(Click on paintings or drawings below to view larger size.)



Thursday, December 2, 2021

Lake Afton in Yardley PA

"Yardley"
29.5x42cm, Faber Castell Polychromos on smooth drawing paper

I started this one before the pandemic, finally brought it out again, and finished it today. It's based on a photograph that I took a few years ago in Yardley PA. I remember it was late in the afternoon when the fall colors were at their best. What a treat to use my large set of Polychromos again after nearly two years -- over a hundred colors to choose from!

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Polycolors, Polychromos, Luminance, Procolour, Prismacolor Verithins

"Sprouting"
Polycolors on 30.5x22.9cm
Dawler Rowney Lyndhurst Double Sided High White Smooth Cartridge Paper

Now and then I get back into colored pencil drawing and have to put aside the oil paints. I think it was the recent USK event that got me started this time (my USK sketch). Koh-I-Noor's Polycolors are my go-to sketching pencils. Not only do they produce strong colors but they are less expensive, lighter to carry around and don't slip out of my hands.

I also have a nearly-complete set of Faber Castell's Polychromos. In fact, both these colored pencils suit my drawing technique. My only gripe with the Polychromos is that they are round-barrelled which means I tend to drop them if I'm not careful. That's why I prefer keeping them on a table in the studio. This morning I read a good review of the Polychromos: http://www.theartgearguide.com/home/faber-castell-polychromos

Then, last week, I  ran across Caran d'Ache's Luminance exhibit at a local art shop. They were advertised as extremely lightfast so I tried them out on the nearby pad of black paper -- wow, that convinced me! They are even pricier than FCs but I had to get a few. Reviewers agree that they "pop out": Luminance Review  

"Moving the plants indoors"
Polycolors, Luminance, Prismacolor Verithins and Procolour on 30.5x22.9cm Dawler Rowney Lyndhurst Double Sided High White Smooth Cartridge Paper

I used to be reluctant to mix different pencil brands but in the above drawing I found that the delicate lines of Verithins, strong colors of Luminance, and a blue indigo Procolour pencil, work well with my Polycolors.

There are so many colored pencils on the market that it's difficult to wade through all the reviews and decide what to buy. We can only experiment and find our own preferences.



Saturday, September 18, 2021

Ekeren countryside


I’m trying to take advantage of the nice days in September to get more plein air practice. 

 "Sint Mariaburg"
13x18cm, oil on canvas

Today from the bike path I could see the church in Sint Mariaburg. It was a beautiful sunny morning so I found a spot in the shade on the other side of the road. Unfortunately, passing trucks were a nuisance. One even parked next to me for ten minutes with the motor running.

 "Oude Landen"
15x15cm, oil on canvas panel

At the beginning of September in the Oude Landen I only had cyclists, joggers and dog walkers passing by. Almost as good as painting in the garden. I was a bit nervous about the free-ranging Galloway cattle but they didn't turn up.


Thursday, September 16, 2021

Antwerp oil sketches

"The MAS"
15x15cm, oil on canvas panel
(Private collection, Antwerp)

The 28/8/21 group event at the MAS in Antwerp was a good place to test my small pochade box in a USK setting. I found a bench in the shade. It was a little windy and people kept stopping to look at the water but I managed to get something done. When I realized they were looking at a bunch of flower bouquets (a spot where someone may have recently died), I quickly finished up. That probably helped me decide to suggest all those boats without going into too much detail. 

 

" Lambermontmartre"
15x15cm, oil on canvas panel

At the August Lambermontmartre art market it kept drizzling. In fact perfect weather conditions for plein air painting are quite rare here.


 
 "The Port House"
15x15cm, oil on canvas panel

Finally, I had to try painting the iconic Port Authority building. There's a fairly comfortable spot by the water. I had a hat for the sun, a stool and was holding the box on my lap. It might be better to find a hands free system such as a photo stand attached to my box.



Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Late Bloomers


 "Late Bloomers"
Oil on 20x20cm canvas panel

Continuing my series of 20x20 garden flowers...  
The primroses came up at the end of August this year. I'd almost lost hope but sure enough the garden was once again conquered by these yellow blooms every evening for a time. 



Friday, August 27, 2021

Ekeren


"Castle Reflection"
15x15cm, oil on canvas panel

"Veltwijck Castle"
13x18cm, oil on canvas


Whenever the sun comes out, I can try one of my pochade boxes. I've collected them at neighborhood flea markets in Brussels ("brocantes") but never had a chance to test them until this year. This one is works well with 13x18cm or 15x15cm canvases. I didn't need to bring much paint since I was working small so everything was quite compact. I managed to carry home the wet canvas by sticking it to the bottom of a cardboard box with some tacky putty -- the type that is normally used for putting posters on the wall.

The castle in Ekeren ("Waterkasteel Hof van Veltwijck") is located in a quiet park with benches, making it practical to paint there. More info.

Monday, August 2, 2021

Place à l'Art 2021

 

"Avant le Concert" (during Place à l'Art 2014)
15x15cm, oil on canvas
(private collection, Brussels)

 "Place à l'Art" is back! 

Artists from Uccle will be exhibiting their work on 11 July (9h30 to 13h00) at the Parvis Saint-Pierre, as well as on 8, 15 and 22 August (from 15h00 to 18h00) in Wolvendael Park.

I plan to participate on the three dates in August.

See you there!


*If rain is forecasted, then the event takes place indoors at the nearby Cultural Center on Rue Rouge (no 47).

More info here: http://www.uccle.be/administration/culture/activiteitenkalender-1

 

Thursday, July 29, 2021

Rosa Gallery oil paints


"Arty-choke"
19 x 24cm Rosa oil on linen canvas

I had a tube of titanium white from Rosa and liked the thick consistency of the paint. So when I saw you could get 24 x 20ml tubes for 26.49 euros, I decided to try them out. It's fun having new paints and I thought the small tubes would be practical for "plein air" work. They are made in the Ukraine and labeled "professional". Their consistency might come from the fact they use stand oil as a binder. One site says this makes working "alla prima" more enjoyable, which is what I am hoping.

I first tried them out on a canvas scrap. Cadmiums and cobalts are "hues" and the lightfastness is either ** or *** (except cobalt violet deep is *). I don't know what scale they are using but if the maximum is ***, then I suppose this is not bad. Mixing with titanium produced some nice subtle shades.



The artichokes above are not "plein air" because it started raining again here in Belgium so I found inspiration in a photo that Lynda Pynn posted on the “Free Reference Photos for Artists” Facebook group. So far I am happy with the paints. As soon as possible I will try them for painting on location. 



Friday, July 23, 2021

More flowers in the sun

"Begonias"
oil on 20x20cm canvas panel
(Private collection, Brussels)


"Impatiens"
oil on 20x20cm canvas panel
(Private collection, Brussels)

The weather got better again in Belgium after all that rain and catastrophic flooding.
The flowers in the garden are so vibrant when the sun comes out. I did two more studies, observing the budding, blooming, wilting -- and trying to capture each flower's uniqueness.

 




Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Garden Colors


 

"Petunias in a yellow pot"
20x20cm, oil on canvas panel

I'm always trying to cut down on the number of paint tubes I carry around. The result is that I have colors in my closet that I don't remember how to use. Time for some research. I began by reading about mixing greens and how it was important to mix warm yellows with warm blues or cool yellows with cool blues for the best results (link). I made a big chart of mixtures and discovered that Phthalo blue was actually quite useful. I'll definitely need to experiment further with that. Meanwhile I'm also taking a new look at my reds.

The petunias were a fun place to start. They pop out in the sun, I can't come close with my standard palette. Transparency seems to work: “permanent magenta”, "permanent mauve", "rose madder", with the white of the canvas showing through. I may try this again like Carol Marine suggested on Daily Paintworks: The Sunflower Challenge





Thursday, July 15, 2021

#TAE - Twitter Art Exhibit

In February, I donated a postcard to the Twitter Art Exhibit. This year's sales are going to benefit a UK charity: the Leukaemia and Intensive Chemotherapy Fund. Read more here: https://www.twitterartexhibit.org/

The postcards sell for 30£ each. Here’s how I found out that mine was sold:


"Snow Day" was inspired by a photo from Bill Jones in the Free Reference Photos for Artists Facebook group.

