Foothills

oil on board 8*10

I didn't realize that I hadn't posted this one this was painted on the way back from Chain Lakes Alberta, after a Fathers & Son Camp.
I like to go down roads and exploring where thy lead even if they say no exit, there are usually interesting things going on down that road.

Indian Summer

Oil on Board 8*10
Man it was hot yesterday, I even got a suntan, the bugs were everywhere plus migrating spiders, flying everywhere I had to discourage them from landing on my pallete and the wasps were out to sniff me too.Trying my hardest to paint these Autumn trees, tougher than it looks. I enjoyed the fact that I can still paint these colours.

Millerville Hills

Oil on Board 8*10
This was something I have had my on for some time outside Millerville, there were horse in the field and they wern't cooperating with me I wanted so interesting photos for the winter and well all I was getting was horse butt, I don't like painting butt if I can help it.

Foothills

oil on board 10*10
I wanted to try something different so The children were back at school and I wasn't so distracted, This is a place near Chain lakes about an hour drive south of Calgary. not quite Bar - u - Ranch but pretty close. You can tell that this is a plein air painting as there are bugs flying in the sky. I cant save them all

Farmers Pond

Oil on Board. 8*10

I was determined not to paint so dark in the background. so that the rest of the painting would be so dark. I found this place driving up and down dead end roads. the farmer had created these ponds on his ranchland I gues to encourage the wildlife. Luckily there wasn't to many mosquito's

K Country

Oil on Board 8*10

Painted this on our way from our camping trip with the children is was a wet spitty day, the clouds were spotty and created this lighting effect of patches of bright colour.
I think next time I wont that tree on the side and the confidence for the painting to stand up on it's own with out your eyes falling off the painting.

Sunset near Okotoks

Oil on Board 8*10

Painted this with a plein study group and with Doug Swinton I had only 10 mins to really put down paint and interpret enough to get a good idea as the sun was going down so fast

Out in the Boonies.

Oil on board 10*12

Highwood Pass

Oil on Board 8*10
I painted this when we went camping the other day, I should have waited for another couple of hours to have painted it, then I would have had better light so by the time I had finished painting the light had changed so much. I know for next time.

Distant Rain

Oil on Gessoed board 8*10

I wanted to try another Sky painting to get a sense of distance and to see if I could do a better foreground this time. I works better. I like the contrast of the heavy cloud with the distant red clouds at the bottom of the sky shapes. I like the yellow patch of rape seed this helps the painting so much.

The last painting I had been looking around for a good spot, so I got out of the car and I walking and I heard an bird of prey screeching in the back ground. Ok that was normal we get a lot of rodents around here, then I heard a whoshing sound, I didn't think anything of it and it happened again. I looked up and I was being dive bombed by an eagle!! and this happened about 6 or 7 times. so I just sat in the van side door and it flew away after that.

Summer Afternoon

Oil on Gessoed board 8*10

I wanted to try a sky scene this time. with the mountains and I liked this hazy silvery clouds we get.
It kinda worked out. I'm not sure of the foreground trees.

Shadow Fields

Oil on board 6*8

I have been building a bunch of things for the store, so now I am back.
I missed painting these fields last year and now is my chance, I saw this field on the way to paint the last painting. I took a few photos that means it was less than 30 photos, thank goodness for digital cameras. I feel the mountains worked and the foreground it is just the middle ground that I need to figure out now. It was cool to see these big clouds go over head and see all the shapes they made in the shadows and the shadow colours.

Rainy Creek new growth.

Oil on Gessoed Board 8*10

I went back to the same place as the last painting I did and I tried something different, I went a whole lot lighter. I told myself that I know that is dark back there but I will make it lighter so that the rest of the painting dosn't go too dark. I think it worked. I got home and made just a few tweaks with the darks just to pull it out more and I added a few more burnt sticks

Rainy creek, K country.

10*10 oil on gessoed Board

This painting I found today, in K country, I got everthing out and realized I didn't have my turpiniod, which I use to wash clean my brushes. I wanted to try out my new things I learned from Jim Wilcox and his video. So I just juiced up the paint and went for it. I will be going here again I think and try a different angle. I like the mountains I just have to find a better way of doing the front.

