WIP Misty Matsushima (oil, 10"x10")

This one started out on mat board as a light, watery layer of acrylic, much like I did with Rocky Tak Coast. Thieves islands are just a bit north of rocky Tak in Matsushima Bay.

 

Once the initial wash dried, I followed up with 2 coats of GAC100 on both sides to seal it. (Apologies, this photo is too dark)!

I blocked in the land masses today with oil paint, covering most of the underpainting. Once this dries to touch, I will go back in and do the water..... blessings!

 

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Box Seats (oil, 6"x6")

I haven't accomplished much in the studio today but I put a few touch ups on this little oil painting. Enjoy!

 

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Rocky Tak Coast start (oil, 8"x8")

I based this painting on a photo I took near Shichigama, Miyagi prefecture in Japan in November 2011. This is a rugged coast very close to the epicentre of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the northern coastal region of Honshu. We were there about six months after the tsunami - some of the area had yet to be cleared, and to this day has not been re-built significantly. Debris continues to wash up on beaches, in Japan, and elsewhere in the Pacific.

For those interested in my process (which I SO enjoy), heres just a bit of background.

This is the photo reference I am using.

I started this painting in acrylic and blocked in the cool and warm, light and dark areas. Here's what it looked like after the initial block in of very wet acrylic paint on this absorbent mat board. Several days ago, I covered this mat board with several layers of acrylic medium and Golden's GAC 100 to seal it well. I've painted on the bottom left half only. I'm going to let this dry before I paint the water. So far I like it! Cheers!

 

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Western Blaze (8"x10", Watercolor/Gouache)

I absolutely love sunsets, and love painting them too. Somehow I see watercolour as a more appropriate medium, since the sky is affected so much by water. Haha, yes, I do realize how crazy that sounds all you oil paint lovers!

Happy weekend!

 

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Deep Falls (8"x10", w/c and gouache)

This waterfall produces some cool photo opportunities, as I discovered in 2000 on our anniversary trip to Hawaii. At that time I hadn't taken up painting. The photo was unearthed during our recent move and I thought I'd give it a go. I wish I could recall where the water falls is located! Any ideas?

 

For a watercolour, I sure got my darks DARK! However, I really like how the colours in the pool at the base of the falls turned out.

Enjoy!

 

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Bow Lake Sentinels (oil, 9"x12")

I loved my painting time yesterday and today and I can't wait to do more. I've missed mucking about in my paint. This was fun, most of the marks made today were done with palette knives. That's so much fun - it makes such surprising ( and sometimes alarming) marks. It requires wholesale scraping off at times, it's MESSY! If you wait too long, it's harder, sometimes impossible, to scrape down and rework. Sounds somewhat like life doesn't it? However, since oil paint takes quite a long time to dry to the touch, never lose hope :-). I'm not sure if this one is done but I'll let it dry for several days before I mess with it further.

Cheers!

 

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Bow Sentinels (work in progress, oil, 9"x12")

Ah, there's really nothing like painting to occupy the mind and emotions! I ALWAYS feel better after painting. I've had a long period of artistic inactivity, so, earlier this week I got my acrylics out and a couple of Masonite panels and just played. One of the results was this underpainting start...

I've just sketched in the basic outline of the dark areas and here it is as of today....

What a mess - the ugly duckling stage for sure! Cheers"

 

 

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Impatient to paint but...

Note to self: Moving, Christmas, and painting, don't seem to go together. Painting has been coming in last on a very long list, thus no blog posts lately. However, I have made a bit of progress imagining my new painting space. It's a very large basement room. One priority for this space is a coffee/contemplation corner...a place to sit and think, imagine, and meditate. I've repurposed a bookcase that was left by the previous owners to give myself some extra shelves and I've got my storage into place. Emptying boxes of supplies, books, reference photos, etc is the next step...before painting. But first, I'm planning on having a very merry Christmas and I wish you and yours the very same! Cheers!

 

 

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A Pink (oil, 6"x6")

In today's painting session, I focused on pink almost exclusively. I've heard that pink is calming and I could use an island or two of calm right now. Between planning for our move, waiting for insurance quotes for basement damage, and sorting through belongings, I haven't had the energy and/or time to paint. When I say I focused... I mean it! I had to take my addled brain and my idle hands to my messed up art room (that's where the water damage is) and force them to focus on painting. It did me a world of good and I don't mind the result either. Cheers!

 

 

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Royal rework (oil, 12"x12")

My oil version of "Royal" has been languishing in my studio awaiting some attention. I gave I a very few minutes to it today to see whether I could make a difference. I like it better with these few changes. What do you think?

Here's the original version...

 

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