Afterwards I received a nice thank you email from the buyer who also tweeted a picture of the card in a frame:


It’s nice to see it framed. Definitely a positive experience: not only did I get some practice painting snow but the buyer is pleased and we’ve both contributed to fighting cancer.


Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Linseed oil and clouds


A couple years ago I found a second-hand book called "Traditional Oil Painting" by Virgil Elliott. It contained many technical tips that made sense; the book was more up-to-date than most. Finally last week I took a closer look and found there was also a website: Link (and even a Facebook group).

One useful idea I've taken away is that you don't need turps or even odorless mineral spirits to clean your brushes as you paint. You don't even have to switch to water-based paints. You can simply use linseed oil. I tried this and it works. I bought a container of raw linseed oil at the hardware store and used that to clean my brushes as I painted. (I'm not sure if "raw" is the best kind to buy for this but that's all they had.) He suggests you first dab your paint onto the rag, then dip it in the oil, dab again on the rag and repeat once more. Then for painting, of course, you use the art store version.

"Cloud Study"
10x15cm, oil on gessoed hardboard 

Saturday, June 19, 2021

More flowers!

"Cheerful Bouquet"
13x18cm, oil on canvas

I'd been meaning to try the same subject using two different mediums ever since Carol Marine posted the challenge on Daily Paintworks last year. So, today I decided to try an oil painting of the photo by Denise McGuillan that I'd already drawn in colored pencil in April. She posted this in the Free Reference Photos for Artists Facebook group, which is useful when you're stuck indoors looking for inspiration. My first version below dates back to a rainy period in April and the new one above got me through the last day of our recent heatwave (31°C in June in Belgium!).


"Flower Lines"
14.9x21cm, colored pencil on Daler Rowney Heavyweight drawing paper

Friday, June 18, 2021

“Le Pont Boïeldieu à Rouen, temps mouillé” d’après Pissarro


Pissarro started doing "series" paintings when he was 62 years old. He would rent a room with an interesting view and work on several canvases, studying various light effects and documenting urban life. I like his paintings of port activity in Rouen so tried copying this one to learn more about his technique. His dabs of paint expertly suggest people, horses, carriages, trams, windows, water, awnings, umbrellas, and so forth. The colors in my version are brighter than the reproduction I consulted but, in any case, it's difficult to get an idea of the true colors of a painting without having seen the original and this one is in a museum in Ontario.  
 
I was not aware of Pissarro's urban landscapes until I came across the book "The Impressionist and the City, Pissarro's Series Paintings," published on the occasion of an exhibit that was held in Dallas, Philadelphia and London in 1992-93. Until then, his series paintings had never been shown together as they are isolated in collections throughout the world. It's incredible that he painted over 300 of these urban views from 1892 until his death in 1903, yet he is known more for his earlier rural landscapes and experiments in pointillism. (An example is Pissarro's "Paysage à Chaponval" in the middle of my page: copies.)

Copy of "Le Pont Boïeldieu à Rouen, temps mouillé" by Camille Pissarro (1896)
Oil on 60x70cm canvas (the original is 73.7x91.4cm)

Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Tonalism Spring Challenge


The Tonalism Facebook group still hasn’t selected the photo for their Spring Challenge but I was inspired to try one of the “contestant” photos already. The photographer is Dave Ridge but I don’t think his will win because there’s another that’s way ahead in votes. We’ll find out on the 12th.

"Tonalism Challenge"
30x30, oil on canvas

Monday, February 1, 2021

Cats


These two are from the "Photographers Donated Reference photos for Artists Art Sharing group” on Facebook. Sue Rickhuss photographed her cats, Bailey and Willow, and let us use the photo for inspiration. She says I captured their expressions. Well, it wasn’t as easy as I thought. I liked the contrast of the two colors and tried to stop while I was ahead. I could always do another one to experiment further. In fact, this might be fun to paint really big next time. 

