Spring

There is nothing like a bouquet of cut flowers, especially at this time of year, when garden blooms are still a far off promise!   Thank you, Tessa, for something colourful to paint!                                                                                                               

Purple Tulips

 

Early Spring

Behind the Stores

 

Early Spring

                                 

 

   

Thinking of Spring

  

Waiting for the bees

 

New Cuttings    

Anticipating Spring --- Late Season Snowfall

 

Winter --- Indoor Practice --- Same Teapot Sketched Twice

 

Winter: Indoor Sketches - Geraniums

Making it through Winter

 

 

Winter - Cottage Road - Two views

Snow Banks

Cottage Road

 

Winter --- Two Sketches, Same View

Across The Ice

 

Summer's End --- Three sketches of the marsh in late season

Wetlands, with their ongoing seasonal changes, are among my favorite sketching sites.                               In spring, when melting snow turns low lying woods and pasture into mini lakes, they vibrate with the high pitched cries of peepers and birds.            In summer, as the water recedes, ferns and moss covered  tree roots emerge; frog song gives way to the buzzing of insects.                             By autumn, vegetation has overtaken the seasonal pools.  When I waded into this sea of marsh grass, I was able to sketch from a vantage point that was submerged only a few months before.   A brief moment in the life of a wetland...           

Broken Saplings and Marsh Grass

 

Painting Outdoors - Three Quick Sketches of Early Summer:

Where Wild Apples Grow

 When weather permits, I love heading outdoors for a session of "speed painting".     In contrast to the controlled environment of the studio, painting outside is a mercurial affair, with light and atmospheric conditions continually changing the way things appear.

Upon starting to paint a particular site, there is always a pressing awareness at the back of my mind: The scene before me will soon to morph into something different, and I have only a brief window of time --- an hour at most --- to capture it, before it is gone.. 

With this in mind I focus on putting down the big shapes and values.  Small details and touches can be added later, but the aim for now is to quickly portray the scene in its "essence".   Dally too long, and before you know it, the shifting light has transformed colours, shadows and shapes, turning the scene into something else entirely.  I find that with watercolours, it is futile trying to keep up with and adjust to these changes; the painting quickly loses direction, colours become muddy and the composition confused.

Recently, voracious hordes of mosquitoes, deer flies and horse flies have done a wonderful job of hurrying me along!   While doing these sketches, the most I could stand under the free-for-all attacks of these beasts was thirty to forty minutes!    As it turns out, the timing was just about right!

Sketches of Early Summer

Overlooking the Marsh

 

Sketches of Early Summer

Fence Line

 

Late day Pasture in Spring

 

Back yard sketch

 

 

Spent flowers

 

Another Kind of Winter

 

Winter Leisure