Movie Night at the Westdale Theatre

12x12 oil on canvas sold

This painting was challenging for several reasons. There were too many colors, so I was concerned about maintaining color harmony. I could have chosen a limited palette, but all of the sparkly lights of this old movie theatre and the lights of the stores were a big part of the attraction for me. Using more colors than I normally do, I also worried about having the road turn into a mud color.

This theatre dates from the 1930's and is one of the few, if not the only, theatre of its era still in use in Hamilton. Next to it is the Bean Bar, a great coffee place.

Toronto Street Car on Dundas

8x8 oil on canvas sold

I would like to thank everyone for their insightful comments on my previous posting. I really enjoyed reading about other artist's color choices. I even heard from two writers who had some great things to say. So again, thank you!

We are back  doing some renovations on our little stone cottage, and so the studio was out of commission for a few days. I thought I would get back into painting with this little picture of Dundas Street in Toronto on a rainy day.

To bid on this painting, you can go to the ebay auction HERE

I need your input and opinions!

12x12 acrylic on stretched canvas

I have been doing some experimenting with color, using limited palettes. I want to find a color scheme that works best  for the urban images I like to paint. I tried the Zorn palette with a sunny city scene, and found it very limiting. So then I thought I would do the opposite, and try a picture in acrylics, using several different colors. I like to use acrylics from time to time...I like the fast drying time, the glazing one can do almost immediately, and the quick changes that can be made.

I would love to hear your opinion about your choice of color. Do you always use the same colors? Do you change for different types of images? Do you like a limited palette or a wide variety of colors? Your information will help me in my quest to find out how different color palettes influence the look of a painting. Thanks!

Oil Sketch of Queen Street in Toronto using the Zorn Palette

Taxis at the Go Station, Toronto

12x12 oil on canvas

In the previous posting, using the limted palette, I was able to convey a gray misty feeling. The challenge with this picture was to convey the same feeling even though I was adding more colors. I knew it would be difficult to maintain "color harmony" with the variety of colors in my photo reference and I didn't want to change the taxi color as it is typical Toronto colors. I did tone down the colors of the taxi in the foreground, and kept the greens of the trees muted. I'm still wondering if it looks too bright for a rainy day.....so complicated!

Taxis wait at Union Station in Toronto for pedestrians escaping from the rain, while others head down the stairs to catch the Go Train.

"Zorn Palette" Landscape

8x10 oil on canvas

I used the "Zorn Palette" to do this cityscape. I think this palette will work well for rainy misty scenes. I like the look it created, but I found myself reaching for the blue, which wasn't there. I was surprised that I could mix a sort of green color using ivory black and yellow ochre.

This scene is from James Street North in Hamilton. Cars head down hill, under the TH&B railway bridge, going north towards the bay. I may try a larger painting using this palette.

The "Zorn Palette"

8x10 oil on canvas

While reading blogs and other internet info, I often come across what is called the "Zorn Palette". It consists of Ivory Black, Virmillion (or cad red or cad red lt), yellow ochre, and white. The artist Anders Zorn apparently used this palette. Differing opinions suggest he used this palette for landscape, others say he used it for figures. There is also the opinion out there that he rarely used this palette, and had several colors in his studio. Regardless, I want to try a few paintings using the palette he is known for.

I spent a lot of time learning and discovering values, and now I am delving into color. I want to find out how different palettes affect the look of our work.

I used a photo on my monitor as a reference to do a painting of my daughter. I used ivory black, titanium white, yellow ochre, cadmium red light. It was difficult not being able to paint her turquiose blue eyes and the matching blue shirt, but thats the beauty of this palette. Not overdoing the details or color.

It has been a very long time since I have done a portrait, but thought it was time.

I'm off to try a landscape using this palette. Give it a try!!

James Street Showers, Hamilton Ontario

12x12 oil on canvas

The colorful buildings in the background on this section of James Street added some interesting colors on this rainy day. The cyclist, on his commute home, also added a nice focal point. We don't have this much greenery yet, but a couple of weeks should see the soft green buds on the trees. I think this will be one that I want to try on a larger scale.

Plein Air, Dejardin Canal, Dundas

8x10 oil on canvas panel

With renovating and spending time with my mother, my studio time has suffered lately. So I'm taking the opportunity to use the small blocks of time to do some more plein air work. I think that working plein air helps our observation skills and teaches (forces?) us to say what we want to say in a faster more spontaneous fashion. I did this picture a couple of days ago on a breezy rainy day. I couldn't figure out why the paint wouldn't go on, and then realized the canvas was covered in a layer of water. Still struggling!

