Recent figure drawing

Now in Ottawa, I’m excited to have found the The Drawing Room Studio. Sarah Lacy, the artist who runs the studio, is a classically trained artist. This translates into wonderful long poses with good lighting, and well planned easel and chair spacing so that everyone can see the model.

Though I would love to attend every session, weekend “family-time” prevents me from doing so. Nonetheless, here are some of my drawings from those poses.

I completed this drawing in charcoal on the Saturday	… and this painting on the Sunday, my first figure painting in a LONG time!
Completed this portrait in charcoal on the Saturday	… and this figure on the Sunday, of the same pose.

And not from life, but from a photo, this is a sketch of my son, for a possible upcoming drawing and/or painting.

More landscapes

I haven’t taken the time to post much. But here are a couple of paintings that I posted on Instagram. I had a hard time photographing these two, being very shaded with dark areas that have a lot of glare (note the upper right corner of Goutweed which should me much darker with purple notes.) Consequently, the photos are not super accurate, but are close enough (and as good as it gets with my current technology!)

Goutweed oil on board 11×14 My neighbour’s yard in Kingston, Ontario

A Quiet Place oil on board 11×14 Frontenac Provincial Park, Ontario

Group Exhibit in Toronto

I made it into the 18th Annual Juried Exhibition, DRAWING 2017 at the John B. Aird Gallery in Toronto. I have submitted a large landscape drawing this time, which is unusual for me. In fact, it’s my first major landscape drawing, and it’s a study for a painting.

After moving recently to a neighbourhood in Ottawa near a conservation area, I enjoyed observing the transformation of the landscape from Fall to Winter. What caught my eye, in particular, was a group of cattails so tall that they obstructed the view of the small lake behind them. In the Fall they danced freely in the wind. But in the Winter, blankets of heavy snow stilled their movement creating a wonderful quietude. It is this wintry suspended stillness that I have attempted to capture in this drawing by contrasting the angular stalks with the soft snow.

Cattails in Snow
charcoal on paper
50 cm x 70 cm

Landscapes

Here are a few paintings that I had a hard time photographing without glare. Not perfect, but an improvement on previous attempts. That shimmering quality in the photo, particularly the two top ones? That’s just the light bouncing off the paint and varnish when I photograph them. They were all started in plein air.

Spring Flowers 8×10 oil on board Kingston, Ontario

Fall Light 8×10 oil on board Along the path near the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Ottawa

Dandelions 2 8×10 oil on board Lemoine Point Conservation Area, Kingston

Recent Landscapes

Here are some of the plein-air paintings that I have completed in the past year (a few were reworked in the studio). My camera and photographing set up are primitive and I’m having difficulty capturing dark areas without glare, so I can’t post all that I’ve done. You can see this problem in the trees of Along the Deer Trail and the vines in Back Alley Walk for example. I’m working to solve the problem and hope to add a few more works in the days to come.

Along the Deer Trail 9×12 oil on board Lemoine Point Conservation Area, Kingston	Into the Woods 9×12 oil on board Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area, Kingston
Back Alley Walk 9×12 oil on board Alley behind Sydenham Street United Church, Kingston	The Old Tree 8×10 oil on board Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area, Kingston
Apple Blossoms 8×10 oil on board A tree in my yard	Hazy Spring Day 8×10 oil on board Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area, Kingston
At the Trail Junction 6×8 oil on paper Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area, Kingston	Rocky Shore 8×10 oil on board Frontenac Provincial Park, Ontario
Windy Day on the Lake 8×10 oil on board Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area, Kingston

Group Show

The drawing of my infant son will be in the upcoming Drawing 2016 Annual Juried Exhibition at the John B. Aird Gallery in Toronto. I’d love to see you at the opening!

“I Am Here!”
charcoal on paper
13×19

Dandelions

My backyard lawn inspired my latest painting. It began as a plein-air painting one afternoon with the intention of completing it the next day but my husband mowed the lawn in the meantime. I was forced to finish it in my studio.

[UPDATE February 9 2017: better image of painting]

Latest drawing, Upcoming Show

It’s been a long time since I’ve taken the time to update my blog. I have been drawing and painting but did not have the time to photograph my work.

In the last month, I’ve been working on a portrait of my son. I certainly chose a difficult project — I used five different photos to compose the gesture and expression, each of which had a different light source and captured Raphaël at a different age. Those legs go from skinny to plump incredibly fast within the first few months!

Though it’s a portrait of him as an infant, I wanted to capture his personality as it is expressed at his current preschool age. Moreover, I aimed to portray the exuberance of life slightly coloured by a fear of the unknown and new. I think it turned out well in spite of all these challenges.

“I Am Here!
charcoal on paper
13×19

You can see this portrait of my son in the upcoming Interact Juried Art Salon at the Tett Centre in Kingston, Ontario. The exhibit opens May 21st at 7:00PM and closes June 26th.

Birds…

Winter has arrived to Edmonton. You should see how much snow we have already! It inspired me to draw chickadees. Here are my first two.

SOLD

A few 20 min life drawings from earlier this year.

Three Drawings in a Show

I will try to photograph some of my recent gesture drawings and post them soon.

In the meantime, here are three 3h poses completed from life recently. The bottom two are in the 21st Annual Naked Exhibit currently being held at Harcourt house, along with a 20 min drawing that I forgot to photograph before the show. The top drawing was completed after the submission deadline, so perhaps it will make it into next year’s exhibit.

Paul SOLD

The Young Artist SOLD

Woman I SOLD