value study 1

I've just begun working on a series of still life graphite value studies, that will (hopefully) turn into a series of paintings (in pastel or oil) sometime in the (near) future. This is the first of what I hope will be a series of studies using common kitchen objects and food items. I especially like the way the shape of the tureen picks up on the shape of the winter squash , and the bowl of the ladle picks up the shape of the onion. I think I'm begining to make sense of this composition thing. I've intentionally left the tureen less well developed to facilitate transfering the drawing later on since the values of the left side of the tureen and its shadow tend to run together.

The squash is a Celebration acorn--a heritage variety with a firm flesh and a nutty flavor that tastes marvellous with a bit of butter and brown sugar. They're small enough that a single one is perfect to serve two people. I liked it so much that I've saved the seeds and will try to grow them in my own garden next summer.

Each of these sketches takes 2-3 days to complete so I will probably not be posting every day for the near future.

Lieu de Repose

(A Quiet Place)

This is the pastel from 14 November all dressed up and ready to go out into the world and find a new home. The frame makes a world of difference. Dave at Atelier Caron down the street does the framing for me, and does an excellent job of it. This work will go to the Christmas exposition of the CAAJC at Sainte Catherine this weekend.

No paintings or sketches today

We had the first real snow of the season yesterday. The heavy, wet kind of snow that sticks to the trees and makes them into sculptures. Shoveled the porch and the back deck twice so the dogs don't come to harm. I'm just glad I don't have to shovel the driveway. A very nice man in a very large machine comes and does it for me. I took this picture after about an hour of snowing.





I love the way this plum tree looks when its covered with snow. Almost as pretty as it looks in the spring when it blooms. Too bad its a singleton and (almost) never produces fruit. In seven years its given me one plum a beautiful red fruit with golden flesh that was ever so sweet. Now if I could just find out what kind it is so I could get it a buddy and get the fruit its meant to produce.






A night view of the plum tree.

squashes from my garden

A 5.5x8.5 graphite sketch.

negative glass sketch

This 8.5x9 inch still life in charcoal and pastel on matboard is accomplished by first covering a piece of white matboard with an even coating of charcoal dust. Then the drawing was revealed with an eraser. Finally, the cruet at the back was glazed over with pastel.

Grandma's Doll

This 5x17 inch oil on watercolor paper is done in ultramarine blue and indian yellow with touches of titanium white for the highlights. It's done in a glazing technique with Liquin. The "doll" is an unglazed pottery figurine about eight inches tall. She used to carry a basket of flowers, but that got broken some time ago by small fingers exploring.

Wild Sky Over Water

An 8x11 inch landscape in oil on sanded pastel paper.

Blue On Blue

Another 8x11 inch acrylic sketch on watercolor paper. This little landscape sketch is done in ulatramarine blue and a bare minimum of titanium white.

Hanging Basket

This 8x11 inch still life is done in oil on watercolor paper.

Interlude-a waterscape

I finished this 6.5x16 inch pastel waterscape on sanded pastel paper late last night. I love the way that bullrushes spring up wherever the water flows a little more slowly no matter how fast the river itself rushes to its destination. If the river can be seen as a metaphor for the hectic pace of modern life (and the rocks as the inevitable obstacles to the smooth passage of that life), then the small spaces on the shore where the rushes grow can be seen as a metaphor for those meditative interludes when we can step outside of the daily rush and nourish our spirits before plunging back into the rush of daily life.

Pine Tree Sketch

In this 9x12 inch graphite sketch I tried to capture the spare barren essence of the Northern Ontario landscape. I love the way the trees in that area are shaped by the wind and the weight of snow in winter. They make me think of giant bonsai trees shaped by nature's hand.

Pine Tree in the Snow Sketch

A 9x12 graphite sketch. This little tree was less than a foot tall, but it stood straight up under its burden of snow beside the highway in the Fraser canyon.

Still Life Sketch

This is an 8x12 inch graphite sketch on sketch paper.

Summer Landscape

This lanscape ia a 10x12 inch pastel on sanded paper.

Pitt River conte sketch

A 9x11 inch landscape sketch in conte crayon on watercolor paper.

A Safe Spot

This 9x12 nature sketch is my first successful water color.

Frazer River Sketch

This little landscape is another 9x12 sketch in acrylic on watercolor paper.

Abandoned

This 9x12 landscape of an abandoned rural house is an acrylic sketch on watercolor paper. While I like the composition of this sketch, I'm not sure the values work. The old house gets lost in all that green, and so do the flowers in the foreground. A bit more value contrast is definately in order when this becomes a larger work.

Wild Sky

This 9.5x12.5 landscape is done in oil on sanded pastel paper.

Vertigo

Vertigo is a 9.5x12.5 pastel on sanded paper. I can't really say much about this one. It certainly doesn't fit into any of the standard categories--its not a landscape though it is outside, its not precisely a still life either, at least not in the traditional sense, and its not an abstract eithre. I guess I'll just leave it to the viewer to decide.