Saturday, May 26, 2012

Spadina Street Rain

24x24 oil on canvas
I wanted to redo the 12x12 study of this scene that I had previously done. I am still leaving the black tube of paint in the drawer, staying with the palette in the previous posting. This scene is on Spadina Street in Toronto's Chinatown.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Lucky Moose Food Mart, Dundas Street Toronto

24x24 oil on canvas
There were so many exciting things in this image: umbrellas, great reflections, and the lone figure walking down the street. I decided to switch to a more traditional palette and didn't use any black (which I often include). I used ultramarine blue, permanent alizarin, transparent red iron oxide, viridian, yellow ochre, cadmium yellow medium, titanium white.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Rainy Day shopping in Chinatown, Toronto

12x12 oil on canvas
I learned a very important lesson here. ALWAYS PUT EXTRA PRIMER ON A PURCHASED CANVAS. I normally prime and texture my purchased canvas, but being unprepared and in a hurry, decided to go ahead and paint anyway. Paint sinks in a lot, and colors fade and get muddy (much faster). I continued on, learning my lesson every step of the way, and used a knife to get some pure color. Still a little flat and muddy, but not too bad I guess.
This is Spadina on a rainy day in Chinatown. It is a study for a larger canvas (which I will coat and prime with gesso.)