Night Rain in Blues

8 x 10 oil on board

I still want to do some night scenes on a smaller scale, experimenting with different night time color palettes before I attempt a larger one. For this scene, I used ultramarine blue, ivory black., cadmium red, yellow ochre, and white. 

Newspaper Boxes on Front Street

8 x 10 oil on board

This area of Front Street next to St. Lawrence Market has such beautiful lush planters. I liked the mix of colour and reflections of this row of newspaper boxes next to the greenery. Normally I rarely use alizarin crimson because I don't like the "pink" that results from making the darks from a mix of Ultramarine blue and alizarin. In this scene, with the one pink newspaper box, it really seemed to work. I did tone down the dark mix with a touch of transparent oxide red.

There are no planters on Front Street yet. Normally in our area, we don't plant gardens until May 24 to avoid risk of frost. I took this photo last year during a warm misty rain.

City Lights, Yonge Street, Toronto

8 x 10 oil on board

Doing small paintings or studies is an important way to keep work fresh and more spontaneous and is also a great way to examine an image for compostion or colour schemes for larger paintings. I have gotten away from doing them, and I think it shows in my work. And more importantly, they are a lot more fun to do.

With this scene, I was interested in the abstract quality of the shapes and lights rather than a detailed representation. I used the Zorn Palette (black, red, yellow ochre, white but then went in and added the green lights.)
This scene is Yonge Street looking toward Dundas Square on a rainy evening. 

Late Night on Yonge Street

36 x 48 oil on canvas

I've been experimenting painting larger sizes these days and I'm still not sure how much I like it. I definitely like the impact of a larger painting but the downside is that mistakes are huge, they are more expensive to paint, and they take way more room and more time. Unfortaunately, the only way to find out what we like to do is by doing it.

This is another night scene from Yonge Street in Toronto.

Thanks again to John Tavares for the photo reference.

Busy Saturday at St. Lawrence Market, Toronto

16 x 20 oil on board

I like these busy scenes, with lots of people and activity. St. Lawrence Market in Toronto is an amazing place. There are vendors outside and inside providing lots of variety. And as their website states, " Be inspired by locally-produced products and dabble in new foods and traditions from across Toronto’s vibrant cultural tapestry. Or simply come for the people watching!"

On this Saturday, there was a soft rain falling, making it a perfect day for people watching and capturing all those reflections that I love.

Caught in the Rain

16 x 20 oil on canvas

I take several reference photos and often I find what I like to call "collateral images". Tucked away in the corner of photos are lots of images that I didn't have my view finder set on. Thanks to digital imagery, we can blow up these images and create new ones.

I need LOTS of practice painting people, so I thought I would paint a few of these found images. I have a long way to go in painting people, but I think I was able to capture the irritation felt by this young woman after being caught in the rain.

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.

Winters Last Hurrah

16 x 20 oil on canvas

This is pretty much the weather we have been having for the last week. Snowy, windy, messy, and cold. I know spring is here...I saw a turkey vulture and a robin today. Turkey vultures don't make their way up here until it is warm. I think this guy is a little early.

This scene is at the corner of University and Queen street showing the typical cab colors and the iconic toronto streetcar.

Spring Rain, Dundas and Spadina, Toronto

14 x 18 oil on canvas

Spring is just around the corner, but with the snow and cold weather we've been having, it doesn't seem possible. This scene is from last year, when we actually had green leaves and a nice soft rain.

This scene is at Spadina and Dundas Streets.

Nocturne reworked

I knew that I couldn't leave the picture alone. The waste bin front centre really bothered me, not because I have anything against a waste bin, but the large round shape didn't work with the compostion. I replaced it with some newspaper boxes and a bike that I like somewhat better...still not sure. I also darkened the buildings in the background. The temperature was wrong in the original and it didn't recede into the background. 
I think its time to get away from it and see what I think later.
Night scenes are a lot more difficult that I thought. The background is worked completely differently with so many darks. There is no receding into the distance with a nice mix of greys and things are blurred even more.

Nocturne No. 3

24 x 24 oil on board

Sometimes the hardest decision in a painting is finding a grey mix that is suitable for the overall background of the picture which will hopefully add to the harmony of the piece. Being a night time scene, I didn't want something too warm, so I decided on a mix of terra rosa, ultramarine blue, with a touch of ivory black. Keeping a limited palette, I hoped to mix most of the colors with adding cadmium red, yellow ochre and white. I added a couple of touches of viridian. Night scenes will be a whole new learning experience.

The local critics (husband) decided that I should remove the litter bin from the painting. I really don't mind it, but perhaps I could put in newspaper boxes instead.
 

Thanks to John Tavares for the photo reference for this painting.

Nocturn #2

12 x 12 oil on board

The lights at the corner of King Street and John are illuminated on the wet streets in Hamilton Ontario. I used the Zorn palette for this painting with just a touch of blue for the lights in the far background. The building on the left is home to a Tim Hortons restaurant.

