Friday

Waterfall demo #2

This is the photo reference for the next painting demonstration. I can't remember where I took this picture!
Step 1: Paint a rich mixture of dark colours and paint the rock area. While damp scape the rock forms with a credit card. Above this paint a richly coloured dark for the trees in the forest, scrape trunks. Puddle in other colours to add spark.
Step 2: Paint the water as in the demo yesterday. Add the side banks using warmer colours than in the background to project it in front. Add warmer greens for the trees above it. Keep a crackled edge at the bottom of the rock edge so it will read as being in the water.

Step 3: Paint the water at the bottom of the falls using dry brush and softening some edges. Make this colour brighter than the falls as it is a flat plane. Paint around the area where the rocks will be. Soften the bottom edge of this as we will pick it up later, you need to use your time while the paint is wet to soften edges.

Step 4: Paint a mid value warm combination of colour for where the rocks in the water will be. Don't overmix these colours! Scrape in small rock shapes. Paint the water surrounding the rocks. Soften some of the bottom edges of the foremost rocks where they meet the water so they look like they are sitting in the water and reflecting a bit. Paint the rest of the river run out using a combination of dry brush and softening edges. Puddle some darker colour at the bottom and edges to force the viewers eye into the painting.
Last step: If needed lift some colour from the falls and the back of the river in front of the background rocks. Make sure this line is flat! Add some more detail to the large rock masses beside the falls and the trees on it.

Finished painting: "Spring Falls", watercolour, 7 x 10.25"
Enjoy!

Thursday

Watercolour steps

Step one -dry brush technique for the waterby holding brush flat to the page and using the texture of the paper to create the sparkle (Ultra blue with a bit of Burnt Sienna to take the colour down a bit) (wet some of the edges of this-note soft and hard edges are the key to making the water look wet), wet-in-wet puddling for the trees using Gamboge as the mother colour, scrape trunks and flick water for foliage texture. Paint some indication of rocks in the falls while blue is still damp so get soft edges. Stream painted in horizontal strokes so will read as flat water. Note direction of water in falls very important.

Step 2- More rocks added inside falls, falls are hitting rocks at the bottom left which creates ledges. Increase depth of shading in falls, add soft rock edges at right side so that water appears to be going over them. Add turnbulance at the bottom of the falls -have some hard and some soft edges here. Wet bottom edge so no hard lines are formed, we will continue this part in a bit.

Step 3- add a mixture of pure colour in a dark mix, but don't stir it around as you want the colour to be interesting rather than homogeneous. While damp, scrape with a credit card to get the texture of the rock ledges. Do one side at a time and play with it until you are happy with it before you move on to the other side. Add more blue in the right side as this side is in shadow. Add the rest of the river runout using some dry brush and softening some of the edges. Paint in some darker notes in the deep water at bottom while wet.
Step 4- Add cast shadow onto falls with a mixture of phalo blue and ultramarine, softening some edges and leaving some hard. Add some dark U shaped marks in the water at the bottom to indicate lessening turbulance.
Adjust values, add a bit more detail into rocks. Strengthen left shore bank.

Finished painting "Lundreck Falls", watercolour, 7 x 10.25"
Enjoy!

Waterfall demo in steps

This is a photo I took of Lundbreck Falls in the Crowsnest Pass. It will be the photo reference for my Tues night class demonstration painting of how to paint a waterfall in watercolour. Painting steps to follow.

Sunday

"Along The Oesa Trail" , oil painting

"Along The Oesa Trail" , oil painting on canvas, 24 x 30"
SOLD  
 
This is the first large studio painting that I did from the photos that I took on our trip to Lake O'Hara in September. I had a hard time getting a good colour photograph of the painting as the sun is so low in the sky these days, that the colour of the light really influenced the photograph. This is the closest I could get to the real thing in Photoshop.
Enjoy!

Friday

more class demo's

"Along the River", watercolour, 5 x 7"
This is the mini demo from Wednesday mornings class. I played with an effect that just happened in the painting -the feeling of light streaming in from the upper right across the distant tree bank. I did this by dampening the 'rays' a bit and gently lifting them with a thirsty brush and kleenex.
Enjoy!

Thursday

photo from demonstration

Forgot to post the photo that I did that demonstration from!

demonstration watercolour

"Above Elbow Falls", watercolour, 5 x 7"
This is the first 'moving water' demonstration for my Tuesday night class. We were practicing scraping in damp watercolour washes with a credit card to make rock textures and distant tree trunks. Also attention was paid to soft edges to capture the feeling of water going over some rocks.
Enjoy!

Demonstration painting


Untitled, 16x16", mixed media
This is a demonstration painting that I began as a demo for the Calgary Community Painters, and then finished off as a demo at the Federation of Canadian Artists Calgary Chapter show. It is here in two very different colours -the bright orangy photo was taken under the halogen shop lights that were illuminating my work space, and the second was taken in full shade outside. The truth of the colour is somewhere between these two. I find the best colour comes through when you shoot in full, high sunlight (as in at noon) with the painting at a 45 degree angle to the light source (horizontal axis), and 90 degrees perpendicular to the ground (vertical axis). The colour is truest and the textures are most evident. As I donated this painting to the FCA I was not able to bring it home to photograph myself.
Enjoy!

Monday

"Opabin Plateau", watercolour

"Opabin Plateau", watercolour, 14 x 11"
This is the second watercolour demo that I did for my new class of students. It is done from a photo that I took while hiking at Lake O'Hara this summer. Painting it sure brought back good memories. What a difference between oils and watercolours...
Enjoy!

Saturday

"Consolation Lakes", watercolour

"Consolation Lakes", 15 x 11", watercolour
This painting was done from a photo I took when we hiked from Moraine Lake into Consolation Lakes last summer. We tried the hike in June but it was still snowed in, so we went back in July. It is an easy hike and well worth it.
Enjoy!

Thursday

ink and watercolour sketches continued

"Gallardia", ink and watercolour, 6 x 4"
Third out of 4 demo sketches for Sedgewick. This is also from a photograph, very quick and very loose.
Enjoy!

Wednesday

Sedgewick demo continued

"Elbow River", ink and watercolour sketch, 6 x 4"
This was another demo from the quick sketching workshop, done from a photo in about 20 minutes. We would have loved to go outside to sketch, but the wind that day was about 80km/hr! I have never seen anything like it before -should have taken some photos of the fall leaves blowing horizontally in front of trees straining to remain erect. Glad I wasn't on the highway driving that day.
Enjoy!

Tuesday

Sedgewick workshop demos

"Rocky Slope", ink and watercolour, 6 x 4"
I haven't posted for a while because I have been 'up to my ears in alligators', with several shows, workshops and my teaching year has begun and that is always very time intensive. I did a pen and ink and watercolour workshop in Sedgewick, AB on my way home from my Edmonton show opening. This is the first demo from that workshop, done from a photo I took on one of my many hiking trips. More to come...
Enjoy!