Rapids revisited (Oil and Acrylics)

A few months ago, I painted a small 6x4 of rapids in acrylics (Below). To be fair to the Acrylics medium, I was going through a colour identity crisis. I was having a hard time foreseeing what the colours would dry as with the shift in acrylics.

Rapids, Acrylic on canvas board

Last week I pulled it off the shelf and decided to use liven up the colours using oil paints this time (below). As you can see the difference is amazing. I know artists are passionate about their mediums and I know a lot of acrylic painters are going to be upset with me for this post. I am sure I could have livened the colours up using acrylics just as well as oils, but frankly the fact that oil colours dry with the same colours as the ones you place on the canvas allows you to be the master of the painting as opposed to trying to forecast what paints will do and how they will shift your work when they dry.

Rapids Oil over Acrylics, 4x6 canvas board

Rattle Snake Point with OPAS

On Saturday I went for an early morning paint out with a few OPAS friends. The morning was cold, but the day soon developed in to a dream autumn day. Warm, sunny and a gentle breeze.

Four of us gathered at a spectacular lookout with a view of Mount Nemo in the distance. Both Rattle Snake Point and Mount Nemo are part of the Escarpment that runs from North West of Toronto all the way down to the Niagara area.

Early Morning, Mount Nemo in the Fall, Oil on canvas board, 8x10

I didn't have much time, so I did this in about 2 hrs and had to bid my friends goodbye for the day. When I started this painting, the light was barely touching the tips of the trees and the land was somewhat all in shadow. I tried to stay true to that moment.

Yes, it is fall

Happy Thanksgiving everyone... well Canadians at least ;)

Small Field In Fall, Oil on canvas, 8"x10"

Up here, fall is in its full glory... and miserable, cold, wet, and windy as well. We all want Autumn to be a colourful Indian Summer of course, but given the real summer that we had (wet, cold, and windy), why should we expect anything better for this season. *sigh*

Anyway, I decided some time last summer not to wait any more on nature for permission to paint. With layers on, and a deep breath, I spent the last two mornings out in the cold with my paints and brushes. Saturday was not too bad actually. Cool, but you could easily spend the day outdoors. Yesterday, on the other hand was hell. The wind just didn't stop and it was COLD. Football weather cold I mean.

Still, I managed to turn out these two. These took a couple of hours each, and I reserve the right to tweak them in the studio. I have not signed them yet. Small Field, was done on Sunday in the cold. Credit From Streetsville was done Saturday. There are subtle colours in the sky in both of these that I am not sure shows through in the photos.

Credit From Streetsville, Oil on canvas, 8"x10"

Farmland Fall, Halton, ON

Farmland Fall, 8x10, Oil on canvas board

I went out early today. Everyone was fast asleep, and I needed to get some fresh air and put my mind into auto pilot. I get my best thinking done when I am out painting alone and today was no exception. I picked up an Extra large double C at Tim Horton's and headed North. This scene was perfectly placed close to a large shoulder on the road, so I stopped and waited for sunrise. I watched the sky change and the land go from gray to colours. I then spent around two hours working on this one.

I have to start limiting the time I spend on works en plein air. For starters, winter is on its way and I won't be spending a day out there leisurely painting away. Winter is a plein air guerrilla operation. In and out. I did that well last winter, but this summer has been one of long days spent in nature. I have to readjust fast, or suffer as the snow starts blowing.

2009 Goals update

It is amazing what happens when you set goals. I have not looked at this post since January, but the fact that I posted my goals back then for the year was enough to get me started on the. So here is a check with three months to go in the year:

Art Goals for 2009:

I will join a local art society
There are two in Mississauga that I would like to be part of: Visual Arts Mississauga and Mississauga Art Council.
NOT YET. I am not sure which one to join really.

