Schomberg Main Street in Morning Light

Schomberg Main Street in Morning Light , oil on canvas 14x18

From a photo taken on the morning after Canada Day, July 1st. I wanted the contrast between the shadows made by the buildings on east side of the street to emphasize the morning sun lighting the buildings on the west side.
Being early morning there were only two cars parked, (I only showed one). Later in the day the road would be packed with vehicles. Unfortunately there were no pedestrians, all the dog walkers were already home or not yet started, I thought of adding a couple but never did.
A fun scene to paint and only spoiled by the abundance of overhead wires, so I left a lot of those out!
John

"Warming Up"

"Warming Up" 11x14 oil on board

 Warming up for a horse jumping event at the "Will-O-Wind Farm" on a hot July day, granddaughter Emma and her friend.
This painting was a lot of fun I changed the backgound a lot to get rid of other horses and jumps and demolished some young saplings that were too close to the riders. Horses are strange beasts to paint, your left brain keeps telling you the legs aren't big enough to bear the weight but the right brain tells the left to shut up and paint what you see not what you think!
The original photo was taken around noon so the light is very strong and overhead so the shadows are minimal.
Must find another similar subject nothing like having fun whilst painting
John

The Colour of Music Challenge

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair" by John 

"Cherry Ripe" oil on board 6x6 by Babs

The Color of Music Challenge
from Daily PaintWorks
"Your challenge this week is to paint a favorite piece of music. Interpret what you hear with pigment. Be creative. Let the music move you! Options range from rhythmic abstracts to illustration, and everything in between. The only rule is that you must tell us the title of the song you painted."

Lots of fun and a good job we didn't paint them at the same time, "Cherry Ripe" from one voice and "Scarborough Fair" from the other!

The Old Mill Challenge

We forgot to post this a couple of weeks ago:
The Old Mill Challenge

Originally posted by Jean Nelson, the Challenge was: "Often we encounter a scene when either en plein air painting, or from a photo that has potential to be a nice painting. But it needs to be cleaned up a bit, maybe a seasonal change, information deleted or added, cropping, etc.. This photo is just that kind of challenge. It has potential, but needs the imagination of the artist to make it an interesting painting. The only time you can see it well enough to photograph is in the winter when trees are bare."

To meet the challenge Babs changed theseason to Spring and added a canoeist, I chose Autumn and added a painter. Not easy additions painting on a 6x6 board with big brushes, but it was satisfying accomplishment!

Comments we got on the Challenge web site: Babs paints in the style of Cezanne and I paint in the style of Van Gogh! We wish.

Both painted with oil and both completed in less than an hour, plus for me an additional hour to clean the paint of my arms and face!
John

What you Paint with Challenge

This Weeks Challenge is "Paint what you Paint With"

Babs' Palette 6x6 Oil on board

Babs

I sat in front of the easel wondering if I could work it out,in the end I chose three paintbrushes with paint on each brush not very exciting but, I. managed to achieve the brushes looking reasonable had the idea of each brush that had paint on and slashed the identical colour to show on each brush, I had some success
as I finished within the hour, I believe that is a first! 

 

John's palette 6x6 Oil on Board

John:
I painted this by looking at the actual palette and painted what I saw, after some delicate and sophisticated arrangement of paint, tube brush & scraper.
It really is a good exercise painting from life instead of from a photo. I didn't get the shine on the scraper right but with these challenges I give myself a goal of one hour max and as few paint strokes as possible. I did however use 6 brushes and had to wash my arms and face after!

Storm Brewing on Lake Simcoe

Storm brewing on lake Simcoe Oil on Canvas 12 x24

This is from a photo I took in September of 2010. It has gone through many changes, in the first iteration I concentrated on painting a very dramatic sky, and liked the effect, but sensed something was wrong, and after listening to the advice of other artists (a rare thing for me!) I realized the truth of what they said, the eye couldn't settle "make it a painting of boats on a lake or make it a painting of a stormy sky"
So I reworked the sky which has brightened up the boats and made them more important.
A lesson learned listen to your eyes (and other artists).
your comments would be appreciated
John