This is a piece of the Dejardin Canal that once connected Dundas to Lake Ontario. The canal was a great plan, and supposed to make Dundas the manufacturing centre in 1850, but then the railway came, and Hamilton took over the limelight.

April Showers, Yonge Street, Toronto

12x12 oil on canvas

Spring is finally making an appearance here in southern ontario. Almost time to put the snow shovels away, although snow in April isn't unheard of. I was anxious to get back to some rainy scenes. I want to do some larger pieces so will be doing some 12x12 to decide which ones will translate well into some larger canvases.

I love this corner of Yonge Street. It is so busy, lots of different signage, and nice blue buildings in the background.
(I was unhappy with the photo I took of this picture. It came out looking very orange. I changed the white balance setting and it worked out much better. I have been using the "shade" setting rather than the Auto and it has been working well, but with this one, change was required. I don't know a lot about photography, but the white balance setting makes an important difference in getting colors correct.)

Plein air paintings, Dundas

March 26 Waterfall behind the quarry houses

Mar 18 Birches and Path on the sandhill

Mar 24 Looking toward Hamilton from the sand hill

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March 18 Looking towards the golf course from the sandhill

3x5 water color and gouache on watercolor paper

I am primarily a studio painter, but I want to incorporate some plein air painting into the mix. I would like to have a small kit to take along if I am away from the studio and want to do some quick studies. I was really impressed with Nathan Fowkes and the method he uses. He is truly a master at creating light and drama with simple shapes and quick studies. He uses water color and designers gouache, a little easier than everything needed for oil painting. His painting kit is described HERE.  He shows demos on his blog, and if you follow along and do one, you get the idea of how he is using the paint in almost an oil painting method. 

 Most of these scenes are within 15 minutes walking distance from my house. I want to do some urban scenes, but I am still too shy to get out in the streets..I need a little practice in more secluded locations before I am brave enough to tackle some urban scenes. Is there a way to overcome this shyness?

Plein Air Painting-Stone House in Greensville

8x10 oil on canvas panel

I wasn't sure if I should post this picture. I struggled with the color palette I chose, it started to pour rain, and the whole experience was quite difficult. I have been wanting to do some plein air work, especially on the days when I don't have a large block of time for studio painting and today I felt like getting outside.

I used Kevin Macpherson's palette when doing this picture. He uses a limited palette of cadmium yellow pale, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, and titanium white. I read about this palette while looking at Rene Pleinair's blog. Rene recently joined our group "daily painter originals". I have often enjoyed looking at Renee's work and noticed that the landscape of the Netherlands looks a lot like the area where I live. I decided to try the palette he uses, based on Kevin Macpherson. People say using a limited palette is easy. I found it very difficult mixing all those grays from so few colors!.

This old stone house is in Greensville, a small town next to mine. This house has sat in a state of desrepair for several years, but someone seems to be living there still.

Umbrellas on Yonge Street

8x8 oil on stretched canvas

I got a little impatient and decided it was time to do a rainy scene. It actually felt like spring today! Canadians are a versatile bunch. One day of warm weather, and all of a sudden  bicycles, motorcycles, and warm weather gear are seen everywhere.

These young ladies and their jumble of umbrellas head down Yonge Street in Toronto on a rainy day. Shopping must go on, whatever the weather.

$125.00 plus $10.00 shipping

If you would like to bid on this painting you can go to the ebay auction page HERE
Thanks for looking

Richmond Street Snow Banks, Toronto

24x24 Oil on canvas

As much as I like the abstract shapes and lines of snow banks, and tracks in the snow, I think I am ready for some warmer weather and a good rain to wash away the salt crusted snow that lingers on. I will look forward to getting back to some rainy scenes.

I wasn't sure about the composition of  this piece with the one ray of strong light and the car in the middle, but I think the orange and yellow and the figure on the right has taken the eye away from the car. The snow bank may need some work, but I was afraid to overwork it and lose the dark value.

I am the type of person who likes to set goals. They are somewhat haphazard goals, and often get worked on in the same way. I am trying to get at least ten 24x24 paintings done to take to the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition this summer (if I get in) and also to start submitting to galleries. I have been waiting on contacting galleries because I want to make sure that I feel ready to start getting my work out there. Sometimes we get too anxious.

