Shiloh

This is Shiloh, my new puppy, a Boxer/Lab/GSD mix.  She is already about twenty pounds of love, compassion, and extraneous puppy energy.  (I would not be surprised is she surpasses the 100 pound mark when she is full grown.)  She has been living with me for two weeks, and already we are walking off-leash, on-leash, playing full fetch (ie she returns the ball), and just chilling on occasion and being happy in each other's energy space.  More and more we are knowing and liking each other.  So without further ado, here are a few pics.

Above: during our off-leash walks, she does these puppy-hops about and around me, and then stops in whatever moment she finds herself, and looks at me.  You can't see it in this picture, but she is smiling!

Above:  Here she is in the car. She loves car rides!  Right now, I have her sitting in a plastic container, but it will not be long before she will outgrow it.

Hey, this is my reading chair!  She likes to sit in this chair when I am not.  When I walk into the room and approach the chair, she gets off and sits by it, waiting to rest beside me.

This is my favorite picture.  Perhaps it is the lab in her that made her so smart about retrieval.  She was retrieving fully right from the moment she came here.

A picture from our off-leash walk on the vacant property across the street from my house.

This picture kind of shows what she looks like fully from the side.

Nearing the end of November, and the beginning of December.

We had some snow on Sunday and Monday evening, so that the trees had that magical winter-look, the evergreen branches gobbed with gentle coverings of white.  There was no or little wind, so even with the cool fresh temperatures, it felt still, peaceful and cozy (if you were properly dressed).

On Tuesday morning, I drove my car to Rusty's for an oil change, and leaving the car there, I went for a short walk along the ravines and marsh that exists by that portion of Hwy. 35.  Across from the Hwy. 35 turn-off to Kinmount, there is what I have always thought to be a beautiful wetland area, one that I hope to paint someday.  Visiting the site on foot, I took the following two photographs.

The first I thought was beautiful because the  log and its branches reminded me of antlers.  The wood was dead, but its beauty endured, breathing and alive, as driftwood.

The second photograph, below, was a more general one that captured the feel.  I felt as if I could have sat down in a lawn chair and just be content to stare at the "Peace".

as a few of you know, i recently moved into the Haliburton area.  here, I hope to renew my painting and art, as well as become part of a new community.

my new house was originally a barn with a first level of wall made from stone and about two and a half feet thick.  my first executive act as the new owner was to paint the house barn-red.  over the winter, i will work on the interior.

while doing that, i will be working on a series of watercolor paintings, some of which I might be publishing on this blog.

DECAF 2015 - Danforth East Community Arts Fair - My paintings for display there

This year, I am so grateful for being allowed to participate in DECAF, being held on September 19 and 20 at East Lynn Park,(south side of the Danforth between Coxwell and Woodbine).  Here are some of the paintings that I will be showing there. .

Watercolor (w.graphite)  12 by 16.  Leaf Spirit Abstract.

Marriott's Cove, Nova Scotia - waterolor (w.graphite), 12 by 16 - from a walk in Spring 2015

Maple Leaf Abstract - watercolor (w.graphite) 12 by 16 - this is a watercolor version of an abstract oil I painted in the same theme.  I do not paint the exact same painting twice, but sometimes I will do a watercolor version of an oil painting, or an oil painting version of a watercolor painting.  So it is that I have done that here.

 Marriott's Cove, Nova Scotia - a second painting along the same walk as the first.  Watercolor (with graphite) 12 by 16.  There was something very paintable about that shore shed, so I did it from a second perspective.

 Branch Painting in oils 30 by 40.  I saw these branches during a walk near Kensington Market, and did a sketch in black and white on a crimson red background.  However, rather than do a detail realist style painting, for a number of emotional reasons, I went at it quickly with a 3/4 inch bristle brush, and then did touch-ups, letting some of the crimson red background show through.  It looks rough, but to take it further, to refine it, would detract from its spiritual impact.

 Redemption oil painting 16 by 20. I painted this painting, thinking of a friend who was knocked down but got back up again.

 White Flower Abstract - oil painting 16 by 20

The above two paintings are both still lifes, painted in different styles.  The bottom one is bristle brush, freely painted, in mostly one sitting, while the one on two is soft-haired, more refined, revisited and charmed.  One is 18 by 24, and the other is 20 by 24.

 The above watercolor (w. graphite) was painted over time through a very difficult period, with a lot of stabbing wet on dry strokes.  It is larger than most watercolors I do.  I stopped it and left it be when I thought both it and me had had enough.  This painting is 18 by 24 so it will fit a standardized frame from somewhere somehow.
 .

 This is an oil painting that I revisited many times.  I saw this flower on one of my walks in the early morning, sketched it, and then basically went in my own direction with the coloring once it was on the canvas.  It is 16 by 20.

 The above watercolor is 12 by 16.  It was painted with smaller brushes, quickly in trying to avoid tedium or fragmentation of concept, to create a reddish net appearance over the main part of the tree.  As I was sketching and painting it, I was reminded of when I was a child how I would stare at branches and see patterns separate out from each other.

