Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Three on Lime



Tomorrow morning, Mary and I leave for a Carol Marine workshop in Hudson River Valley, New York. So I painted this with Carol's work in mind. We have been following her blog for at least two years and love the simplicity of her daily paintings. She really gets design, values and shapes. We are so thrilled to go ...... and learn lots!

Petunia

This petunia flower stem broke off during planting and was rescued. Flowers are a difficult subject, one that I return to time and again for the learning. It takes a lot of squinting to see the many variations of value in one blossom!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Yesterday and Today

The garage beside the old store - the ground in front looks wet, might be that I am blending again. Will go back and put in some solid strokes.

The Old Store

This used to be a busy little general store close to the lake. The now grown children remember the many trips for ice cream cones. It is closed now, the owners retired. It sits and waits. I wanted to paint it with simple strokes, not too much fussing.

A Quiet Moment

A quiet morning on the lake. I am still aiming for design and for simple shapes.

Monday, July 19, 2010

The Shed

The cottage shed - old and a bit leaky but still filled with summer treasures. I was aiming to simplify but my challenge became values as the light changed. Finally it came reasonably together and at the end, I added the blue stroke to enliven the inside of the shed.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Lazy Hazy Days

At the lake today, with the family therefore a bit distracted while painting. It was one of those leisurely days of summer. I wanted to paint strokes, shapes and not over noodle everything....in other words, stay simple. Then I decided to experiment with a shift in hues in the sky, after reading that chapter in Carlson's book. But I am guilty of "blending" those shifts - again. I have to go back to the rectangle exercise.

Monday, July 12, 2010

COPY of Lawren Harris "Baffin Island" c 1931

On our latest trip to the AGO in Toronto, my son Frederic asked if I could reproduce his favourite painting of the Canadian Group of Seven, Lawren Harris. I thought this was a wonderful opportunity for great learning and have been working on it since Ian's workshop - what a way to immerse into shapes! It is nearly finished, still some tweeks, and here is what I have discovered:

1. First drew in the shapes freehand, it looked perfect, and yet I have managed to get my own sizing in there, which only shows up at the very end - like today! Some good grid work next time. Which brings to mind,

2. How close can I manage to reproduce anyway? Even repeating my own paintings is never quite the same. Besides my drawing errors, there are variables that I don't know like...

3. what blue did he use for the sky? At the gallery, I did not think it was ultramarine. I checked and rechecked colours, of course from books and reprints which aren't fully reliable. I first painted the sky in phthalo blue, let it dry, then decided it must be cobalt blue, painted over only to get closer to the mountains and realized, it can't be cobalt. Maybe he had used several blues...? And to keep colour harmony, it would have to be one that mixes the lovely lilac for the shadows, so not phthalo.....so....

4. wouldn't it be awesome to paint in front of the original, to see it live, even if behind plate glass. I think copying masterpieces were a strong learning method in the past.

5. And then there is the overwhelming feeling of walking in someone's footsteps. I actually felt honoured to be copying Lawren Harris' work, and mused on what he was thinking, what inspired him, what he was translating onto canvas, how he did his brushstrokes etc. I found the whole experience very inspiring and exhilirating.


Of interest, the original is large and imposing and last sold for $2.2 million. The owner Ken Thomson bequethed it and his whole massive art collection to the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Three's company


It is cottage time and oddly enough, while preparing and packing, I managed to paint. The cherries are nearly black and I wanted to make them redder, but stuck to matching the colour - post Ian's workshop.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Daisy

What do they call this - a vignette? Maybe it would be better if the whole background were painted in....
After the structure painting, I had to do something real light....

Friday, July 9, 2010

City Hall, Kingston Ontario


While in Kingston for Victoria's graduation, I had taken a photo of this structure for the shapes and for the light effects. My aim for painting was to keep it simple and just focus on shapes and values. Structures are demanding - a slight shift and they are off balance, crooked, leaning or just wonky. So when I say simple, I did not mean easy, although ultimately, wouldn't that be a lovely goal.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Simplicity

Coming home from Ottawa today, along the Laurentian foothills on the Quebec side, I was looking for simple shapes to do a quick study tonight. I just have to keep up the momentum from the workshop, and the only way is to paint.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Susy

Today was so hot, the water was beautiful. I am still working on simplifying and painting shapes. My brain pathways are very sneaky - they quickly go to curves and roundedness. So much for small rectangles.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Back to Step #1


Funny how it is coming home from a workshop - all of these great ideas and momentum to just paint, paint, paint....but instead it's house guests, birthdays, holidays....etc. I did put things in order, hauled out exercises from past workshops, compared...and then repainted the Driftwood Park one, as just shapes. I think the back hills need to be bluer, but the idea of simplification is there.