Winterlude Part 3

"Winterlude" almost there!

I keep adding colour and detail throughout the entire scene.  I want to maintain a balance so that I can judge each new brush stroke against the overall look of the painting.  If you concentrate too much on one area you may find that it doesn't work so well after the rest of the painting is completed.  You also run the risk of 'falling in love' with how that particular area of your work looks and you may not want to make necessary changes as you go forward.  By working more or less equally across the painting, you can maintain a healthier and more impartial perspective on your work.

Here I have painted in the distant trees using a mixture of sap green, ultramarine blue and titanium white.  Ultramarine blue dominates to create an illustion of distance.  Now the local colour of the barn is introduced.  I decided on a soft yellow to promote the feeling of bright sunlight on a cold winter day. I add snow to the branches of the spruce tree in front of the barn and generally add more detail to everything.  I introduce a slight hint of warmth in the sky on the right side of the painting, again to establish a feeling of bright sunlight coming from that direction.  Now I embellish the soft shadows in the snow and on the snowy branches in the foreground using a mixture of ultramarine blue and titanium white.

"Winterlude" 9 X 12 inches acrylic on board

I work fairly consistently over the entire painting as I go along, so everything comes together quite nicely as I near the finish.  I add small details and highlights as necessary, such as brightening the snow on the barn roof, spruce tree, fence and middle ground to suggest bright light in these areas.  I add bits of snow in the forks of tree branches beside the barn and I strengthen the blue shadow areas.

The last area to concentrate on is the foreground.  Layers of detail and colour are added to the birds to make them appear close to the viewer.  The pine needles are finished off with darker and more detailed brush strokes using a combination of sap green and lamp black,  The tree branches are painted in quickly with burnt sienna and lamp black in the shadows.

In order to increase the contrast between the sunny background and the shadowed foreground, I add a glaze of ultramarine blue and mat medium over most of the pine branches and the birds until I see a clear division between the two areas.  Once the signature is added, the painting is finished!

Winterlude Part Two

"Winterlude" a work in progress

Now I begin blocking in a few colours to create an underpainting on my illustration board.  The sky is roughed in with a combination of cerulean blue and titanium white acrylic pigments.  Because the light is coming from the right side of the painting, I transition from a very pale colour on the right to a darker sky on the left.  I block in the shadows on the barn roof and in the snow.  The snow surfaces that are directly in sunlight are blocked in with titanium white.  I use cerulean blue to add a few contours to the shaded, snow laden boughs in the foreground.

"Winterlude" one step closer!

I keep adding more colour and more detail, gradually establishing my colour scheme and mood of the painting.  I use cadmium red to wash in basic tones on the male and female cardinals and slowly build contours of light and shadow as I go.  The plumage of the female cardinal is primarily drab and somewhat olive, so I use a combination of cadmium yellow, titanium white and ultramarine blue to create this colour.  The spruce tree in the middle ground and the pine boughs in the foreground are quickly blocked in with sap green.  Next, I introduce burnt sienna on the fencing and bare deciduous trees in the middle ground.  I also build a little more shadow contour on the male cardinal with this colour.  Finally, I paint the sky again with more colour and detail in the blending.  My painting is starting to take shape!

Winterlude

"Winterlude" sketch

I thought I would do a demo of how I paint this Christmas image for licensing.  I do a fair amount of illustrative art for licensing through Porterfield's Fine Art Licensing.  A winter scene is the perfect choice, since the art that is most in demand for licensing is usually a Christmas theme.  These images are often used for greeting cards, puzzles, gift ware and paper products as well as many other possibilites.  A prospective client will review the work I have available for licensing in a given catagory, choose what suits their project and purchase limited rights to use the image for a specific purpose and for a specific period of time.

The first thing I do when producing this type of art is to brainstorm an idea that will appeal to a maximum number of buyers.  Quite often, as in this case, the idea includes a number of similar images that may evolve into a series of finished pieces, all on the same theme.  Once I feel I have enough inspiration to proceed I come up with reference material for my idea.  I file all types of reference and I take digital photos everywhere I go, so I have a lot of material to draw from.  Now I create sketches to work out my design and create any additional parts of my picture from a combination of memory and imagination.  When this is done  I proceed to do a finished sketch on board or canvas to begin my painting.

"Winterlude"

The next step begins by spraying my drawing with a workable fixative to seal the graphite and prevent smearing.  Now I cover the drawing with matt medium that contains a small amount of acrylic pigment to tone the board.  Usually I will mix one muted colour and cover the entire surface evenly to provide a ground instead of glaring white.  Warm earth tones are my usual choice, but blue-gray is an alternative for a cooler, more subdued look.  

This time I wanted to suggest an extreme contrast between the extreme sunlight on the right and the cool shade on the left of my painting, so I toned the matt medium with cadmium yellow on the right and cerulean blue on the left.  I hope to create the illusion of a winter day warmed by the sun.  These colours will influence the paint that I lay over top as I continue to work.