I will focus on working en plein air and join or create a local Plein air group
I am waiting for Plein Air Canada to get their act together and open activities, but I am not sure what they have in mind. From their site I believe they are a group artists who do plein air work, but they seem to be focused on their own workshops. If they don't plan to create not-for-profit plein air activities, I may have to start my own group. At any event, I would much prefer a small local group to a national group. I will wait until the spring and make a decision.
DONE. Spent most of the summer out there despite the rain. Created OPAS and it is building nicely

I will participate in at least two art competitions
I am not sure which ones I will submit works to, but I will participate in two without fail.
DONE. I even won an award!

I will paint bigger
While small paintings are easier from a time commitment perspective for me, they are not helping me grow. I will still do small works, but I will aim to not buy anymore canvases or pads that are smaller than 8x10 - except for sketchpads of course. When my supply of small canvases and pads (4x5; ACEOs; 4x6 and 5x7) are finished, I will refrain from buying any more in those sizes.
DONE. Nothing less than an 8x10 this year really.

I will give at least one plein air workshop this year
This will not be related to the plein air group. The group - if I have to create it - will be strictly for active plein air artists and will be support and activity driven.

NOT YET. Just lack of time really.

I will mentor Children in art, starting with my kids
My kids are natural artists... or so I think. Ha! I will work with them to expand their creative reach and help them explore painting. I will also do that with other kids through my wife's art project if I am called on.
DONE. My kids, but I need to do more.

I will help my wife kick start her art project
Sometimes it is hard for me to not jump in and take control especially when it is something that concerns someone I love, but my goal this year is to be supportive and helpful, not driving and influencing.
~ Well I am trying!
Not too bad so far. Hope to do more ;)

How to Build a Pochade Box For Plein Air Painting II

Since I posted my video on how to make a cigar box into a painting box for plein air painting, I have had many people email me to ask about the pochade that I featured at the end of the video. I finally took some time this weekend and taped this video about building a full fledged pochade box. It was easier for me to tape and edit this video than to build detailed plans and post them on the Internet. I hope that once you see this video you will be able to build your own pochade box. They are not hard to build really. What took the most time for me was working through the problems and finding ways around them. With this video, you should have very few problems left to work around.

Let me know what you think and how it goes! If you really enjoy it and find it useful, you can make a donation here ;)

See previous video installment on this topic here:

http://artezan.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-take-on-building-pochade-or-cigar.html

Tom Thomson and The Group Of Seven

I headed to the McMichael gallery just north of Toronto to visit their collection of Tom Thomson and The Group of Seven paintings. Like most Canadians, I am very familiar with some of their works since they form a back drop, and influence so much, of 20th and 21st century Canadian art.

Yellow Sunset, 1916

After spending the better part of the morning absorbing the Group of Seven exhibit, I went back and revisited the works of Tom Thomson, spending a few more hours in detail study of his plein air works. I was completely under his spell. The economy of his brush work and his mastery of colour and design were exquisite. I learned so much looking at his 8.5"x10.5" works. I got so engrossed in them that I did not notice the gallery guard who was looking alarmingly at me because I was so close to the works. She finally came by to let me know that I was welcome to take notes but I would have to use a pencil rather than my pen. Oh that! OK. I switched... She felt better. Seriously though I do understand. You don't want an accident with ink on these delicate works. I couldn't forgive myself if that happened.

Lake in Autumn, 1916

Tom Thomson (Not Thompson) was an avid outdoors man. He was also a draftsman by profession. He spent his summers up north in Algonquin park and supplemented his stay up there by working as a guide. He introduced the Group of Seven to Algonquin and although he died before they were to form their group, he was, in many ways, their inspiration. His career as a plein air artist was very short, but between 1912 and 1917 he built a huge collection of panel paintings. These were small 8.5"x10.5" plywood panels painted using a hand held cigar box or pochade box. Tom never primed his panels. He actually used the colour of the wood to advantage. He placed his colour thick and with a certain hand. His plains were clear and his vertical and horizontal strokes are masterly.

Evening, Canoe Lake, 1915

Tom died on Canoe Lake in the park in a canoe accident. His short career leaves everyone wondering what he would have accomplished had he stayed with us a while longer.

I will be revisiting the McMichael again and again to study Tom's work and when I am done with him, I will move on to Arthur Lismer.