The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

There is an interesting history behind the name of this little spaniel. I had to do the research to find out what it was. It seems that this breed was recreated about 80 years ago, based on written evidence and as seen depicted in paintings that were hundreds of years old. The English King Charles was a fancier, and one is nearly always seen with him in royal portraits.

The Sheltie

It was at this time that my computer suddenly died, and for the next two weeks I found I had plenty of time to paint. I was suprised by how much I was depending on a computer, and how much of my time was taken on it.

While waiting for repairs, I gave myself the assignment of painting as many dogs and cats as I could, in order to develop my skill in painting pets. I printed a stack of reference photos from Wet Canvas using another computer, and dove in.

I would like to have painted Sheila, the sheltie I once owned, but due to computer technical difficulties, I relied on the images that were available to me. The funny thing about dog breeds is that each dog can look so like the next and yet be so different. This certainly was not Sheila, and yet this dog reminded me of her in many ways. They have such an intelligent yet sensitive gaze. Sheila was the only dog I ever had; I may one day have another.

The Dog Show

When the large annual dog show came to Woodstock in the middle of July, it got me thinking. Could I find a local market in pet portraiture? Perhaps not as grand a goal for an emerging artist as some, but I sensed that this might be a good niche to develop. First, however, I had to see if I liked painting dogs. Turning once again to the Wet Canvas reference library, I found an excellent example of one of my favorite breeds, the Labrador Retreiver.

There is something gratifying about painting a living thing. A flower, while living, may be beautiful, but an animal has a character and personality.

The Knave of Hearts

When Ian stayed with us in May while recovering from knee surgery, he brought along the now grown kitten, George Michael. I had painted him in casein during the Christmas holidays as seen in an earlier post. On this visit he was gradually allowed to discover the great outdoors. So making up for lost time spent as an indoor cat, he spent as much of his time as possible amongst the foliage and flowers that became his jungle. He stalked birds, climed trees and ran the length of the yard for the sheer freedom of it. He even squeezed through the fence a few times to explore the uncharted reaches of suburbia. After a while we got used to his comings and goings.

It came as a suprise, then, while taking pictures of my bleeding hearts for yet another floral painting, that Georgie's little face would appear in one of the photos. He really is just as impudent as he looks. Of the paintings that I have done, this is probably my favorite.

It marked, as well, a turning point for me. It would be the last painting of flowers that I would do for some time. That inquisitive little face lead me in a new direction.

Coffee and Donut

This coffee break still life was constructed by another fine workshop instructor, John, alias Watercolourlover. At Wet Canvas, some artists are known better by their online nickname then by their real name. This was one of the reasons why meeting them in real life was so very interesting. Painting can be a lonely occupation, and yet many artists enjoy working in the company of others. We shared artistic tips and techniques, jokes, chocolate truffles, horseshoes (sort of), a pot luck , a barbeque, and a campfire, complete with a sing along. Many had eagerly looked forward to this event since Gail, or Strawberrywine, announced in January that she would be hosting this third annual 'Meet'.

When I look at this painting, finished after returning home, and the one of the loon, I am reminded of that great weekend. It was a very special time.

Wet Canvas Reunion

For three days in late June, members of the Wet Canvas watercolor group met together at Sutton, Ontario, on Lake Simcoe. They had come from as far away as Vancouver, San Francisco, Nebraska and Indiana. Four even came from England for this event. Some knew each other well; many were meeting for the first time. Char, who led the macro floral tutorial was there, as was Judy, another student from that tutorial. I was fortunate to be among them. We socialized, but we also painted together in a couple of workshops. This loon was started in a workshop led by Shelley, a highly respected artist from Burlington, which I finished after returning home. It was nothing short of fascinating to paint and be among so many fine artists.

Red Rose

There is just something about roses. I was drawn back to them again and again. If the rose is the classic flower, then the red rose is the most classic of all flowers. I had to paint one to add to my rose collection. Here was another of those tricky macro compositions where the view is so close that no background or greenery shows. The eye is attracted to strong contrasts, and I used them here to keep the work interesting. But too much of a thing is......too much, and I glazed over this painting repeatedly to reduce the stark 'posterized' effect that was first created.

I find it amazing that there were actually nine different pigments used in this one red rose:

three reds, two pinks, a blue, and three greens.

Lilacs

I am a great one for saving scraps. I get it from my mother, who grew up during the depression and therefore was a better scrap saver than me. But watercolor paper is not cheap, so surely something could be done with my growing accumulation of bits and pieces trimmed from larger works.

I'm not sure how many 2.5"x4" paintings I had paper saved for, but it certainly was a lot. It was high time that I tried a miniature painting.

This was similar to the hydrangea in that the composition would be vital, as would be the lighting, to avoid a boring painting. However, even if I failed and it was boring, because it was so small, it would only be a little boring........

I got out my smallest brushes and went to work. It reminded me of knitting a baby sweater. Because the stiches, or in this case brush strokes, were proportionately so small, the miniature took just as long to complete as a larger work. In the end, I felt as if I didn't have that much to show for all the work that went into it. If your monitor is like mine, what you see will actually be larger than the original.

But I was pleased with the result, so I guess I could say that it was at least a small success.

Peach Rose

Peach is my favorite color of rose. I particularily like the Peace rose, or Chicago Peace. Peach roses were a theme in our wedding. I wanted to make sure that while I was painting flowers, I would do a peach rose. Working as usual from the Wet Canvas reference image library, I chose one with an abundance of opened petals. It reminds me of a ruffled Victorian gown with lavish petticoats.