 “Cats”
20x20cm, oil on canvas
(private collection, Bristol, UK)

Pick-me-up

 


Just the thing to get through the depressing days of this corona winter: Ilona E. Stefan has been posting some wonderful flower photos in the Facebook group “Free reference photos for artists”. She combines strong lighting with soft backgrounds and has a collection of attractive vases. I decided to try painting her bouquet of hydrangeas.

“Pick-me-up”
30x24cm, oil on canvas panel

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Purple Tuesday

 


At first I wanted to paint the plant in its transparent plastic film and ribbon as it came from the florist but I was too late. Then, just as I had decided it would be fun to paint the large flower buds before they opened, the hyacinths started blooming. So in case I didn’t have much time to catch the flowers in full bloom, I quickly set out my painting gear and got started on “Blue Monday”. By Tuesday I had finished.

“Purple Tuesday”
22x30.5cm, oil on gessoed HDF board

Sunday, January 17, 2021

Monet Therapy


I have some extra square canvases with matching frames so decided this Monet would be just the thing to get back into painting mode. The original is 200x201cm which must have been a completely different experience but I had fun concentrating on this small copy. It’s from the 1915 to 1919 period when he painted a series of large water lily canvases. By this stage his work was becoming increasingly abstract. I kept having to remind myself that these were lilies in a pond as I matched the colors and shapes.

“Monet Therapy”, copy of Monet’s water lilies
20x20cm, oil on canvas

Saturday, January 9, 2021

Inspiration on EARL

 

“Letting off steam”
13x18cm, oil on canvas panel

 

I’ve been following two Facebook groups with similar names. One of the two (Artists Free Reference Photos) recently changed theirs to EARL (Every Artists Reference Library) so now keeping track has gotten much easier.

The above steam locomotive is based on a photo by Michael Marcon in EARL. I’d always wanted to try painting smoke after seeing Monet’s Gare Saint Lazarre series so this was a good way to get started. The sunset below is from a photo by Wendy Parkyn in the same group.

 

“Sunset with tree”
12.5x18cm oil on canvas panel


Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Postcards to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Last year I didn't get a chance to send out any New Year's greeting postcards and the year turned out to be in many ways a complete disaster so in order not to run the risk of jinxing 2021, here goes... Besides, I have several pads of postcard paper I've been meaning to try out and I'm also aiming to take the time to use all the art supplies I've accumulated over the years. 

 
"Christmassy Cardinal" to try oil on gessoed Harris postcard paper,
 based on a photo by Vanessa Mullins Hollan in the Free Reference Photos for Artists FB group.
 
After starting the cardinal in colored pencil this time, 
I added a chicken using a Pentel brushpen.
 
Sunset in the park in colored pencil on Harris pc paper This is based on a photo by Moragh Dann in the EARL FB group..
 
"Sunflower in watercolor" using a reference photo 
by Ilona E. Stefan, from the Free reference photos for artists FB group.


"Snow in the village", watercolor and colored pencil
on Harris postcard paper, based on photo by Ilona E Stefan,
from the Free reference photos for artists FB group.

Copy in water color pencil and colored pencil
on Harris pc paper,
 of painting by Ludwig Munthe.
 
Also a copy of Ludwig Munthe in water color pencil
on Harris postcard paper.
 

Another one based on a FB group photo (by Pam Fretwell in EARL), using
gel pens, Rapidograph, and colored pencil on Harris postcard paper.
 
"A white bouquet" sketched with Rapidograph,
 from a private photograph on Harris postcard paper.

A viral cartoon for January 2021.
Rapidograph and ink wash on Harris pc paper.
 

 

My first attempt at the Tonalist group's challenge 
to interpret a snowy winter landscape by Edward Seagro
(watercolor on Daler Rowney postcard paper for watercolors).



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