Nocturn

8 x 10 oil on canvas

I have been absent from posting these past few weeks. I have been busy painting some larger pieces (3' x 4') for a gallery. Painting larger is definitely more challenging. There is a lot more paint, mistakes are bigger and finding space to put such a large canvas is difficult. I did enjoy it and will be doing some more larger ones.

As pretty as the snow is, we are all starting to get a little tired of it. Even so, when I woke up to such a pretty sight down the street, I decided to do a little study. I'm looking forward to trying more nocturns in the near future.

Left Over Paint

"Jessah" 11 x 13 Oil on board

Its a good thing my daughter doesn't read my blog because this painting doesn't totally resemble her. Sometimes when I finish a large painting, I want to try something looser with the left over paint on my palette. I used some ultramarin blue, terra rosa, yellow ochre, and white. I put a photo on my computer monitor and I tried to keep it quick and loose while painting, starting with paint mixed with thinner and adding some thicker as I went along.

My daughter loves hats and I don't know where she finds all of the interesting ones that she wears. This photo was taken when she was tree planting in the mountains and had her hair in dreads.

Queen and McCaul Snow

24 x 24 oil on board

As artists, we can be so sensitive. (At least I know that I am) I can have a very bad painting day, and decide right then and there that I am giving up painting. I decide that any "job" is better than this. Sounds ridiculous but it happens. I had spent the whole day on this picture, but I had it all wrong. Instead of focusing on the "big picture", the blocks of values, the abstract qualities, I started painting details right away.  That is a sure way to get it "wrong". I was so frustrated with the result, I had a knife out ready to scrape away the surface. At that moment, my son came into the studio. I asked him if the painting was awful and he said, "no, I kind of like it". So because of his comment, I took another look, got out the big brush and painted out all of the silly details. It wasn't until I got the values ok that I went in and put in some details and highlights.
 (Are we that needy for confirmation, that any little positive remark will set us on the right track?)

The painting still isn't a "masterpiece". It is somewhat too monochrome and the composition is a little weak I think. But its ok and I'm glad the knife didn't destroy it during my moments of frustration.

Do you often not follow your "own rules"?

Speaking of positive remarks, I would like to mention a couple of bloggers who are always generous and constructive with remarks. Head on over to their blogs and check them out.

Barbara paints wonderfully bright uplifting paintings.

http://www.barbaramuirpaints.com/ 

Jan paints exciting evocative depictions in oil and encaustic of the Niagara vinyards and surrounding area. she also teaches.

http://janyates.blogspot.ca/

Jan Yates "Salvage 1"

Snowy Day Shopping at The Bay, Toronto

18 x 24 oil on board

Generally I don't like scenes that have too many colors. This scene had a variety of colors that I thought would be difficult to work with and still create some harmony in the painting. I did a value study using a mix of transparent oxide red and ultramarine blue in a loose wash and let it dry overnight. I then did the final painting using transparent oxide red, ultramarine blue, cadmium red, yellow ochre, titanium white. 

Sometimes I like the value study and am tempted to leave it as a finished painting.

This scene is of the Hudson's Bay store in downtown Toronto on a snowy day. The lovely white snow that had covered everything had been cleared and piled onto sidewalks and streets leaving reflections and a salty mushy mix to walk in.

Snow on Huron Street, Toronto

12 x 12 Oil on board

I loved the strong angles and abstract design in this scene. Sometimes there are items in a scene that we don't recognize and we can choose to leave them out or include them. I liked how the parking garage entrance added to the layers leading back to the CN tower and high rises in the background. Most people won't recognize this structure as a parking garage but I thought it worthy of inclusion.

This is Huron Street, looking toward Queen Street.

Spadina Streetcars in January

 12 x 12 Oil on Canvas

Two Streetcars meet on Spadina Avenue in Toronto on a cold blustery day in January.

For this painting, I used a mix of terra rosa and ultramarine blue and it provided a nice mix of grays for the muted colours that dominated the scene. I also added cadmium red, yellow ochre and titanium white.

To start the painting, I did a fairyl accurate value study using terra rosa and ultramarine blue, applied thinly mixed with mineral spirits.

Chinatown Snow

12 x 12 oil on board

It was a wonderfully snowy day in Toronto when I decided to take  pictures. It was also cold and windy. After snow plows and salters had been around a few times, it was all a soupy mess of melted snow, salt, and dirt. No matter, I found some great scenes. Even on a day like this, the city is a hub of activity with people braving the weather to food shop or find some boxing day specials.

I loved how Chinatown still had umbrellas up and all kinds of food to buy. A cold but visual feast.

This scene is on Spadina near Dundas.

Happy New Year!

New Year's goal: Find coffee

I would like to thank everyone for their kind and insightful comments throughout 2012 and may you all have a healthy happy New Year!