the moment with their young son. I painted it with a very limited palette, 4 colours and black and white, experimenting with Kroma Acrylics (made on Granville Island BC). Very nice. Still finding acrylics a bit of a challenge and my painting style is a bit different. It is all good.

Waiting for a Ferry

This daily painting is addictive. This was painted in my car while on the ferry. Bouncy. I had taken a quick photo of this man standing in the back of his camper using his cell with my phone on extreme digital magnification. Then drew a thumbnail. I was bored on the ferry so I went to the car and painted this painting in about 40 minutes. A wee bit messy.

Idle Paint Brush Day

Today was an idle paint brush day. I did some  prep work for a really big painting I want to work on, I also rearranged my studio for this rather big canvas. I set up and photographed the portraits, and got them web ready and emailed them off to Lisa. I put on a coat of medium to even out the surfaces of the 2 large portrait commissions.  So I didn't actually paint but I did do art related stuff. I am doing a small road trip tomorrow so I hope to take pics and maybe some sketching but paiinting will need to wait until Saturday.

Cheers
Chris