Hydrangea

Meanwhile, there were more flowers to paint. I had been considering for some time how I might manage a macro of a clustered flower, such as a hydrangea. Here, without a contrasting background, the challenge would be keep the composition from having wallpaper sameness. Getting a good composition through careful cropping of the original image was half the battle.

This one took me three weeks to complete, as I was attending to my son who stayed with us while recovering from knee surgery. See the earlier post of Ian skateboarding........

The Winamac

My dad's love of tug boats can be traced back to one boat: the Winamac. It was owned and run by my dad's Uncle Baird and crewed in part by another uncle, Laddie. When my dad was very young, he went on family picnicing excursions on this boat, and was told by Baird that when he reached twelve he could come out alone and help the crew. His uncle kept his promise, and for most of his teen years, my dad was a frequent 'guest crewman' on the Winamac. His hopes of more permanent work with his uncle didn't materialize and my dad turned to accounting instead of an adventurous life at sea.

Recently, my dad found online a photo he had never seen before of the Winamac, taken just after she had been sold by Baird in about 1950. She was just as my dad remembered her - before being sold a few more times and finally sunk in the 1970s. Although the photo was rather blurry and faded, I knew I had to paint it. This was no ordinary tug after all, this was the Winamac.

Primary Colors

Just as I was starting this dalhia, I came across another Wet Canvas tutorial, lead by JJ in Australia. In it students were confined to using just three primary colors in their painting. I realised that the dalhia would qualify, and so was able to join in this tutorial as well.

It is surprising just how much can be done with such a limited palette. But then after all, the standard printing process uses only the three primaries plus black. The trick for the artist is in choosing which of each three colors to use. For example should it be a cherry red or a rust red, or one of dozens of other reds. And should that red that is chosen be matched with a caribbean sea blue or a navy blue? Lemon yellow or buttercup or mustard or ochre?

These considerations, and others such as paint brand, lightfastness, staining /non-staining characteristics, transparant vs granular etc, meant in just a few years of experimentation, I had acquired just over 100 tubes of paint. I tried to determine which were my twenty-two favorites in order to have the best paints fit my painting pallette. In the end, I could not do it and therefore invented and built my own pallette which would hold 96 pigments. It consisted of dollar store daily vitamin organizers and a tempered glass cutting board from WalMart. Total cost: $10. Don't, however, ask me what those 100 tubes of paint cost...........

Daffodil

After all that color, I needed to paint something delicate. It was the time of year for daffodils anyway. I was trying different sizes and shapes, and felt that this would make a good square format. The challenge was not to let the flower's center become a boring bull's eye.

Char's Sunflower

It was finally time for me to tackle the second lesson in the macro tutorial: the vibrant sunflower. Char taught us using her own example, that really exagerating or even changing the original colors can lead to a more dynamic painting. I hesitated at first, wanting to stay true to realism, yet I found that if handled carefully, what she suggested really was good advice. There is Artistic Licence after all.

Spring Season of Painting

Starting with the poppy in the beginning of March, nearly all I painted that spring was flowers. Was I a floral painter? I was beginning to think that I was. Perhaps it was spring fever after so long a winter. I stumbled upon the Wet Canvas online floral tutorial at just the right time to develop my floral painting skills. I painted one after another, and with every painting I learned something new. The students of the tutorial had by this time formed something of a club. To stay within the mandate of the 'thread', our postings had to relate to the topic of macro florals. Here were fellow artists ready to offer helpful critiques and suggestions, something too good to miss. And so I contributed as many florals as I could paint, learning more of the painting process, and of Wet Canvas as well.

Thank you to all my macro floral painting pals for the many things that you taught me.

Brown Eyed Susan

White petals are interesting to paint, because in watercolor white paint is not used. What really is painted are the shadows that give the white object visual substance. Ah, but then what color are the shadows? That is the job of the artist to determine, and then perhaps, to embellish. This crisp white little flower had a lot of blue in it. The painting also has an extra feature: my fingerprint accidentally got on the lower right petal. That's one of the things about watercolor. There is not much you can do about that sort of thing. Oh well. Gives it character, maybe?

Camelia

With it's rich luscious colors, this camelia was just begging to be painted. It took many layers of glazed pigment to build up the flower's beautiful richness.

Oma's Orchids

Being from a low german Mennonite back ground, my mother-in-law is known as Oma to her grandchildren. Mennonites are famed as good farmers, and Art's mom certainly has a green thumb when it comes to her plants. The sun was shining through the nearly transparent blossoms of the orchid on the sunny Easter day we visited.

Instead of the usual matting and framing of watercolors, I tried a new technique. This painting was mounted on a three dimensional wooden panel, and protected with a spray varnish. I used opaque casein paint along the sides to complete the painting. This is a great option for buyers who might not otherwise consider a watercolor painting.

Yellow Lilies

Color is a great thing to play with, especially when the rules are learned. For example, blue is opposite yellow on the color wheel. I wanted these yellow lilies to jump off the page, and so by painting a very strong blue behind them, this effect can be acheived.

Blessing and Celebration

My friends Kyle and Beth Bultman in Rochester NY are classical violinists. They have taught music at the college level and run a summer string camp. Kyle has begun a network linking Christian artists and musicians. They also compose classical music. Beth's composition "Blessing and Celebration" was to be published in sheet music form, and I was asked to paint something to illustrate the publication. They loved the idea of my doing a floral, so as I listened to their excellent demo CD, I considered what I would paint.

The fuschias in this painting represent both of the concepts of the title. Viewed normally, the fuschias are pouring forth as blessings desending from Heaven. Some of the blessings are in full bloom, and some are as buds, yet to come. View the painting upside down, and now the flowers appear as swirling dancers with arms lifted in joyful praise.