I thought my phone case could use a little dressing up so I added a belted kingfisher. It looks a little odd when opened up and laid flat. Closed it works as 2 images with the bird on the front and its habitat on the back. The case has a sealed finish so it doesn’t lend itself to this kind of process. I did add a layer of varnish but the act of opening and closing the phone case regularly means this decorative detail won’t last very long. I have a tendency to paint random objects on a whim. Permanency isn’t factored in as it’s just for fun.
Sketchbook Selection – Crow Study
This crow study was completed in my small (5 1/2 by 8 in) sketchbook. Rather than using a pigment (ink) pen this image was rendered with a brush, Speedball Super Pigmented Acrylic Ink, and acrylic paint. Using a brush with the acrylic ink allows for the opportunity to make a variety of marks without changing tools. The super black ink is highly opaque when undiluted but I also used it as a wash here to create different tones. I opted to work from dark to light and layered acrylic paint on top of the ink to flesh out the image.
October 2013 – Killarney Trees
I shared this drawing online here in October of 2013. For some reason that post attracted weekly multiple spam comments even though I edited it to indicate that comments were being moderated before being made public. As a final resort I’ve deleted the original post. I still want to share the drawing so I decided to re-post it. Hopefully the same issue doesn’t arise.
Killarney Provincial Park is located on Georgian Bay in my home province of Ontario. My favourite time of year to camp there is in the fall. There are less people around at the end of the season and the fall colours are gorgeous. I do draw and paint a bit on site but not too much. I like to be present and enjoy the park so I try to take a fair amount of photos to work from later. This piece was completed from a picture I took on the Lake of the Woods Trail. The drawing was made using pigment ink liners on a heavy cold press water colour paper. The pigment ink and texture of the paper create an effect that’s reminiscent of an etched print.
Painting on Found Objects – Barn Owl Saw
It’s common to find old implements at yard sales and second hand stores in my area. They can be oil covered or rusty so prep work is required before they can be painted. I bought this saw from a second hand charity shop. It was rusty so I sanded it and applied a coat of Tremclad rust primer to create a sealed base coat. The barn owl is painted in acrylic. It’s a bit stylized which I think is a good approach for a found object painting. To finish I applied a spray coat of Krylon varnish to the blade to protect the painting from scratches. I left the handle alone as I like the worn condition left from actual use. It’s a bit of an odd object to photograph so I opted to hang it on plant hook in my back yard to get a full length picture. I’ve included a closer look below as well with a bit less of the background.
As The Crow Flies
This 12 inch square piece is acrylic on board. I combined imagery sourced from my collection of photographs to create the narrative.
This is the first time I’ve attempted something figurative on such a small scale. I’m not sure if it’s something I will repeat. Because the picture above is a close up cropped image you can get a good sense of the elements but viewing the piece from a distance (as in the un-cropped photo below) I feel like a bit of that is lost because of the size.
That said I don’t feel the piece is unsuccessful. I did establish a solid narrative theme, which was my original intent, as well as learned a bit about the ins and outs of working smaller.
Sketchbook Selection – Owl in Flight
This image was rendered with the #2 Pigma archival ink brush pen and Staedtler pigment 0.1 and 0.05 liners. The drawing is 5.5 inches by 8 inches. This is the second of three owl pieces I completed. If you’re an owl expert (not saying there’s any around these parts but they’re out there somewhere) you may have noticed that this isn’t exactly a faithful rendering. I was interested in attempting to convey something more immediate (or even whimsical) that I associate with those momentary glimpses we so very rarely catch of owls or larger birds in general.
Painting on Found Objects – Juvenile Great Grey Owl
My house was built circa 1910. Being a lath and plaster construct, it wasn’t insulated. The people who owned it before us installed blown insulation in the walls and attic. At that time most of the attic flooring was removed leaving a few planks to walk on and a couple of smaller cuts lying around. I’m not sure what kind of wood the flooring is but I’m of the mind that it might be hemlock. The portion I used to create this piece has a lovely rich colour along with some interesting dings and scratches. Neither the bottom or top are cut even. It’s an odd fifteen-ish inches high and a smidgen under one inch deep. It is tongue and groove but the groove side was snapped off (it’s still a foot across though). It’s not “pretty” but those are my favourite kind of found objects to use. They have their own history and that added element enriches the final piece.
I’ve not been lucky enough to photograph a Great Grey Owl so I went online to research my subject. I didn’t draw from any single source but rather found inspiration in a variety of places. I noticed that owls exhibit consistent perching behaviour no matter the breed or environment so that determined the composition. I used a layer of matte varnish to seal the wood before I started painting. This juvenile Great Great Owl, painted with acrylic and somewhat stylized, is all about the brushwork. Building from dark to light I fashioned shape and substance with layers of small brushstrokes making no attempt to blend or smooth them out. I wanted the image to retain the unique properties of the wood surface. To that end, although there are multiple layers of paint it’s not so thick as to hide the texture of the wood allowing it to be seen through the brushstrokes.
The Bridge On Brouwers Line
The bridge on Brouwers Line is located just outside the Archie Coulter Conservation Area. The conservation area stretches for 133 acres along the west branch of Catfish Creek. This piece is based on a photograph I took whilst visiting the site a couple of years ago. The first scan is the work in progress as a pigment pen drawing. The second is the piece finished with water colour.
Sketchbook Selection March 2019
This piece started with a drawing based on a turtle photo I found online. The turtle felt a little lonely sitting all by itself in the middle of the white page so I placed it “under water”. The plants aren’t referenced from anywhere other than vague memories of water plants I’ve seen prior. I utilized a compact composition to create a natural frame whilst allowing some of the drawing to break that framing element. It’s a characteristic I associate with movement and I like the organic atmosphere it engenders.