Toronto Arts and Crafts Sale 2018

One-Long-Line Drawings

I'm all prepared for the show tomorrow. I'll be selling my original watercolour paintings and my One-Long-Line Drawings. They are so fun to draw. I just keep my pen on the paper and let the line wander. 

This is my 7th year in the show. I love it! Come by my table on the main floor and say Hi.

early holiday shopping

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

This little critter can't help getting some early holiday shopping done. Berries for everyone!

grazing the day away

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

This beauty is spending Sunday afternoon grazing the day away. 

Arts and Crafts Show - Sat. Nov. 17th

One week away!! Saturday Nov. 17, 2018. One day only!

This arts and crafts show is one of my favourites. There are LOTS of artisans and plenty of cool handmade items to choose from. I'll be there for the 6th year in a row. I'm on the main floor with my watercolour paintings, a few oil (!) paintings and a NEW surprise item! Come by and say Hi! It's free, from 10-5am at 310 Danforth near Chester. Yippee!

dappled grey

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

Grey horses can be born any colour (!) and then their coat lightens as they mature. In fact, they usually end up being white horses. Cool! Of course, this dappled beauty will be grey forever. : )

Star

SOLD

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

This little friend was a pleasure to paint. It's a good life being a horse... and being an artist! 

just a nibble and... back to originals!

SOLD

5x7"in an 8x10"mat

Well, that's it for another Inktober. Working with the Elegant Writer Pen was an absolute joy. It's water-soluble nature made the dark colourful inks merge with the watercolour beautifully.

sketching on a thursday afternoon

This little sketch happened today. I'm enjoying making short videos of my painting process. You can see this one painted HERE on Instagram. The clips are 1 minute each because that's the length limit Instagram accepts. So... it's in two parts. ; )

early autumn

SOLD 

$40 - 5x7 with 8x10"mat

I'm having a blast with this new water-soluble pen that I've been using for Inktober (#inktober2018) It's called the Elegant Writer Pen and it releases green and a bit of pink ink when wet. You can see two videos of me painting it on Instagram.

Inktober continues...

Rhino's Day Out

You can see a video of this guy being painted, which turned out a little better than the last one of my lion, over at Instagram and Facebook. 

Unfortunately, Blogger won't unload the video here.

Last but not least my hungry friend bear... 

Friendly, but Hungry

Art Show This Weekend!

I'll be there! Me and my paintings. Hope to see you there too! 

heavy soul

SOLD
6x8" pen and watercolour

You can see a short video of me painting this big cat over on my Instagram account - Click here 
or on my Facebook account - Here.

morning bears and smokey eyes

Inktober Day 4 and 5... the fun continues! I spilled a spot of tea on my husky drawing, right on his little snout. Fortunately, the wash of watercolour hides it. 

; )

Antelope and Donkey

A couple of cutie patooties for Inktober Day 2 and 3!

Billy Goat

I drew this with the awesome Elegant Writer Pen for Inktober Day One! With a touch of a wet brush, the pinks and greens in the black ink emerge and flow, with a mind of their own. I added a dash of pink to his nose. ; )

subtlety

6x12" original watercolour painting

Here's another piece from my last portrait painting session, where we artists take turns sitting for each other. (It's surprisingly difficult to sit still for 25 minutes! If you try it, you'll have a whole new respect for life models.) 

I wanted to tie in the red shirt with the red glasses. I'm really happy with her expression but I'm feeling that the 6x12" size might just cut off people's shoulders, giving them a big looking head!

our fearless leader!

6x12" original watercolour

At our portrait session last weekend, I decided to create 6x12" paintings. Mostly because I had paper that size and I wanted to use it up. ; ) I drew a loose energetic line with charcoal pencil then added lots of fresh watercolour paint.

On most social media, like Facebook and Instagram, you can only post pics as a square. So, here's the complete painting.

cattails

$40 - 8x10"original watercolour painting.

I painted this sketch of cattails at the wonderful, very green, Corktown. Fellow pleinair painters and I set up our easels at this lovely lily pond, however it was the cattails that caught my eye. (Although fellow artists called them bulrushes). They actually remind my of my childhood since there were plenty of them in my neighbourhood and we always thought they were so cool!

Save the Date!

If you're in Toronto, this is the first of a few group art shows I'll be in before the holidays. Over 20 of artists in this one! Hope to see you there!!

free rein

SOLD

$80 - 8x10" original watercolour painting.

This fella' speaks for himself.

catching up on some thinking

 

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

It's always nice to sit with a cup of tea and catch up on some thinking. Or in my case, some drawing... ; )

a couple of portraits

Two 11x14" watercolour pieces (with a couple of details) from my last life painting session. : )

today at life painting

 1 minute gesture painting

 2 minute gesture painting

5 minute painting

First day back at life painting! Here are a few paintings from today, of my favourite model. I used charcoal pencil to draw, added green and warm/cool reds, then a splash of turquoise. I tried to stay loose and as gestural as possible. Soooo fun. If you haven't tried drawing from life, I highly recommend it. You never know what might happen when you're under the time pressure.

a good read

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

It was so nice to see someone reading a book at a local cafe this morning. Instead of having their nose in their phone. When I first started drawing I captured people reading all the time. Now, it's a rare treat.

climb

SOLD

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

Not sure how this pic ended up so angled... but here's my drawing in my paintbox which sits on my lap. : )

Good 'ole Winsor Newton travel palette with my choice of tube paints squeezed out. I change and/or add colours as my style changes over the years. Although the warm cool staples remain the same. 

The path didn't go in that direction, but I added it since there was just so much greenery around the base of the little building. I know everyone says green is a difficult colour. Not sure that's true, it's just that there's always so much of it! I decided to call this one 'climb' for two reasons, the little ladder and because the flowers are climbing towards the sun. : )

charcoal and watercolour

Charcoal Drawing

Adding a second (and final) layer of watercolour

Some charcoal added to the shadow side

Last Tuesday's portrait night at Don Valley Art Club ended off our summer sessions just right. : )

I drew the model in charcoal, painted it with watercolour then brought it together with a layer of charcoal. The final charcoal, on the shadow side, didn't blend like I anticipated it would, I think because it was sitting on top of the watercolour. I like it, but I think it looks a bit 'rough' and I may save this technique for a male model next time. I'm happy that I played around and tried something different, which I guess is what it's all about...