Still Safe from the Snow

Érable/Maple

    

Tilleul/Linden

Lors de mes promenades de la semaine dernière, j'ai trouvé plusieurs fruits qui restait de l'étè toujours attachés aux arbres et arbustes. Je les ai peints pour terminer 4 petites aquarelles. J'ai eu l'idée de créer un dessin d'une couronne qui sera terminée bientôt!

Cerise/Cherry

During my walks last week, I came across seeds and fruit which were still clinging to trees and bushes. After making several small watercolours, I decided to combine them to paint a winter wreath. It will be posted soon!

Stillness

I haven't posted much lately but here's one I painted a couple of weeks ago. In addition to holiday preparations, I've been experimenting with coloured pencil on canvas. I might have a photo of that one up soon. Drawing on canvas is a more labour intensive process. Joyeuses fêtes tout le monde!

Yellow Reflection

(Private Collection)

I spent a long time working on this small painting. I wanted the yellow reflection of the pear in the reddish mug to show up well. Again, looking for the small details is one of the joys and challenges of still life painting!

Green Spot

(Private Collection)

Looking for and capturing reflected light on objects is an intriguing part of painting transparent  objects in still life painting. For example the colours mix as the light passes through the green bottle onto the yellow pear to create a new lovely green. Taking the time to see and record this kind of thing is what keeps me coming back to paint every day. 

New Tea Cup

Things have a funny way of ending up on my shelves of still life objects. Every morning I wait for the bus in front of a shop which sells collectibles. Last week they had an array of porcelain tea cups. I don't really use them for drinking but, this morning, their possibilities for still life painting were very obvious. I stopped in after work and bought a few! It seems the price of collectible tea cups has dropped drastically lately, making them affordable for my purposes!

Classical

The shapes and colours of this painting remind me of Classical Greek architecture.

Morning Light

Using artificial light can be very liberating as it allows me to paint at any time of day.

It can, however, limit the drama which can be achieved by using natural light at 

certain times of day. With this in mind, I intentionally created more 

contrast while working on this painting.

Toward the Sun

November Garden

As much as I hate to see all the flowers fade and die at this time 

of year, sedum keeps its delicate beauty for months.

Inktense Experiment

I painted this composition in my usual way and let it dry.

Then I brushed water over a couple of areas and scraped

bits of Inktense watercolour pencil into the water.

I like the effect but find it difficult to get the bits to go exactly 

where I  want them to!

Cold Remedy #2

This is the same setup as the one I used for yesterday's composition

 painted from further back. 

Cold Remedy

(Private Collection)

The theme for the Daily Paintworks challenge this week was "Hibernation".

Since we can't really hibernate and have to deal with winter in all its glory which includes

colds, I decided to paint the ingredients for a cold remedy. Lemon, tea and a secret ingredient!

Clear as Day

                              

I used only three colours for this painting:

Holbein Imidazolone yellow, Opera and Ultramarine Deep. 

I enjoy the challenge of not painting clear glass containers. You really can't paint them, just the reflections of things on them. That's the fun!

Red Pair

(Private Collection)

Lemon, Onion and Blue

Three Shadows

Best Pears Ever

Curling Squash

Settled

(Sold)

Purple Coneflower

A painting based on a sketch I did last August when these were blooming in my garden.

Election Night

I painted these early in the evening of our Canadian election night.

Le Pommes de Françoise

Françoise Vézina Gagnon, a textile artist from Île d'Orléans in Quebec, brought some delicious apples to Montreal recently. These two were just right for a spot in a painting.

Morning Glory

Blue Cup

Running Out of Garlic

(Sold)

Blue Shadow

Little Red

Still Life with Grapes

(Private Collection)

Setting up to paint a still life can take some time. Adding what I felt were the right amount of grapes, for example, required a ridiculous number of variations on this arrangement. It's all part of the process of painting. This playing with objects can't be rushed. Questions arise: do these shapes lead the eye around the painting? Is there a balance? Is the negative space interesting? Are there distracting folds in the background fabric?

Little Brown Jug

There's a folk song by this name. Couldn't help but use it for this painting!

Tail Up

Follow the Leader

There's an Onion in the Way

(Sold)

Tango #2

Tango

Little Roses

White on White

I usually work on Arches 140lb cold pressed paper and have done so for many years. I tried a new kind of paper today. It comes from the Papeterie St. Armand in Montreal. Each 4x6 inch sheet is individually made of pure cotton pulp. It's quite white and rougher than Arches. I love it! (Sold)

Serpentine

How to Change a Sphere into a Flower Double Primary Palette

I find the work of Joyce Washor to be incredibly inspiring. She paints small still life watercolours and landscapes. This is a short video about how she paints certain kinds of flowers.

Overcast Forest

Another scene captured at our much walked Mont St-Bruno. Worked from a photograph once back in my studio.

Wobbly Bottle

When setting up a still life, I often audition several background fabrics and coloured papers. White is winning out most of the time these days! It allows the reflections of the still life objects, the lighting and even the weather of the day to appear as part of the composition.

Duplex

Garlic and Lemon

Blueish

(Sold)

Tearless Trio

(Sold)

Landscape Layers

A small painting inspired by a photograph I took in the Laurentians. While I enjoy plein aire painting and work outdoors on occasion, circumstances don't always allow me to drop everything and paint! When a lovely vista presents itself, I often capture it in a photograph. This way, I can relive the moment as I paint it in my studio.

Apple Study

I love the work of Claude Cézanne! It was with his watercolours in mind that I began this small study. He layered colours one over the other to achieve luminous layered paintings. (Sold)

Snuggling

(Sold)

Purple Haze