The View at Brown's Bay

"Brown's Bay" 9X12 alkyd oil on panel

This is one of my favourite views as you drive along the Thousand Islands Parkway between Brockville and Rockport, Ontario.  The parkway follows the North shore of the St. Lawrence River for about thirty miles from Brockville on the east to Gananoque on the west.  The river views are spectacular and there are many places that travellers can park their car and enjoy the view.  I grew up in a house right on the water near the village of Rockport and I never tire of looking at the mighty St. Lawrence River.

Brown's Bay is a broad, shallow bay with a sandy bottom that makes the water appear pastel blue on sunny days.  The very distant shore, beyond the headland in this painting is New York state, directly across the river.  For years I have planned on creating a painting of this spot and I finally got around to it last fall.  I like the way this small canvas panel turned out and I plan on creating a much larger work from it in the future.  There always seems to be an endless supply of subjects to paint but not enough time to paint them all.

I Remember When

The weather has been very nice here in Southern Ontario for the past month.  I have really enjoyed it but of course it took me away from the computer and my blog.  During that time I managed to get some plein air painting done.  I love to be outdoors on warm, sunny autumn days, and this year the opportunities to do so were terrific.  Hurricane Sandy was supposed to hit us pretty hard after it came ashore in New York and New Jersey, but fortunately for folks in Southern Ontario, it had pretty well blown itself out by the time it got here.  We sure felt bad for the shoreline residents of those US states who were devistated by the storm.  Many of them lost everything, including the land where their homes once sat.  It makes you realize just how lucky you are and that you should appreciate everything and everyone you have in your life.

I was also busy with my art exhibit in Kingston, Ontario during the month of October.  My opening at the beginning of the month was a great success, with a good turnout and lots of interest.  I sold a number of paintings and obtained a few commissions to keep me busy too.

I Remember When 12 X 16 Alkyd on panel  Sold

This is a plein air painting that I did a number of years ago.  The location is a very narrow country road in Eldon Township, well to the north and somewhat east of the city of Toronto, Ontario.  The land was still being worked, but the house and barns had been abandoned long ago.  Places like this are full of mystery and I always wonder what interesting stories they could tell of days gone by and lives lived before my time.

I sold this painting in my recent art show, so it has gone to a new owner and a new home.  I hope the new owner can find as much enjoyment in it as I did when I painted it on that now distant autumn day.

Autumn Colour

This is a wonderful time of year in southern Ontario.  The deciduous trees are transformed from faded green of late summer to a palette of reds, yellows, browns and gold.  Set against the deep green of red pine and spruce, colours 'pop' and the landscape takes on a new and awesome look.   With visual stimulation such as this,  landscape painting is the number one priority for me.  I love to get out on a warm sunny day in fall and either spend a few hours making quick oil sketches or just moving around, recording everything I can with my digital camera.  These images often result in larger works back in the studio.  When the cold winter winds blow heavy through rattling, frozen tree branches, creating a rich autumn landscape painting in a warm studio is high on my list of 'things to do'.

 "A Bend in the Road" available for sale at: http://tinyurl.com/9eey8zl

This little painting measures 6 X 8 inches.  It was done a little earlier in the season when the leaves were just starting to change.  I think if I eventually do this in a large painting, I might add a figure in the distance.  What would you do?

"Dry Marsh"  available for sale at: http://tinyurl.com/9z2uf92

This is another small painting I did this fall.  'Dry Marsh' measures 6 X 9 inches.  I like the depth of field in this one and the distant blue trees against the golden grasses of the marsh.  This type of landscape is common in this area.

On Stoney Batter Road Finished

At this stage I have blocked everything in and I can judge the final look of the painting.  If I am unhappy with how things are going, it is easy to make changes at this point.  If you have an area in a painting that you have spent a great deal of time on trying to make it 'just right', it can be heart breaking and difficult to bring yourself to make necessary changes.  It is usually better to leave 'finished work' until last!

It is nice to get to this stage and begin adding detail and subtilties to the painting.  I like alkyd because it dries quickly but not so quickly that you have difficulty blending one colour into another.  Working from back to front, I add more mist coming through the distant trees.  Next, a little more detail in the middle ground.  The last thing I do at this point is add colour and light on the birch tree in the foreground.

Now I turn my attention to the split-rail fence, adding colour and light to define the weathered surfaces.  The fence makes a great lead-in for the viewer's eye.  The composition is designed to stop the eye at the birch tree, move up the trunk and follow the limb near the top of the picture to the trees in the middle ground.  The gentle slope of the rough fields brings the viewer's eye back to the birch tree and weathered fence.

