Still Life Class

Sea Shells by Richard De Wolfe 9X12 acrylic on canvas panel

I decided to try painting sea shells for our first still life class.  The first grouping that I made was more complex, with a little wooden 'treasure chest' spilling strings of pearls and other jewellery onto the table along with all the shells.  When I painted it, I realized it was too much for beginners to complete in just 2 hours, so I decided to simplify it using just the shells.  That worked much better and the students managed to do a great job recreating the scene for themselves.  For me, these small, quick studies are great exercises to loosen up and be a bit more spontaneous.   You can find many of my other works at www.rdewolfe.com.

My wife and I collected these shells (plus many more) along the shore at Atlantic Beach in North Carolina this spring.  I love the multitude of colours, shapes, textures and sizes that wash up on the beaches there!  Walking on the hard wet sand early in the morning is wonderful, especially early in the year before the heat of summer sets in.  Watching the surf roll in and the colours change across the sky makes a morning walk quite memorable.  I hope to go back again soon!

Think Spring!

I know it is only New Years Eve, but hey!  I'm ready for spring, how about you?  We have been very spoiled here in Southern Ontario for the last few years.......virtually no winter weather to speak of.  Things have started off a bit different this year, however!  Two snow storms in the past week have delivered almost one and a half feet of snow, just in time for Christmas and New Years!  Now you know why spring is already looking rather attractive to me, right?

To help promote the idea (or maybe just the illusion) of an early spring this year, I thought I would post my latest painting (finished yesterday in fact) to warm the cockles of your hearts.........

'Garden Angel'  11"X14" Oil on panel

The Garden Angel is a cement figurine that we have in our bird bath in the back garden.  I have always loved this piece of sculpture and have wanted to paint it for some time.  Prompted by my early longing for the warmth of spring, I decided now was the perfect time to tackle the project.  I used a palette comprised of sap green, ultramarine blue, burnt umber, indian red, cadmium yellow medium, lamp black and titanium white.  I completed the painting in oils after doing a quick underpainting using a deep green acrylic to block in the dark areas first.  I use a combination of regular oils and alkyd oils (especially alkyd titanium white to speed drying), along with Liquin and turps as mediums.  I have a feeling that this new painting will be as close as I get to spring for some time yet.......

 HAPPY NEW YEAR one and all!

Wall of Fame

The month is flying by and I haven't found time to publish another post until now. This is one of a series of five paintings that I completed on the theme of nostalgic memories of winter skating in the country. The time period is the 1950's. In those days, hockey skates were made of uninsulated leather, dyed deep brown or black, or often a two-tone combination of the two. I call this painting "Wall of Fame". It represents the dreams and aspirations of many boys who grew up in rural areas, playing pick-up hockey on farm ponds and rivers, hoping some day to play in the NHL. In those days, the league consisted of only six teams and any school boy could name every player on every team.

The painting is done on stretched canvas, rendered in alkyd paint, over an acrylic underpainting. It measures sixteen inches high by 20 inches wide. Since I no longer had my own skates from my boyhood years, I purchased this pair in a country auction to use as a model for the painting. I hung them on our barn wall and leaned a hockey stick that I had in the garage beside them to create an interesting grouping. The rough texture of the weathered barn boards make an interesting background for the polished leather surface of the skates. I added some snowflakes in the air to create an atmosphere of winter and a sense of animation in what otherwise is a still life.