A Cozy farmhouse

This oil painting on a 11x14 board was done with a photo reference. For the past few weeks the temperatures in this part of Canada have been below freezing and there is no way I am going painting outside!! Because of this fact of life, If I stay in Ontario for the winter, I paint from photos. But there is some good news in this painting story. Soon we are going to Florida, Fort Myers Beach in particular, and plein air painting is a fact of life again. I am so lucky!!! Our weekly paint out group will be traveling all over to paint and I will have some wonderful painting opportunities, on the beach, by myself, as well. If you follow my blog you will see the change in the paintings, as the weather changes.

 This is a cozy farmhouse on Amherst Is. and reminds me of wonderful paint out locations to come.

                                    

The Spirit of Sir John A.

                                   

Does this painting look familiar? It should, because a painting much like this one, is on this blog. Did you find it? That previous painting was sold. I know the passage with the older painting says it was for my son, BUT, I entered it in a show and it sold. So, obviously I had to redo it. This is a task I was not especially looking forward to. The passage with the previous painting says it all. I started the new painting on a 22x28" canvas. I had the initial sketch done with the brush and was thinking about how to start the next step. A fellow artist said to start with darks and just stroke them in, even do it with my eyes closed. Well I did. Once I'd scribbled them in and messed up the sketch, my whole attitude changed and I just tackled it, with speed and abandon. As usual I blocked in the major shapes with diluted paint and stood back and looked at it. It had promise. I put in some details and decided that the City Hall was done. I liked the result there, so I just tackled the rest of it in the same way. It seemed to paint itself after that. No frustration and I learned a good lesson. When you start a painting remember what you have been taught on how to paint. AGAIN!! and. AGAIN!!!! How many times  do I have to be told.