the storyteller

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6x6" original painting on 1/8" board.

I love the shape of this oil bottle. It's got a kind of confidence about it. The tomatoes are certainly enthralled with what it has to say! 

I used the lovely Ampersand flat (1/8") panel, pre-gessoed, for this piece. They are wonderful to paint on! 

older and wiser

   $60 - 6x8"original gouache painting

A friend told me that she could see in my latest gouache portraits that I was really enjoying painting with gouache. I was thrilled with that comment, and she's right! I do love painting with it. Watercolour is awesome but sometimes it's nice to apply some thick paint.  ; )

Here's my set up. I use the same air tight (pretty much) palette that Lena Rivo uses. Check her out on Instagram if you're interested. Her gouache paintings are awesome.

Here's a close up. Trying to let lots of colours blend together, just like watercolour.

It's nice to look at the painting in black and white, to make sure the values are working together. 

I am now a firm believer that working with a different medium (gouache) for a while really enhances your knoweldge of your usual medium (watercolour). It's really informative to be able to make comparisons. : )

january's flower - the carnation

$60 - 5x7"original watercolour painting with 8x10"mat.

I love January. The start of a new year is always inspired by new year's resolutions and fresh ideas. This orange carnation is January's flower, bringing in the new year with lots of bold colour. 

Here are some close ups -

Latest News!

First of all, it turns out that there was an article about our art show in the Toronto Observer, including a pic of me and my art table! Here's the link. 

Second, I decided to use gouache at our Don Valley Art Club portrait session. 

Gouache (opaque watercolour) creates a mat finish of very intense colours.

These 25 minute poses, at 5x7" each, are fellow artists. It's challenging to grab hold of a bit of likeness in the short time allowed. I'm going to keep playing with this medium. 

We'll see... ; )

heading home with Saturday's shopping

$60 - original 5x7" watercolour painting with 8x10"mat for easy framing.

I'm really enjoying painting this 'Toronto People' series. Everyone is so interesting! ; )

what's important in portraiture...

9x12"original watercolour

Well, I am very happy with this portrait despite not getting a likeness to the model this time. There is so much happening in portraiture painting that is interesting to me as an artist and simply getting a likeness isn't what makes portraits fascinating. On the other hand, of course capturing the person's features plays a role. The trick is balancing the two. 

So, I've decided to fill a sketchbook with pencil drawings that concentrate solely on getting a likeness to the model. I'm hoping the drawing practise will hone my skills, enough so I can forget about that practicality and go back to 'responding' to the model with watercolour paint. : )

rail operator

8x8"original watercolour painting

I think my hard work, as I plug away at portraiture, is getting me closer to what I'm trying to achieve. Daily practise (or close to it) really is the answer.

Sunday Afternoon

I recently did some portrait drawings, pictured below, that have been waiting for a splash of watercolour! Today I finished one and got started on another. It's interesting how much the pencil drawing changes once watercolour is added. The first one below is this painting above! The next two are charcoal drawings. 

favourite hat

$60 - 5x7"original watercolour painting with 8x10"mat

Well, it seems the 'hat wearers' just keep on coming. Today's cafe moment features 2 people in hats, which are such a treat to paint. I don't think this woman knew I was drawing her, she seemed more excited that we were all enjoying the Passion Iced Tea. Her friend included. His just peeks out from behind his arm. 

: )

sun hat

5x7" original watercolour painting

As I said in my last post, it was Hat Day at Portrait Drawing on Sunday so here's another painting of a fellow artist wearing a... well you know. ; )
I won't be approaching dots on the face (to represent the light coming through a hat) in this manner again. It's not working for me. And that is exactly what short poses are all about, figuring out what works and what doesn't. Paint Small and Learn Big.

Bendy Straw-Berry

$60 - 6x9"original watercolour with 9x12" mat.

It's a long weekend. Yippee and Yummy!

I hope you all find some creative time this weekend.

Cheers.

subtle style

$60 - 6x9"original watercolour painting with 9x12"mat

The reference for this painting was from the awesome sktchy app. It is a wonderful free source that has lots of portraits to choose from. Check out the home page of paintings and then just swipe right to see the original photo. It's very inspiring and really cool to see what artists have done. : )

Monday's Model

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$80 - 8x10"original watercolour painting

Yesterday's model was just lovely. It was our first week back in the new year and it was a great way to kick things off. Here are a few details of her portrait and hair. Hair is tricky! Big brush, confident strokes and leave it alone! ; )

can you spot me ten bucks?

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$60 - 5x7"original watercolour painting with 8x10"mat.

This title, which my sister came up with, cracks me up. 

It was wonderful to create dark colourful blobs with soft and hard edges, sometimes on dry paper, sometimes on wet, when painting this spotted friend. The spots are blue, brown and purple. 

Lately I've been drawing wild cats. Here are some lioness'.

a reason to be proud

$60 - 5x7"original watercolour painting with 8x10"mat, ready to pop into a frame!

There's lots of anticipation for this beauty to arrive at the distant waiting crowd.

; )

And here's the initial drawing, before I added watercolour. : )

on the lookout

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$60 - 5x7"original watercolour painting with 8x10"mat, ready to frame!

This little guy is looking right at you, and he likes what he sees! 

; )

a flying start

$150 - 11x14"original watercolour painting

I'm still plugging away at trying to work bigger. : ) This one was a blast to paint. Lots of shapes and colours.

shapes and splatters

$60 - 6x9" original watercolour painting in 9x12"mat

I drew this during a life drawing session, with a strong contour line and added my new favourite palette, pink and olive green. I've been working with these two colours now for awhile, and I'm really liking the way the cool pink plays off the warm green. I then added a few decisive shapes... and not so decisive splatters. ; )

rocky stream

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$60 - 5x7"original watercolour painting and 8x10"mat

Fellow painters and I spent the day at the wonderful Toronto Botanical Gardens called Edwards Gardens. While under a shady tree, I painted this rocky stream, which was moving quite fast from all the rain we've had. There were about 10 of us from the Don Valley Art Club there and we all had a great sunny day. Below are a few pics of my trusty paintbox. ; )

1/2 way there...

walking man

11x14" original watercolour painting.

I painted this portrait yesterday at a Sunday Painting Workshop. The model went for walks during his break, (every 20 minutes) because it was such a lovely day. So, he returned for each sitting with his cheeks slightly pink. : ) He wore a pink/red shirt so, it all went together nicely.
Here are two more photos, of the drawing and one of the model in the background.