The final step involves adding a little more colour to the foliage of the trees in the middle ground, more definition to the leaves and branches of the birch tree, the fence and the foreground grasses.  The whole painting is completed in a little over an hour.

On Stoney Batter Road

This is start of one of my small works.  It is painted on a canvas panel that measures 6 inches high by 8 inches wide.  The round white buttons in the photos are push pins which I have used to secure this small canvas to a larger board that I have sitting on my easel.  The title of this piece is On Stoney Batter Road. I will use this oil sketch as a study for a larger painting that I plan to complete in the future.

In the first image I have primed my canvas with a mixture of gesso, cadmium red and burnt sienna acrylic paint to give me a warm ground that is not too dark.  It dries quickly and I can proceed with alkyd paint right away.  I use a combination of burnt sienna and black alkyd to lay in the rail fence and birch tree in the foreground, then the receding layers of forest behind.  I also start blocking in a basic sky colour.

I continue to block in the sky, allowing the warm background to show through.  Painting from back to front, I block in the hazy trees in the distance.  The trees in the middle ground come next, just quickly blocked in with more intense greens.  The conifer trees behind the foreground birch are suggested and a grassy shadow along the base of the fence completes my initial working plan.

The picture is progressing quickly as I block in golden colours made up of cadmium yellow deep, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, titanium white and olive green in the grassy areas throughout the painting.  I use olive green and sap green and titanium white to begin defining the trees in the background and middleground.

Madawaska Sunset

18 X 24     Madawaska Sunset    $950.00

We used to own a cottage that we built ourselves near Algonquin Park in Ontario. It was tucked away on a beautiful, quiet bay below the fast water at Bell’s Rapids on the Madawaska River. This was the view in front of our chalet. In the winter, the quiet was almost deafening, only broken by the soft and distant sound of the rapids and an occasional raucous ‘cawing’ of a raven. It was a wonderful place that I think of often.

Hinterland Beach

$150.00      Hinterland Beach      12 X 16

I originally painted this plein air piece quite a few years ago.  Recently, I came across it in a stack of canvases leaning against the wall in my studio.   I have always liked the simplicity of the painting and it struck me that it really has a spiritual quality.   The serenity of the tree raising bare limbs to the wilderness sky and the light breaking on the calm waters suggest this theme to me.  Probably the colour that most often dominates in my paintings is blue and I have a great afinity for water.  This picture has it all!   I decided to touch it up a little and offer it for sale once more.  If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, go here.

Jones's Creek

I painted this little picture about a week ago.  I worked from photos that I took several years ago while driving around the countryside north east of Kingston Ontario.  The location is a place called Jones's Falls.  I liked the look of the winding river as it flows through the granite outcroppings of the Canadian Shield.  The trees in the middle and foreground  frame the animated water flowing toward the viewer, while the distant blue trees in the background give the painting a sense of depth.

I don't know what kind of flowers grow in the marsh along the river, but they make a wonderful counterpoint to the deep green of the trees that make up a large portion of the picture.  The whole thing makes me long for summer, which is still about six months away!

This painting measures just 8 inches high by 10 inches wide.  It is painted on a canvas panel support using alkyd oil, my medium of choice.  You can find the painting for sale at www.dailypaintworks .com or www.rdewolfe.com, along with a wide selection of other paintings I have created.

I Saw the Light

I Saw the Light

Here it is, Day 2 and I have another small painting to post!  This one also measures 5 inches high by 7 inches wide.  It is painted in oil on canvas panel.  Painting at this size is not as easy as it may look.  You have to be spontaneous but accurate with your brush stokes on a support that is not much larger than your hand.  I am having fun though!

This painting is for sale by auction at Daily Paintworks.com.  If you would like to bid click here.

I love to paint pictures with water in them.  This spot is near my former home just south of Lake Simcoe, Ontario, Canada.  The sky was rather tepid so I decided to create some drama by painting a defined cloud base with a strong sunrise over the horizon.  I was pleased with the result.....did it work for you?  Post your comments, I would love to hear from you!

North Shore

North Shore  SOLD

This little painting represents a new direction for me.  It is very small, measuring 5 inches high by 7 inches wide.  I have become interested in the 'Daily Painting' movement that promotes painting a picture every day (or as close to that goal as possible).  It sounds rather daunting to me!  In the coming days I will post more of these small paintings as I create them, along with a few older pieces that fit the genre reasonably well.  You will find these paintings for sale  at Daily Paint Works.  I hope to add a new one every day or so and I hope you will check them out there and return often.  Please don't be shy, leave me a comment on what you think of this little painting and whether you think small daily paintings are a good idea.

Freighter Inviken-Step 6

The final phase of the painting is a matter of going back and refining areas as needed.   The clouds are softened a little and white highlights are added to indicated the direction of the sunlight filtering through them.  The trees and bridge are painted in and if you look close, you will see a tiny tractor-trailer truck at mid-span.  Small details are added over the superstructure of the ship and the hull is embellished to make it look powerful.  I add layers of colour over the small waves and reflect the sunlight with an impressionistic application of white highlights.

