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"Watch it Buddy!"

8x10 oil on board

Still practicing with horses, this one's eyes drove me nuts!
Babs

Mum & Baby

"Welcome" 11x14 oil on board

Mum and baby just born, a commission which I thoroughly enjoyed doing, such a lovely moment to paint.

Mum is called "A-Slew-Will-Do", or something like that.
 

Babs 

Saturday Morning on the 8th

"Saturday Morning on the 8Th Concession" oil on canvas 16x20

Travelling down to Nobleton on the scenic route and we saw this delightful peaceful place.
Was a joy to paint, though trying to get the darks really dark took some patience.
John

Trotting on Main

"Trotting on Main" 8x10 oil on canvas

This is from a photo taken during last year's Schomberg Street Gallery in September:

http://www.schombergstreetgallery.ca/

The event is a lot of fun and shows off lots of our creative community.

This painting was meant to be a one day job, but I came down with Mononucleosis (not with kissing folk either as many "friends" have suggested) and for 8 weeks I could hardly keep my eyes open.

But now back to the easel!

John

Ram Bo

"Ram Bo" 8x10 oil on board

This picture was from a photo op at a farm called "round the Bend Farm" close to where we live. During the year there are events for kids and this Ram seemed very prominent something about the look and all the woolie texture made him look impressive! 
He was a challenge to paint the eyes are very different and the wool hard to make it look like wool. His horns very large looked like that he wouldn't think twice to use them.


Babs

Grazing Horses

"Grazing Horses" 8x8 oil on board

Horses are a real challenge for me to paint, though I love 'em they do have strange shapes on their legs and the hooves are totally illogical!

This was from a photo I took on a lovely September day in King Township, and I was attracted to this peaceful scene, the backlight and the difference in colour of both animals.

Now back to dogs and cats for a while!
Babs

Horsing Around Challenge

Early Morning Feed 8x8 oil on Board

This was done for the Daily Paintworks Challenge, Horsing Around.

I really enjoyed doing they painting, and as I said in the comments: "Love the morning light and emphasize it in the sky. Never painted a full horse before, just heads!"

Babs

Autumn on Main Street

Autumn on Main Street 24x 36 in oil on canvas

This was from a photo taken last October on Main Street, Schomberg. Quite a challenge to paint especially on a bigger canvas than I usually work on.

Trees and leaves can drive a person to drink, but then comes comman sense and perseverance kicks in.

The photo of the painting suffers from perspective distortion because a big canvas in our small winter studio is not easy to capture, this was taken using an iPhone, but don't tell anybody
John

"Millie and Maisie"

"Millie & Maisie" 12x16 oil on board

I did enjoy this one, it is a commission for a friend, and as always the photo left a lot to the imagination, the leg on one wasn't quite right so I used pictures of other dogs as a guide.

I now see a whole lot more basic measurements should have been done, but it's just being finicky so as I don't have any time left to re-do it I shall let it go, but the next one will be more accurate - I shall call this one conceptual.

JO

Vegas

Add caption"Vegas" 8x10 oil on board

We were invited to watch a show jumping contest and Vegas was the stand in for the regular horse who was unable to perform that day.
A sweet looking horse with lots of energy, he seemed ready, but, unfortunately decided it wasn't for him! 

Twice his rider attempted to start the course and twice he refused, I think you can see the apprehension in his eyes.
Difficult painting due to the interior lighting in the barn and lots of strange colours on his "White" coat.
Babs

Woody

"Woody" 8x10 Oil on Board

Woody is a local dog and a great character, I have been wanting to paint him for sometime and the other day when we were looking at paint chips and there he was so we got permission from the Manager and took some photos of him in action.

The one I choose to paint first shows him coming towards us in the snow and eager to say Hi.

Recently I've painted white dogs and here we have a black/brown creature with lots of hair.

And lots of fun to paint!

For more of his story see my Art Saves Animals Blog

BABS

"Sarge"

"Sarge" 8x8 oil on board

Sarge is on the website "Helping Lost Pets" he was lost in Bracebridge Ontario, but has a microchip indicating he was originally from UK!

Painting him was quite a challenge because of the predominance of white, it required a lot of subtle colour mixing to get the values close.
I painted him several days ago and wasn't satisfied but this morning I looked again and felt happier!
Babs

"Mill Street Pub" 18x14 oil on canvas

Lovely place this in the Distillery District of Toronto. we visited there last October.
The painting was quite a challenge, there is a window between the dinners and the brewery and then a wall with windows to the outside, so lots of reflections and things disappearing in bright light and dark shade.

What is going on between the man and woman I don't know, maybe he is ordering a serious lunch or maybe she brought the wrong beer!

John

Sheldon

"Sheldon" 8x8 oil on board

All about Sheldon.

I just had to paint him, he looks a little sad. Erika my long distance friend will be fostering him until he finds his forever home.
He was a bit tricky to paint with long hair and many colours in his coat. Dogs eyes are very expressive and one of the main reasons to take time to get that part right. 
I have managed to paint quite a few rescue dogs of different breeds. It is fast become a passion, just looking at the sadness in their eyes can almost turn me to tears they are definitely the source of the soul. You can see how much they want a place to be their own and to be loved.


As Erika reports on Facebook:


Sheldon: Male shepherd/wolfhound mix, will be neutered and receive shots. One year old. Approx. 60-65 lbs. He is very friendly and loves to play games and snuggle up to your feet. For information on Sheldon email adoptions@noaws.comBy: Northern Ontario Animal Welfare Society  



Babs

"Dobbin"

"Dobbin" 8x10 oil on board

Dobbin lives just up the road from us in a very large Equestrian Centre. He just loves carrots and noses his mate out of the way to get as many as possible.
When John was taking a photo of the farm Dobbin poked his head over the fence and frightened John by nosing him on the back of the head!
Friendly beast.
I enjoyed this painting, lots of happy memories, plus I couldn't believe all the colours in what is basically a black horse, colour from the early morning sun and the white snow.
Babs

Main Street East

"Main Street East in the Morning Light" 18x24 oil on canvas

A romantic vision of Schomberg. A lot of fun to paint until the end when I kept fiddling and the painting kept telling to go away, and not in a polite way!
Yellow paint takes forever to dry and I had to wait a few days to finish the walls, my goal this year it to paint Alla Prima and to start we are having Fettuccini Alfredo tonight!
John

"The Look Outs"

"The Look-outs" 8x10 oil on board

These two live on Main Street, and when they are not being walked through the local parks they keep an eye on the coming and goings by their front door.
Complex lighting on this one with one side fully in the sun and the other in the shade.
Babs