This is an oil painting 20 by 24, which I painted with black and white undertones to find depth and composition and then covered with thicker bristle-brush strokes, mixed with softer sable brush-strokes, to try to have a more arresting look.

how to prep watercolor paper by soaking, taping and stretching

I wanted to explain one way how to soak, tape and stretch watercolor paper to a board so that the paper will not buckle when you paint on it.

Here is the short version:

1. soak the sheet in water for 10 minutes;
2. remove sheet from water, gently shake off excess water for about 30 seconds;
3. place sheet on horizontally-disposed board;
4. after putting tape under tap to wet the adhesive, apply tape over both outer edge
    portion ( ¾" margin will do it) of paper and board;
5. gently remove excess water pooled on paper surface with absorbent paper towel; and
6. place board w. paper in horizontal disposition and let dry (over night or equivalent).

Also describing what I have been and am up to, here is the verbose version:

I intend to do three watercolor paintings next week (while I am working on some oil paintings and doing some creative writing). Because I use an inordinate amount of water when I paint with watercolors (my working area becomes like a flood zone), it is usually wise for me to soak and tape the watercolor paper to a board so that it dries nicely-stretched and there is no buckling issue when I paint.

I still do some paintings without soaking, taping and stretching, but I find the overall process so much easier when I do not to have to worry about buckling or watching my water usage.

I also have found that, because watercolor is so unforgiving, it is really important (for reducing the failure percentage) for me to do a relatively detailed line sketch before I start the work and THEN HAVE THE SKETCH TRANSFERRED ONTO THE PAPER before the soaking and stretching. I think that most people just soak the paper, stretch it and then do their thing on it, and that is fine (whatever works or is comfortable, do it) BUT: generally, for me and what I have heard from other people who paint in watercolor, is that their biggest obstacle to finishing a work is not being able to get around a mistake that they could not correct. My experience has been that if one gets the composition figured out, and the outline onto the paper, before starting anything else, the risk of failure is reduced by as much (in my case) 75 per cent.

You still get to express your creativity in the sketching and compositional phase even though it is being separated to a large extent from the painting process. DIVIDE AND CONQUER is a good strategy for watercolor painting.

So, with the current projects in mind for next week (October 14th to 20th), I first free-hand sketched three drawings on 12" by 16" ruler-lined sections of large newsprint. How a person sketches is personal, of course. I tend to draw using shape, contour outline and negative space (helps me with proportion) lightly in pencil, and then, going back and pressing down, really heavily with a 4B. (The best and easiest books I know about learning how to draw are written by Betty Edwards, including ‘Drawing with The Right Side of the Brain’ and ‘Drawing on the Artist Within’. Either one of those books will do it for anyone who wants to learn how to draw . . . something anyone can do.)

I use newsprint for the initial sketch because the newsprint lets me draw more freely, knowing that I can resolve any problem with an eraser or the garbage can without any tears. (If I lose a sheet of watercolor paper, I feel as if I have lost a child.)

Here are the three sketches I am going to paint (or begin to paint) next week. All three are from photographs, I took while walking along a Toronto street. (I don’t always sketch from photographs, but I find it really helpful sometimes in the case of watercolors because it gives you a good reference for working in the studio. ) One (the bike) was taken after a snowfall in winter, and the other two were taken about a month ago when I was walking near College and Spadina.

　

 

　

After doing the sketches, the next step for me was to transfer them to the watercolor paper and, to do that, I used tracing paper. The tracing paper process is somewhat tedious, but I find that after a day of doing three sketches like the above, I am pretty brain dead so it does not matter. Regarding paper, I habitually use either 140 lb Fluid, 140 lb Bockingford or 140 lb Arches (all cold-pressed rough), for this particular size of painting. I have never had any problem with any of these brands and I am pretty tough on paper sometimes. (There are some brands that I cannot use because they seem to disintegrate for me, but I know other people who do use those brands and swear by them. Paper is personal so try as many as you can until you find the one you like.) So after transferring the drawings to watercolor paper, I then placed them on the three boards just to make sure they were sized correctly. Here is a photograph of the three sheets on the three boards (ready for soaking and stretching):

　

　

　

　

IMPORTANT NOTE: IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT THE BOARDS BE DRY BEFORE YOU USE THEM FOR THIS PURPOSE BECAUSE IF YOU HAVE USED THE BOARDS BEFORE FOR STRETCHING PAPER, THEY WILL HAVE RESIDUAL GLUE AND THAT GLUE, IF YOUR BOARD IS STILL WET, CAN WRECK HAVOC ON WET PAPER THAT IS PLACED ON TOP OF IT FOR TAPING AND STRETCHING. There is no problem as long as the boards are dry though. I have been using these same boards upteen times for several years. (I always let a board dry overnight before I use it for another painting and I have never had a problem. I have seen firsthand, however, problems that other people have had where the board was not dried before application.)

