New Beginnings

Enough time spent on re-working canvases where I have lost grasp of the vision. Re-working is fine for me if I still hold the vision; but I have been struggling with canvases that are winding up being courses in futility! So onward!  The reworks are being resurfaced with a wash of solid colour and will hopefully become new beginnings.


I was recently reading Bruce Sherman’s blog http://awbrucesherman.blogspot.com/ - Journaling With Paint;  where he describes painting a landscape scene by initially covering the canvas with black paint. He describes the process and supports with progressive pictures of the painting.

Looks pretty interesting. And, yes I am giving it a try. Now what I display here is barely a beginning and not as refined as what you will see on Bruce’s blog; but it is my beginning and I will see where it takes me.

So … in progress. Another northern Ontario scene!

Reworking Canvas - Golden Aspen

I’ve been working on this ‘rework’ of golden aspen and still don’t know where it is going or why!

It is a large 40” x 36” canvas, worked in oils.

I really did not do enough planning before I jumped headlong into this one and have now made chalk marks all over correcting a very bad composition.  So some major changes to be made.  For the moment I will let it hang on the wall and continue to stare at it for the next couple months. Maybe the ‘paint fairy’ will come in the middle of the night and ‘fix’!

I have left canvases hang for a period in the past and suddenly seemed to visualize what it was I really wanted the canvas to ‘say’..

Hopefully that will happen with this one in the next couple months; otherwise it will be a discard come January.

The photographs are not particularly good, the one of the full canvas unfortunately seems to show the ‘yellow’ with a brilliance not on the canvas. Having submerged my camera in the river I am using my son-in-law’s and it doesn’t have the photographic options my doused camera had.

The first two photos are portions of the canvas and the third is the entire ‘picture’... which after the chalk marks has changed drastically.  Now that I have marked it all up, I am feeling an "itch" to get back into it!
We will see.


Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Sketching Paradase

Don’t you just love this time of year…..when the leaves have mostly fallen; there are some still about; but you can see beyond the foliage and discover what was hidden from view a few weeks ago.  An opportunity to view the 'hidden' jewels of the forests and fields!

Walking along the bay a few days ago I, once again, took many photographs. 62 as a matter of fact in under an hour. Just so much to see!  It was a very cold and windy day.  A wonderful walk....as most people remained indoors!  I pretty much had the trail to myself and enjoyed every moment to indulge in the beauty present under a gloomy sky; and just missed the rain as well!

Look at these berries clinging to branches. They will remain for sometime yet, at least until the birds have picked them clean. Some will get missed and turn wonderful shades of browns, purples and blacks.

And the tree limbs, bark and branches.






Beautiful blue branches of some shrub; textured barks of maples, oak and willow! The angle of the branches, unique to each tree – the bones of the tree laid bare for analysis. And just look at how the vines twine round and round the trees fighting for their place in the sun.

Patterns everywhere, underfoot and rising high.

Here I include the brilliant ochre/red berries of the sarcoxy, the white berries of the dogwood; wonderful purple clumps of berries which I know nothing about; and wild grapes rambling along a fence.

The tufts of the sumac will remain throughout the winter adding its sculptural signature to the landscape.

 

I thought the mallards would have gone 'south' but here they are nestled in a protective cove out of the reach of a raw wind.