Toronto Streetcar and March Sun

12x12 oil on gallery wrap canvas Sold

When taking photos, I think the general theory is that the best time to take them is before 10 A.M. or after 2 P.M. The light and the colors are much rich at these times. I took this photo around 4 P.M. and I liked the contrast between the dark buildings and the light coming around the corner.

This is a "double" Toronto Streetcar, at the corner of St. Patrick and Queen Street.

Winter's Last Hurrah

8x10 oil on canvas

After nature gave us several hopeful glimpses of spring with warmer weather and some rain, this is what we woke up to yesterday. School buses cancelled, some businesses closed. Nature has to let us know who is boss.

This was a difficult picture with so much gray, and very little in defining images. The whole scene was pretty much mid value. Not really a pretty picture, but then, it wasn't a pretty picture for anyone who had to face the onslaught of winter one more time.

This is King Street in Dundas, after plows and salters created a path for drivers.

Orange and Blue, King Street, Toronto

24 x24 oil on canvas

This painting was quite a bit more complicated than I planned on. I think I will have to tackle the foreground when I have a bit more energy. I'm a little disappointed with the lack of brush work showing. Getting dramatic brush work is a challenge for me. I don't know if it is fear of putting it on nice and thick and having it look horrible, or maybe just not knowing how. Blogs, besides being entertaining are such a good source of information. I have discovered so much about art by watching  process videos and by discovering new artists from blog lists. Another artist I hope to learn from is Barry John Raybould. He has a virtual art academy that looks very interesting.  In the introduction to his brushwork course he says:

"Brushwork is another of those things (like hue changes across a form) that separates the really great painters from the rest of us. Exciting brushwork adds interest and vitality to your painting, and is what makes a painting a “painting” and not a photograph.  

On another note, I submitted a small painting to DailyPaintWorks challenge. The theme for this week is "Home" and I don't think anything says home like a porch, a wicker couch, and a cat curled up in his favorite spot. All of the proceeds from the sale of this painting will go to the Red Cross in Japan. To see the entries for the challenge and to bid on a painting go HERE

March Commute, Toronto

12x12 oil on gallery wrap canvas

Toronto cyclists are a determined group. They ride all winter long, no matter the weather. This cyclist rides down King Street on a late afternoon in March.

Recently I discovered the artist Colley Whisson (before I saw his work on Lines and Colors) and I bought his book "Impressionist Painting Made Easy". I was intrigued by his energetic brush work, and the looseness of his scenes, so I had to see how he did it. The book is quite reasonably priced and can be bought off of his web site, and shows several paintings from start to finish. Its worth it if you are trying to "loosen" up in your work. How did we all get so "tight" anyway? Maybe starting out in commercial art?

Slide Show Demo for "March Reflections"

This is my first slideshow showing several steps of painting "March Reflections". I apologize for some glare on the canvas as I photographed my work. I like to have a fairly accurate drawing when I start, even though I will lose most of the lines as I fill in with paint. The final picture in the slideshow is better quality, as I took it when it was off the easel and out of the glare.

My palette for this picture is diox purple, transparent red iron oxide, cobalt blue, cadmium red, phthalocyanne green, cadmium red light, yellow ochre, cad yellow deep, titanium white, ivory black.

The slideshow can be seen on the Daily Painter Originals video website HERE

Or on youtube HERE

March Reflections, Toronto

12x12 oil on canvas Sold

I am a member of Daily Painter Originals, and besides being an online gallery, we also produce videos or slide shows to show the process of our work. I admit to not being much of a techie, but I thought I would give it a try. As I painted this picture, I would stop at different points and take a picture. My son, the in house techie, came into the studio and said "Mom, why don't you put the camera on a tripod and have it set to take a picture every five minites or so (can my camera do THAT? apparently) As it turns out, all the pictures I took will be of varying sizes, but I will attempt the slide show and report back.

I drone on and on about values, and this picture had several challenges. The building on the far right is yellow, but it is in the shade, so it needs to be a cool color since my light source is warm. I mixed a melange of colors that included diox purple, cad red, yellow ochre, and others and came up with this color. Still dark and still cool. As I was painting this picture, I thought it would have made a good abstract subject.

Check out several Daily Painter Original videos HERE. My fellow artists are much better at this stuff than I am.

March Thaw, Queen and Spadina

12x12 oil on stretched canvas

At this time of year, we hope for spring. But March can bring anything...snow storms, rain, or warm summer-ish weather. In this scene, the left over snow mixed with salt and dirt is melting, creating a mess on the streetcar tracks as young ladies make their way across the street after work on a March afternoon.