I have found that the paper stretches and holds with a ¾ inch margin beyond the border for the painting . . . at least the way that I paint and the size of painting that I paint. Many people use a bigger margin than that. I have had no problem with the ¾ inch.

Anyway, the next step was the soaking.

　

　

I poured enough water into a tub to cover the paper and then I placed the paper into the tub and let it sit immersed for 10 minutes. (If you let it sit for too long, like say 20 minutes, you risk the paper becoming spongy and losing its resiliency to reassert enough tightness upon drying. 10 minutes seems to work perfectly.) I did one sheet at a time. With each sheet, after ten minutes, I took the sheet out of the tub and held it vertically various ways, lightly shaking it, for about 30 seconds total so that some of the excess water drained off. I then placed the still really wet sheet onto the board. Nothing earth shattering, here is a picture of the wet paper placed on the board after the 30 second drip-off.

　

　

　
(This part of the process, some people do it differently. Most people, who I know who do this, hang the paper vertically using clothes pegs or the like for five minutes to let the excess water drain. I do not do this because I find that the water accumulates within the paper unevenly (due to gravity), and this unevenness can affect (and, for me, has affected) how the paper has dried and stretched, so that I noticed the unevenness while I was painting or, even worse, had an instance where there was a slight permanent buckling in a corner of the paper despite that the paper being had been stretched and taped. I should say, however, that usually, after hanging the paper with pegs for five minutes and then putting it on the paper, there is no such problem. But I have had this problem and that is why I don’t drain out the excess water by hanging anymore. Instead, I leave most of the excess on before I apply the tape so that paper remains evenly saturated.)

　

　

Once the paper was on the board, I put wetted (inexpensive) packing tape around its edge portions securing the paper to the board. THEN I DEALT WITH THE EXCESSIVE WATER ISSUE by using a paper towel by patting off the excess water. Patting is so easy and takes about five seconds. Here is a photograph of my hand with the paper towel.

　
　

Having finished the soaking, taping and removal of excess water, I then placed the boards with the watercolor paper in a place where they could maintain a horizontal disposition so that the sheets of paper could dry evenly. At the end of the process, I had three nicely stretched sheets of paper with sketches already on them.

Here are two of the three watercolor-paper sketches for the paintings:

　

 

 

 

　

As a final note, for each sheet, the process of soaking and taping took about fifteen minutes total. Of course, the way and order that I do the sketching took a lot longer (a day and a half for all three works). You don’t have to sketch before soaking, however. That is just a personal choice.

My hope is that, by explaining this process, it will help someone who is learning, but whatever or however a person does a work of art, it should be personal.  A person should try anything and everything with watercolor to see what works best for them personally. 

some oil and water color paintings of my recent past

I will be blogging on composition issues and my theories about how to avoid the mistakes that I have made in the past to find peace and enjoyment, rather than frustration and stress, from painting in oils and watercolors.  The easy answer is, of course, that you have to find what is within yourself and what it takes to make you yourself happy in what you are doing.  Then you can do anything in art.

In oils, I learned to paint with a thick hog-hair brush, really caking on the paint, and then evolved into using sable-haired brushes and layering.  In watercolors, I started out using wet on dry as a base followed by wet on wet layers, and then evolved into using wet on wet as a base followed by wet on wet and the odd wet on dry embellishment while working harder on planning the shapes and positioning BEFORE I STARTED  the work.  But those stories of hair-pulling development of theory to deal with my own personality are for later days and posts.  I will tell those stories later.  Today, I just wanted to post some of my paintings. Later, this week, I will write about what I think, so far, about composition and color and, hopefully (if my energy stays high), show some watercolor works as I am working on them. 

Here they are:

(As you can see, I have this thing for branches.  The short version of the reason for this is that when I was a very small child and there was no one to play with, I used to lie on the ground and look up into the branches of trees and imagine stories or see shapes or just find meditative space.  So it was, that as an adult, when I returned to drawing and painting, and I was looking for subject matter, branches were a natural for me.)

watercolor

watercolor

watercolor 12 by 16

 

 

 

oil 20 by 28

 

 

oil 30 by 40

 

 

oil 30 by 40

 

 

oil 20 by 24

 

 

watercolor 18 by 24

 

 

watercolor 16 by 20

 

 

 

oil 16 by 20

 

 

oil 16 by 20

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just to add onto my previous post regarding the watercolor, that painting (ie the watercolor) was the second painting that I did from my source sketch, which was quite comprehensive.  Here is the oil painting that I did from the sketch.  I will go more into my methodology later.  (I do paintings in lots of different ways depending upon my mood, the subject matter and the medium.)  This painting I would not have done, but it was specifically requested by someone.  So I did it for him and, possibly, to be put on the wall of his hair salon in Toronto.  It is 30" by 40", oil on canvas.  The size makes a difference when you see it in real.   As well, lost in the photographic reproduction (and this was the case with the watercolor as well) are the color nuancing effects of the layering.  (You can see that I made changes to the composition when I did the watercolor.)  I have not shown it to him yet and, right now, I am just kind of looking at it, trying to figure out if and where it needs touch-ups.