Fields of Green and Gold (8"x10")

The prairies stretch out all around me here in Lloydminster.  The verdant fields of Saskatchewan to the East and the colorful Alberta flatlands to the west.  36 kilometres north we have the beautiful North Saskatchewan river, 47 kilometres south, the Battle river valley.  I'm inspired by these views.  This little painting is a study for a larger piece I'm working on.  Enjoy!

Athabasca Falls (oil, 16"x20")

Athabasca Falls, in Alberta's Jasper National Park, is stunning all the time. But when we visited in June last year it was thundering even harder than usual after more than a week of steady rain. Awesome doesn't begin to describe the power. I've taken a shot at painting it this week. I'll have one more session to settle a few details but it is close to done. Cheers!

 

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Rocky Bloom (oil, 8"x10")

On the rocks along Sheep River, near the falls, these tiny lavender flowers go about their blooming business as they are designed to do by their creator. They do this despite their rocky perch and sandy soil and despite the likelihood that no one will sing their praises. They do this for the audience of one, their creator who does all things well.

 

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The Gloaming at Sheep River Fall (oil, 24"x24")

I first painted The Gloaming at Sheep River Falls in early 2012 and I hung it in my home in Calgary. I saw it every day and something really bugged me about it. Sometimes it takes me a long time to figure out what I want to change andthat was the case here. Indetermined not to hang it here in Lloydminster until I figured it out. There were just a few minor changes:

• The blue of the sky and water was too warm. I glazed turquoise lightly over the sky and in places on the river.
• The tips of the trees on the left, although lighter, were too warm. These I glazed with an almost grey mix to dull and cool them.
• The foreground rocks were also too warm for this time of day so I toned them with mixes of greens and blues.
• The water spray is in full shadow at this time of day, so my water was far to light and bright. I scumbled the blue and greenish greys into the white water to tone it.

There were a few other tweaks but those were the primary issues. What do you think? I like it much better now than I did before. Have a great day!

 

The Gloaming at Sheep River Falls - before...

 

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Rock Isle Lake Thaw [oil, 16”x20”]

 This is the second painting done using a method demonstrated by Rick Berg last at my CCPS meeting.  The steps differ from the usual way I paint in oils in several respects.  For those that are interested in those steps, here they are in short:

This is a photo of Rock Isle Lake on Sunshine Meadows.  It’s gorgeous!  This was an early June day and we had 3 seasons in 5 hours – fall, winter, and spring.  I have another photo from a slightly lower and wider angle that I photoshopped [adjust, threshold] to convert to simple black and white shapes.  I had a board previously painted red and I sketched these large shapes onto it, first with pencil and then outlined with a black Sharpie. 

I then painted these shapes with black acrylic gesso.  Once that was dry I glazed the entire surface with acrylic Transparent Red Iron Oxide [Golden’s].   Then I got out my oil paints and worked in the lighter colors for sky, water, and the highlighted rock shapes.   I left the greens and finishing the rocks until the last stage.  At this point I found I was painting as I normally do…  but I got a bit stuck on the reflections.  I found a YouTube video that helped quite a bit.  I’m pretty happy with how this one turned out and I think I’m finally beginning to paint with a particular style of my own.  It’s the largest oil painting I’ve done.  Once this is dry I may go back into it and up the contrast in the sky just a bit.  Enjoy!

Rock Isle Lake (20x14, watercolor)

A year ago I attended the Sunshine Meadows Plein Air PaintOut near Banff, Alberta.  The area is spectacular – what a gift our beautiful mountain parks are!  I nearly froze solid up there on a day that couldn’t make up it’s mind whether to snow, sleet, rain, or shine.  The overcast conditions made for the most spectacular photography though.  The purpley mountains set off the new, yellowish green growth perfectly.  My favorite spot is the basis for this watercolor painting – Rock Isle Lake.  Spectacular views and the cleanest, purest air I’ve ever breathed.  This year the PaintOut is August 5th so hopefully the weather will be more cooperative.  Regardless, it will be a day of fun and fellowship with other artists and enough photo reference material to last a lifetime! 

Sheep River Falls (6"x6")

Ron and I visited Sheep River Falls on August 2 during the golden hour - what an amazing view. The western sun, still warm amazingly, was catching the tops of the largest trees across the river. It was gloriously beautiful. I hope to revisit this site and do some plein air painting... maybe even yet this summer.
For those of you that are purists, I intentionally left out the little tree that currently grows out over the view - artistic license, etc. I'm sure it was like this at some point... and I like it better without that little scrubber getting in the way of the falls. Another time I might make it all about that little tree, but not today.
Views like this abound in the Canadian Rockies and in Kananaskis Country where this scene is found. I'm living 45 miles from this view and I've just seen it for the first time. Both Ron and I vowed we'd get out more - he with his camera and I with my paints. Enjoy!

Sandy McNabb Park (4x6 sketch)

My brother Harvey, his wife Stephanie, and their two children Ole and Larissa are here for a visit from their home in Wisconsin. Today my family gathered to visit with them at Sandy McNabb Park, which is west of Turner Valley in Kananaskis Country. WOW - I've never been there before and it is so beautiful. And quiet... nice and quiet. We had a great visit and I took lots of photos. Ron took lots of photos too. His are really amazing - he has a gift with cameras. We really need to get him an SLR... but I digress.

While there I sketched up a view of the Sheep River and I added the watercolor just now. I hope you like it... I think I would have been able to get the color better had I done it on site... plein air.

Spirit Island, Jasper National Park (18"w x 14"h)

It's been a busy day today so I'm opting to post a painting "new" to my blog but painted late last fall.

I visited Spirit Island in Jasper National Park (Alberta, Canada) last September and I highly recommend the experience! Spirit Island lies toward the north end of beautiful Maligne Lake and is accessible only by boat. 90-minute interpretive tours run frequently and are very informative. Although old, the boats are safe, comfortable (with room to stand if you need/want) and most importantly they are heated!

The day we visited, the fog lifted slowly to reveal a gorgeous mountain landscape... in this view the fog is still gentling the rocky slopes and it set Spirit Island off just beautifully. I used artistic license with my choice of colors, particularly in the mountains, but I rather like how this piece turned out.

Funny story related to Spirit Island - I have it on good authority that the Canadian Government erected the new, small public restrooms a few years ago for the astonishing sum of about $250,000. The need for solar power, remoteness and need for near-zero servicing (honey trucks not an option), and the cost of getting building supplies and workers to/from the site were cost factors. I was happy to utilize the facilities if for no other reason than to get some use out of my tax dollars. I recommend all Canadians attend at least once in your lifetime if for no other reason than putting your tax dollars to work! Enjoy!