The last thing I do is add my signature to the lower right hand corner.  This last image is a professional scan of the finished painting and is a better representation of the true colours in the painting.  As I work, I take digital photos on my easel where the light is not as balanced as it should be, so the initial images can be less acurate.

I wanted to create a painting that suggests power and industry, while at the same time indicating the power and majesty of the natural world.  When I finished, I was pleased with this result.  The painting measures 16 inches high by 20 inches wide, painted on stretched canvas.  If you are interested in purchasing this original work of art or a fine art print on archival paper or canvas, please visit my website at www.richarddewolfe.com.

Across the Miles - Step 5

I have now blocked in the entire canvas with colour.  Finishing the snow-cover changes the mood and the look of the painting quite drastically. This gives me a really good idea of how the finished painting will look.  The contours, light and shadows in the snow requires a subtle touch.  It is important to create the illusion of an undulating plane, falling away from the foreground to the mountains in the distance.  The roadway must also appear to 'sit' into the snow rather than on top of it.  The fence now appears to stand up from the snow, three dimensionally.

Painting and refining the white lettering on the side of the postman's sleigh is meticulous work and requires patience.  There is more work in this painting than I expected!

Across the Miles - Step 4

I continue the process of painting from back to front.  I render the barn in the distance, then proceed to the farm house in the middle ground.  Once again, I am choosing warm colours to keep this winter picture from becoming too 'cold'.

The next thing I tackle is the horse pulling the mail sleigh.   This is a critical element in the painting, essentially the center of interest so I must take great care in how I paint it.   I choose to make the horse black to create a high contrast with the white snow around it.

At this stage, I have left out the snow in the middle ground and started blocking in basic colour and detail on the rail fence in the foreground.  This helps me to keep a visual balance throughout the painting.  I have included the rail fence in the composition in order to add 'weight' to the lower portion and to guide the eye back toward the center of interest.

Across the Miles - Step 3

Usually I like to do a quick underpainting with acrylics on top of my toned canvas, but occasionally I will start to paint directly on a toned and shaded drawing.  I have decided to take the latter approach this time, starting from the sky at the top (furthest away from the viewer) and working my way down and progressively closer to the viewer as I go.  This allows me to build an illusion of depth into the work.

To keep the work from being too 'cold', I add warm yellows and pinks to the clouds, suggesting late-day lighting from the left.  I block in the snow-covered hills and move forward through the heavily laden spruce trees.  The last thing I do at this stage is to begin adding more form and colour to the mailman's sleigh and the mailbox where he has just made a Christmas delivery.

Across the Miles - Step 2

Now I start my under painting by priming the canvas with a mixture of acrylic made up of burnt sienna, cadmium red and a generous amount of mat medium to make it very transparent.  I apply this evenly over the entire canvas to give it a warm ground for me to paint on.

Once that is dry, I use a mixture of the same colours, but with less medium and I wash in some tonal areas to establish some basic form.  I work up some darker areas using the same colours and I delineate some details, such as the rail fence, sleigh, the horse and the buildings.  I place dark tones on the fir trees to establish a pattern of snow on the upper side of the branches.  Things are starting to take shape!

Across the Miles

Here is the beginning of another new 'horse and sleigh' painting.  These pictures are especially popular with my clients for such things as Christmas cards and puzzles.  This one is called "Across the Miles".  It is a depiction of the mailman making his delivery rounds by horse drawn sleigh.  The scene is a snowy landscape in rural America, just before Christmas.

This canvas measures 16 inches high by 20 inches wide.  Once I have worked out my initial drawing, I transfer it to stretched canvas, then spray it with workable fixative.   Once that is done, I'm ready to start painting!

Golden Lake

I want to stay with the autumn colours for a while longer. This is a great time of year in the northern hemisphere. A day like the one in this painting is something to be savoured against the cold, barren days to come.

This scene is typical of lake and river country throughout Southern and Central Ontario, Quebec, and the North Eastern United States. The reds and golds of hard and soft maple, white birch, oak, beech and ash trees contrast beautifully with the deep greens of white and red pine, spruce and cedar.

I wanted to play up the crystal blue sky and fluffy white clouds against the strong yellow and gold of the birch and maple trees in the foreground. This is echoed in the shoreline foliage in the middle ground and again in the hazy distant trees in the background. The composition is designed so that the trees in the foreground lead the viewer's eye into the picture to the pines on the opposite shore in the middle ground. These trees, in turn, guide the eye back into the upper foliage of the foreground trees and back around once more. The ripples and abstractions in the water reflections give the painting a feeling of life and movement.

The painting is done in acrylic paint on stretched canvas. It measures 16 inches high by 20 inches wide.