Barn on the X22

Oil on gessoed board 8*10

I didn't want to go too far today and I have been saving this spot for a while, after yesterday I had to figure out what I didn't do right and I didn't have enough darks going on, so with this painting, I took a breather and just looked a bit more. and then I just added the darks and it pulled it together more made it sharper, there wasn't a lot of darks added just a wee bit. In the bushes, the door and window and some of the fence posts.

Rainy day

8*8 Oil painted on gessoed board.

I have been here before and I am drawn to it, for several reasons being the distance from my house, the trees in foreground and background and the hill and sky.

I did notice when I took this photo that I did repeat the shapes of the trees in the background without knowing it, I knocked them out after I saw them on the blog.
It's tricky you dont see stuff like that when you are painting only when you see it from another perspective.

Light box Mk1

I have made the light box, it is the first attempt and I already think that I need to change the tracing paper to something more diffuse and stronger. But it works for now.

Green Hill on hwy 40

Oil on Gessoed board. 8*10

I made it today with a group to K country, They were riding to the top of this mountain and well I wasn't gonna be able to do that with my painting gear, which I have to reduce the weight by at least half, So after I got puffed I stopped, looked around and saw this place and started painting, it was good to be out painting in the mountains. it was a fresh green from spring.

I did notice something that I have started to do, I am forgetting to properly place my values, I mean when I am there I am painting, and I see that the darks in the distance are just as dark as the foreground, I paint them even though they be slightly bluer and slightly greyer.

It's not working. So I have to change it, I can only have the darkest dark on the front plane or one plane. and it cannot be the darkest possible dark, as dark dark has to be used as an accent, a highlight to draw the eye to that point. Normally the front plane. If I have the same dark on two planes it will flatten the painting.

So I have to value asign the planes and separate them.
Front plane has a value scale of 7-10
mid ground 4-6
background 1-3
Though this is not a hard and fast rule this is a basic guide line which can be resolved and bent using a basic sketch.

I think that by doing that I will have better results.

Sunny Day in K Country

Oil on Board 8*10

I needed to paint today, it stopped raining, I was starting to go barmy, stuffed inside, I did make some boards and started on my little light box to photograph paintings inside so I don't get flashing.

This is a new type of board I am using, It is gessoed once then it is coated with an acrylic coat, the paint goes on real smooth.

There was a lot of run off today, some rivers were pretty swollen and to get to place that I wanted to paint I had to put me wellies on and go through boggy waters, lots of cow poop too. I saw some wild horses, that was cool.

I have been reading up on clouds as well, I really like them and I am in a way three dimensionally inclined an I think it went a little over board with my previous clouds, looking like candy floss stuck on.
I looked at a painters work who has taught many a great painter, Michael Lynch
He does some interesting work.

Rain over the plain

Oil on Board 6*6

It has been raining cats and dogs for the past two to three weeks this was a gap that I could rush out and paint with.
I found this place a while ago and I see a lot of potential gardening here being able to move elements around to find a better painting.

Golden pasture

Oil on Board 8*10

I found this place the other day on the way home actually it is really close to where live. When I started painting It was really overcast and threatened to rain so I carried on. you have to otherwise nothing will get done.

I started to refine some areas eg took out background house and car. I tried to paint the fence in front. I am not that good at painting fences so in the end I took that out as well. Then the sun came out and I was able to add some interesting highlights.

I did see a cow wondering in the pasture before me called short ears, she's an escapee cow. loves to get out of her pasture and get in someone else back yard. MMMM grass on other side tasty

Spring Glory

Oil on board 8*10
I let Zoe' name this painting, I found this at the last place I painted and I wanted to go back and paint it, I have even found another painting at the same scene, which is a bonus.

Times past

Oil on Board 7*9

Here is a barn I saw yesterday, I tried to paint yesterday but I was falling asleep behind the wheel. So I thought I should go home. or crash the car. So I saw this a few times on my way to my stomping grounds and I thought I could paint it.

I think I have done only two or three building paintings. It is a lot different than drawing them which I could do in a breeze but when it come to putting on this runny stuff, it gets a bit tougher and if you dither with your strokes it really shows.

Stormy Sky over K country

Oil on Board 6*8

I saw the clouds and rain clear up where I lived and rushed to K country, I was trying to find somthing else, this painting worked out better. We have a lot of green just showed up this past week, and that has brightened things a whole lot.

I think there is a lot of optical illusions going on with the mountains. They appear so big in the city and then they shrink as you drive to them get to the crest of the hill and they get big again. It's strange.

