Sailboats at Macdonald Marine

24 x 30

Oil on canvas

I know this is quite a change from my previous posts. I entered a "contest" at the upcoming show (the Artist Project) that I am doing Feb 20. Even though I'm exhausted from painting, I committed to the contest which is called "Set Sail". I looked through my marina files (photos I have taken over the years at different marinas on Lake Ontario) and found one that I thought would be good to paint. Well....it was really really difficult. I had the water pretty much the way I wanted it, and then the mast reflection had to go in. What a mess.  It was more about paint removal than putting paint on.

These sail boats are moored at Macdonal Marine in Hamilton.

Cold Toronto Night

8x8 oil on canvas

Often I like to do a smaller study before taking on a large canvas. There were a lot of things I liked about this picture..the steam, the reflections and the colour combination. A small study helps in the process, but painting large is the only way to find out how it will look on a large scale.

Thanks to John Tavares for the photo reference.

Not Just Noodles, Yonge Street, Toronto

17x20 oil on board

My previous post was about winter's last hurrah. I guess I was wrong. This morning I walked the dog in minus 2 celcius, battling high winds and a snow squall. An April fool's joke from Mother Nature.

I love the name of this restaurant on Yonge Street. In this image, there is lots of slushy snow about, and the reflectionsfrom the yellow sign are mirrored in the wet areas of the street. A Beck taxi and a garbage truck are out and about. I used mostly black, red, yellow ochre, with touches of viridian and cadmium yellow.

Thank you John Tavares for the use of this photo reference.

Winter Sun, Queen and Bay, Toronto

24 x 30 Oil on board

Early evening sun creates shadows and reflections on a winter day in Toronto at the corner of Bay and Queen Street West.

If anyone is in the Toronto area November 22 to Dec 2, come by the One of A Kind Show, Booth K11 and say hi. I would be very pleased to see you there.

Powerboats, Macdonald Marine, Hamilton

15x20 oil on board

When painting marine scenes, normally we think of sailboats as being more picturesque, but this row of powerboats catching the evening light was worthy of painting. This scene is from Macdonald Marine in Hamilton Ontario.

The boat on the far right is called "Lady Rachel". I always thought that was a great name.

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.