Small Landscape

Sunsplash, Acrylic on watercolor paper, 5"x7"

This week's abstract

 

Urban Sprawl, Acrylic on canvas, 16"x20"

Fiesta Time

Fiesta Time, Acrylic on Canvas, 16"x20"ab

Vortex

Vortex, Acrylic on canvas, 16"x20"

WIP -- Finished

Aerial Autumn, acrylic on paper, 12"x16"

Abstract in progress

WIP, acrylic on paper, 12"x16"

Sketching on the road: Pen and paper

St. Mary Abbot's Church, London, Ink and pen on cartridge paper, 4"x6"

Dreaming of Spring

Spring may not be quite around the corner but at least the days are starting to get longer. Soon the unremitting grey will start to give way to bits of color signaling a new growing season. I have tried to represent in this piece that early spot of color that can be seen in an otherwise dismal landscape. Among all the greys and browns, there are little bits of yellows and reds that begin to enliven the scenery once again before full-blown spring arrives.

Early Spring is very much a northern landscape with its steely grey sky and brown dormant foliage in the background. The streaks of white indicate retreating snow that will melt and freeze many times before it leaves. As yet the only sign of growth is the brightening grasses sticking out through the dark ice in the foreground and the distant middle ground.

Early Spring, Acrylic on canvas board, 5'x7', $25 (unframed)

Poppyfield

Poppyfield at High Noon is another knife painting in the same series as Sunrise. The technique here was similar to that I used for Sunrise with one exception. Most of the painting was done in one session but the highlights in the sky and the red of the poppies were added after the first layer had completely dried. Inevitably, once the thickly applied paint had dried the next layer could only be applied to the bumps and ridges of the previous layer. This shows well in the rather random appearance of the highlights in the sky.

Upon stepping back from this painting I liked the effect -- and left it alone. I guess while the artist attempts to control the medium and technique, the medium can sometimes control the art.

Poppyfield at High Noon, Acrylic on 300lb watercolor paper, 11"x14", $75 (unframed)

Sunrise in Abstract

Knives are a fun tool for acrylic painting particularly when using the wet-on-wet technique. Paints can be dragged across the canvas to create interesting mixtures that allow for optical blending that might otherwise take hours of work with a brush.

I started Sunrise at the horizon with the lighter color and then worked upward and downward into the darker colors. By using minimal strokes I was able to keep the colors clean yet achieved the highlights in the sky. The trick to brilliant highlights when working wet-on-wet is to gradually make the knife strokes lighter and lighter to avoid moving the darker paint layer underneath. Seems like an obvious thing but took me a while to discover this for myself!

Sunrise, Acrylic on 300lb watercolor paper, 11"x14", $70 (unframed)

Minimal brushstrokes painting style

An exercise I have found quite useful in developing a looser style of painting is to do a painting with the fewest strokes possible. This requires minimal working of paint on the surface leading to a freshness of color that can be easily destroyed in just a few more strokes.

In Reflections, I have used a rather common scene of trees reflected in the water to demonstrate a minimal brushstrokes approach. The palette is restricted (ultramarine blue, sap green, cadmium yellow and titanium white) and I used the biggest brush I could force myself to pick! After all, this is a small canvas and the temptation was to reach for a small brush. The bigger brush allowed for the canvas to be covered quickly and with the self-imposed limit on brushstrokes, there was no choice but to leave the paint alone after it was down on the canvas.

Reflections, Acrylic on canvas board, 5”X7” (Not for sale)

Fascination with farmland

Few scenes could be simpler than the farmland of the North American midwest. Even though I grew up in an urban environment, spending over two decades in Ontario and Michigan allowed me to appreciate the endless possibilities offered by the farm scene for a landscape painter.

Dusk emphasizes that quintessential element of the American farm, the treeline often planted or retained as a windbreak, which can be set off either against the background or the foreground to create interest. The paint is laid on rather thinly in this painting allowing the canvas texture to show through. Dry brushed highlights (to which the camera does not do justice) can be seen in both the sky and the field. These are just enough to suggest a low and distant sun, perhaps even just below the horizon. The overall mood of the painting definitely evokes a sense that the day is done.

Dusk, Acrylic on canvas board, 5"X7" $40 (unframed)