Painting in the Laurentins in August

As usual my family and I spend time at our cottage in Val David. This gives me a good opportunity to paint en plein air. The next few posts will show some work that was done this past summer.

This was an 8 X 10 on panel done just off the section of the bike path running along the old railway bed between Val David and Ste. Agathe as it crosses the North River. As I was painting a gentleman came along on a bicycle and stopped to watch what I was doing. He introduced himself as Gordon Harrison, an artist from Ottawa, and gave me some great tips!






















This photo shows my easel and the view beyond.

Winter Painting

This was my first (and so far only) winter plein air painting. It was painting on a warm and sunny day in March of last year. I am standing on a frozen pond created by an abandoned beaver dam in a park in Scarborough. So I am at a beaver pond within the city limits of Toronto. The painting below is no great shakes, but the location is pretty amazing so that is why I have a picture of my easel first this time.

Brush with the Highlands 2012 II

This 8 x 10 painting was done at the same location as the first (see Brush with the Highlands 2012 below) at the end of the first day but looking in the opposite direction. The location was an old summer camp that is now privately owned and is no longer used as a camp. There was a stream that connected two small bodies of water. The earlier painting was looking south so the light morning sun is on the left,  this is looking north so again the light is coming from the left.

Brush with the Highlands 2012

This painting, an 8" x 10" oil called "Morning Light" was the first one I did at this past years plein air painting festival in the Haliburton Highlands north of Toronto. The photo on the right is my easel set up in front of the scene.

This popular festival, now in its fourth year, was attended by 40 artists and is a lot of fun for the public and the artists alike and I for one hope that it will continue and grow in the future.

Big Rocks

Another 8 x10 oil on panel painted along the North River outside of the town of Val David in the Laurentiens. In my more recent paintings I have been trying to keep in mind the one thing that struck me when I first saw the scene. This feature, if it is not obvious, is the bright blue reflection in the middle ground. I had fun playing with all the other elements, such as the reflections but they all ended up being less important than the blue patch.

In the next post we will head off to my second year at "Brush with Highlands" a plein air painting weekend in the Haliburton Highlands north of Toronto.

Painting in the Park, Val David

Even though the painting itself is no great shakes, this one was fun!

The North River runs through the village of Val David and there is a small park with an observation deck, picnic tables, etc where people eat lunch, play and enjoy the river. The river bank drops down about six feet so that as I was sitting at the river's edge and painting I was out of sight of the people in the park. At one point I turned around and a boy of perhaps 5-6 years old was intently watching what I was doing. He watched for a long time. An artist friend said that I may have influenced him to be come a painter!

Quietly flows the Don

This is a view of the Don River here in Toronto that was painted on a very hot day in early June. I remember that I set up on the river bank on some rocks in the shade and painted for about one and a half to two hours and when I finished I suddenly felt how hot it was; I hadn't noticed it while I was painting.

This has a drawing and sort of a block-in in red, which I don't usually do, but I tried it here. I think it adds an extra feeling of the hot weather.

This painting sold at my studio tour (Beach Studio Tour) in October.

Rouge River

This was painted as part of a paint-out sponsored by the Ontario Plein Air Society (OPAS) held annually in the Rouge River Valley which is part of a large park in Scarborough on the eastern edge of Toronto.

It is 9 by 12 inches on a MDF panel primed with orange shellac.

Below is the painting in progress on my easel.

Don't Step Back!

This is the second painting which I did at the Cranberry marsh just outside of Toronto along Lake Ontario.

I is again small (6 x 8 inches), and in comparison to the previous painting I think that it is more successful. There is more of a concern with abstract shapes and less with detail.

In the next picture is one of the hazards of painting in the "wild." I stepped back to get a better look and fell over a log!

Painting on an April Day with Companions

This oil painting was done at Cranberry Marsh near Pickering (just east of Toronto) on Lake Ontario in April. I went out with fellow artist Gary Smith (http://www.escapewithgary.com). This is the first of two small  paintings (6 x 8 inches) that I did that day and is what I would call "simple minded," that is too much detail, with too little attention to large shapes etc.

The other image shows my critical companion.