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Posts tagged ‘acrylic painting’

Cat Nap

Cat Nap Acrylic Painting

Cat Nap 3" x 3"

As I painted this little cat, I kept thinking that I need to put more animals into my artwork. When I was younger, I drew only animals – cats and horses were my favourites. Below you’ll see a glimpse into my sketchbook from 1998. That seems like such a long time ago, yet I can still remember working on these drawings. Somehow my passion for filling up sketchbooks with animals has evolved into my obsession with capturing beautiful little scenes around me. If, in 13 years, I look back on the artwork I did today, I wonder what I will think. I wonder where it will take me?

Sketches of a horse and cat

Painting Twins and Multiples

When I work on tiny paintings, I often do 2 or 3 at the same time. I have found that there is a large time investment for one, but to do an additional one or two does not add that much time to the process. For instance, if 1 tiny painting takes 2 hours to complete, I can probably finish a set of 3 in 2.5 to 3 hours. Of course, each painting does not come out the same. They share the same general colours and composition, but I try not to be too picky about making all the details match. Each one is truly an original. Can you spot the differences?

Low Tide - two 3" x 3" acrylic paintings

Low Tide - two 3" x 3" acrylic paintings

 

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Two Tiny Paintings

Snowed In - Tiny Painting

Snowed In - 3" x 3"

Walk in the Park - Tiny Painting

Walk in the Park - 3" x 3"

With all this cold rainy weather there’s not much to do but stay in and paint. Fine by me. These two tiny paintings are for sale on my Etsy page.

New Little Paintings and Anonymous Art

Small Paintings

I will soon be delivering these tiny paintings to Oh Brothers. They are 3” x 3”. I love working on these little canvases and hope to finish a bunch more before Christmas (might be perfect for that hard-to-buy-for person on your list…).

In other news, I just finished another painting, but I can’t post it here yet. I have submitted it to the Anonymous Show put on by the North Vancouver Arts Council. The show will consist of over 600 unsigned 8” x 8” paintings, all priced at $100. The sale and opening is on Nov. 24, 7-9:30pm. All the info is here.

Icy Alberta Spring

The Icy Spring 11"x14"

I photographed this Alberta landscape a couple of years ago on a cold, sunny spring day. The colour of these red graineries seems to hold the promise of warmer days. I love the way the red siding contrasts with the crisp, dry field and the icy pond.

It seems that I have mainly used the three primary colours here. I could pretend that it was deliberate, but I only realized it as I was finishing up.

 

Both sides of the Road

East Side of the Road & West Side of the Road, 4" x 6"

These are two paintings of the same road on Westham Island, near Delta, BC. One is a view of east side and the other is the west. They are little (4″ x 6″) and I finished both in one day. My goal was that each one would work on it’s own, or they could be displayed together –  as sort of a diptych. I love to paint old buildings, power poles and power lines, so I had a lot of fun with these paintings.

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Knowing When to Stop

Retired in Nova Scotia acrylic painting

Retired in Nova Scotia 18" x "24

Sometimes I have trouble knowing when a painting is finished. When the painting is nearing completion, I have this need to tinker – brightening here, darkening there, adding more detail, fine-tuning the colour, and on and on it goes. The trick is knowing when to stop, before the painting becomes overworked. So, I am taking a break from this one. I think it might be done, but I’m not sure. I have to look at it for a while.

By the way, I’ve painted this boat before (several years ago). You can see the first version on my home page or here.

Same Elevator – Different Painting

March in Mayerthorpe - Acrylic Painting

March in Mayerthorpe (6" x 6")

Once again it’s the Mayerthorpe Grain Elevator, and it’s from almost the same angle as my previous painting, but at a much colder time of year.

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Pick a pumpkin

Pumpkin Patch 14″ x 18″

For sale at the farm that day were: apples, artichokes, gourds, squash, potatoes, honey, homemade cookies and pumpkins. Lots of pumpkins. We bought three – two for carving and one for pie. It was the first time that I made pumpkin pie from a whole pumpkin (not a can), and now I can never go back.

P.S. After my last snowy painting, I had promised to paint something more summery. But it seems as though I’ve gone straight from winter to autumn, skipping summer altogether—just like the weather in Vancouver! (Sorry, complaining about the weather has become a regular pastime around here).

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The Long Winter

The Long Winter 6" x 6"

Some of you may not want to look at this painting. We have been waiting a long time for summer to arrive, so you likely don’t want to be reminded of the piles of snow that melted just a couple of months ago.  I think (hope ?) that summer is finally here,  so I’m not sure what compelled me to paint this cold grey scene. I think that what really interested me was the criss-cross of power lines dividing up the sky. And on this little canvas (6″ x 6″), it was a lot of fun to do.

I’ll do something warmer next time, I promise.

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