Down The Hill

The live feed from my studio is up and running. I tested it this weekend with a small 4"x6" that I did from memory. This could be any bend on a side road in Western Ontario really. I love the feel of this area. The coilours and the rolling hills are just calling to be painted.

Anyway, for those of you who didn't manage to join me as I painted, here is the quick version. I really need to get a better USB camera and a decent conversion program. USTREAM saves the files as FLV and I need WMV for Windows Movie Editor!

Down The Hill, Oil on canvas board, 4"x6"

Live feed From My Studio

In my on-again off-again experimentation with technology and the arts, I have started a live video feed from my studio. The plan is to turn it on every time I am in the studio so you can join in if you wish to. We can even chat while I am there... well sort of. That might not be practical if I am concentrating ;). I tested it yesterday and it works well. The first thing I need to do though is clean up the studio. It is a mess.


How does it work? Actually it is very simple. If you look at my blog, you will find the USTREAM window in the top right hand corner. When the feed is live, you will be able to click on it and join me. I will try to save some worth while sessions that you can review when the feed is off air.

Barn, Late Afternoon

Late fall is a special time for sunsets. Up here in Canada, the sun is low on the horizon and the warm orange glow turns everything in shadow to hues of purple, violet and lovely blues. By now, the fireworks of autumn leaves is a memory. It is a time when local colours are erased away. Atmosphere is all that remains and the sun, clouds and sky paint the landscape as they please. The more I paint the more I realize that there are no local colours or that even if there are, they don't really matter. There is just atmosphere, light and shadows. Each one of these defines the other in a dance from day-break to sunset.

Barn, Late Afternoon, Oil on canvas board, 4"x6"

CATCH IT ON EBAY

Morning On The Cabot Heights

I wish I could say I know the Canadian Maritimes as I would like to as an artist. Someday, I would like a grant to spend a summer painting the area. I think it would be a dream. But then where would I spend the most time? Newfoundland? PEI? Cape Breton Island? I have had the good luck to visit Cape Breton Island about a year ago. I spent a day on the Cabot Trail going around the island. It is a magnificent place with views around every bend and changes from moment to moment. One minute you are at sea level gazing at a salt marsh that you could paint for days and with every subtle change of the light and the next minute you are on top of a towering cliff overlooking the Atlantic ocean miles below. But a day is not enough for a place like that. Still I have kept a few images in my mind and my note book from the day trip. Here is one that I just translated into colour.

Morning On The Cabot Heights, Oil on canvas board, 4"x5"

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Escarpment Summer

A late look at the escarpment before the snow starts flying. This is a small one that I did this week. While I promised myself that I would paint mostly larger works this year, I am fond of these small bijou size works. They are easy to do out doors and softer on the pocket of would be collectors! This one is on eBay so please drop by and see it there!

Escarpment, Summer Day. Oil on canvas board, 4"x5"
Catch it on eBay

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