Painting near millarville

Oil on board 9*12


Here is the original painting 9*12, I have used a lot alizarian Red with the blue that is why it is quite dark, proberly too dark

Here it is cropped to show more of the sky which I liked to paint, I wanted the best of both worlds and I got too much so I need to watch having too many points of interest. Lots of sky and ground. normally a sky painting has ground that will take up an 1/6 th of the size of painting and the rest sky. or if you can somehow get the ground to reach up to the sky plane then it would work.



And the finial crop which is a simple painting more on one side of the other, it works because it takes you back into the painting, so I have to be a little greyer, less punchy in the darks and not so bright colours.

This one feels like what I wanted to paint, it is a stronger composition and takes you into the painting and out again so the eye naturally flows around the painting.

Highway X22

Oil on Board 8*10
I have wanted to paint the mountains for such a long time and everytime I try they have been shrouded in mist or snow. I wanted to try a Mountain cloud thing, small mountains lots of clouds. I tried and I ended up with a frisbee, the clouds went by too fast and a storm front moved in. So I sat in the side of my car and put the tripod outside and painted, I was pelted a few times with hail, it was great.

Millerville sky

Oil on Board 8*10

I have driven past this site several times on the way to other places and I have always like the qualities of the place.

Prairie Sky

Oil on Board 10*12

This past month of april was a bit of a wash out for me as we had Snowstorms rain and all types of weather.
Here are three paintings I was able to complete.

Bragg Creek Creek

My wife and I went today to Bragg creek, I was able to find a couple of places whilst exploring and this was one of them. Here I am standing at the waters edge with a foot of Ice under me, 30cm for those who only understand metric. I was close to the edge and the weather is getting a lot warmer will it crack and break off dragging me into the 6 inches of freezing run off rapids, we can only hope.



Oil on board 8*10

I have only ever done one other river before and that was from a photo and it was an autumn scene so this was a challenge to get the light right and to get the edges in the distance to receed properly. Painting snow, Whooo weee, snow has many colours and greys so make sure your white pool is clean.

Near Bragg Creek

Oil on board 8*10
I tried this place last year and I didn't see anything at the time so it does pay to go back to previously visited places at different times of the year, and I can see different possibilities, As I was painting got pretty stormy and cloudy in the background but up close it was pretty bright, I will have to start exsaggerating shadow more as in paintings opposites are good, it adds interest, cool against warm, light against dark in focus out of focus, each one either dominant or recessive.

Spring Farm

Oil on Board 8*10
This one was the second one that I did, I was looking pretty much all day for something that would spark my interest, I drove out to Okotoks, a town South of Calgary, found a couple of possible places to paint but there wasn't anything I looking for, so I'll go back there later, Couldn't find anything else even though I had stopped a few times, nada, went home and got something to eat.

I went out again to a place I have been telling myself I should paint. Tried to paint the scene, over an Hour and Half battling with this thing, I said stuff it and dumped the board and started again. I painted this other scene I was also interested in, by now I had been dazzled by the light hitting my paintbrush, cold due to wind and pushed for time, as I had to get back home as I had my Scouts that night. So I slapped that paint down I really just went as fast as I could within reason. using the colours that I had used for the previous painting.

Cloudy sky

Oil on Board 8*10

I saw these clouds on the way home and they looked really good we had just has a sugar rush so I had to work it off.
I haven't had success with clouds I normally avoid them, because they are elusive, that means I have to paint them, so that I don't avoid things that are hard, I tend to do that.
I also learned that you have to squint to see if you have the values and colours right, to not only squint at the landscape, but also at your painting to make sure it is cohesive.

Golden Fields

Oil on board 6*8

This was a warm up piece I knew that there was a painting here that I had to do, So I poked around till I found something.
I had the family with me in the van, so I was hoping that they would be still and quiet as sound carried really far out there. We saw a lot deer Bouncing on all fours, a bit like four legged Kangaroos
When I had finished the painting we went to Nanton and visited the Sweet store there where they have a ton of sweets we haven't seen before like the German Mentos that are Lemon Yogurt oohh tasty.

Backroad 594

Oil on Panel 10*12

I tried something different, I went out in the foothills to see what I could see, and I found this place plus some pick your own Fruit places I can go with the family this Summer and an interesting Gardening store.
I like exploring and finding new places.

Coalhill road

Oil on Panel 8*10

I have painted here a few times before when I first started painting and it is interesting to see how much my work has progressed, I am a lot freer or confident with my strokes and I have a more contrast in the darks and lights.

Near Turner Valley

oil on board 6*8

I drove around and got to Turner valley and knew that I had gone too far, I kind of get this nagging feeling, so I turned around and drove back up the road to Calgary, then I noticed this road I hadn't been to before, it said Dead end, the best ones are Dead Ends. So idrove all the way up and mmm didn't see much turned around and then came back and saw this scene which I have liked before but didn't have the skills at the time to paint it.

Snow Shadows

oil on board 8*10
I went out to this place I remembered last year in my travels, These little red huts stuck in the middle of nowhere with numbers on them. I liked the shadows and wanted a have a go at painting them and the Snow, which I knew to be tricky.

Snow Storm

Oil on Board 6*8

Well I got out today and I painted in the snow storm, Yehaa.
While I was driving with my car it was white out conditions partly because my windscreen ( windshield ) iced up on the inside and the side windows too, I was driving like an italian grandma looking through the defrosted section between the steering wheel.

I tried first to get to Fishcreek park but went round in circles, so I decided to go to South Glenmore Park instead. I was going to paint at the side of my van with the door open but the snow kept blowing so I huddled over my steering wheel and painted looking through the front window.

I liked the challenge of this painting , I did learn a couple of things painting it so that's good. See what happens next.

My first Outdoor painting this year. Yehaa

Oil on Board 7*9

At last I got out, I kinda got tired of me making excuses that it is as cold as the north pole outside and that I got tired of doing still life's all the time, so I went outside I could feel the excuse machine start to ramp up in my mind but I quashed it.

I made a plan to goto this place I liked which I knew wasn't too far away anyway, I was all over the place with this painting, but I did like doing it because I said I would and I did. The paint got really cold and sticky so that it got hard to push around the board.

When I got home I went to clean up my mess on my painting box and I looked around for my brushes that I used, I couldn't find them. So I guess I will have to go back and get them where I hopefully left them, Hopefully I didn't put them on the roof, done that before.

Lemon light

Oil on Board 6*6

I tried some natural light today to see if I could get a softer more natural look. I did take it downstairs a few times to look seperate it from my painting space and I was able to tweak a few places to make the image stronger.
I also have to be careful not to outline too much otherwise it will look like a cartoon cutout.

Lime 'n' Lemon

Oil on Board 6*8

I tried this lime on green, I painted an undercoat of orange first then wiped it dry to warm the painting up.

I also have to find a better light set up as this image is a little greyer than the original, the green on the background is a bit more vibrant and the camera can't seem to pick it up.

Three Lemons

Oil on Board 8*10

I ran out of little boards and decided to paint on a bigger board and what a difference it makes there is more to fill. The photo appears a little more purple than it is so it's a little bluer.

Garlic No 1.

Oil on Board 5.5 * 5.5

I tried to paint some garlic today and I didn't want to paint on a white background I wanted to put some atmosphere in. and depth.

I cut this board down as the composition had the garlic falling off the board, so this helped by chopping it. I also saw what I had missed when I took the photo and was able to tweak the painting. I like it more now.

When I had photographed this image I had to do it several times, as I kept getting this problem called flashing in the wall painting trade, if the light hit the painting at an angle you can see the brush strokes very clearly, I must have photographed this image about eight times till I was satisfied with it.

Pomegranate No.2

I wanted to paint the Pomegranate again, I thought I would try a dark background to see if I could pull it off,
I was trying to get it to glow as well. Did I pull it off?

Pomegranate No.1

This Pomegranate has been sitting around for about a week and a half so it was about time I painted it, I tried doing this grey
background and it went o.k.
I'm having a go at more backgrounds to sit the still life I want to try different
angles and see what happens.

Jug and Happy Tomato

Here is my first painting of the year and I had trouble setting up I wiped this painting about 5-6 times till I had at least a satisfactory painting out of it.

I tried a different way of painting too, I didn't draw the painting first to get all my angles and such like down, I just blocked the painting in. It worked so I will try this technique again.

Also after I had painted and asked one of the children what did they think to the painting they said that the tomato had a happy face.

mmm I didn't see that.