This is a small sketch for what I hope will be a larger portrait in the future.  This wonderful woman is one of my neighbours.  She is so beautiful, inside and out.

Oil 6 x 6 inches on board

This pose captures mass with just a few ink 

lines to hold in the corners. I am looking for the kind of 

sparseness a haiku poem has, aiming for only the essential.

 

9x12 inch watercolour & ink on rag

At the beginning of each session with a live model the 
first half of the evening starts out with one minute poses, 
then five minutes, then ten minute poses. There is a 
break and then two longer poses round out the night.  
This watercolour is of a one minute pose where 
the aim is to capture the gesture of the model.

A very  loose and messy 9x12 inch figure study!

Hello all!
I have been off line for a while due to a family illness.  Hope this post finds you are all well and ready to enjoy the spring time weather.  
A local group here has a model come in every week, and I have been using the opportunity to practice being as brief as possible in the studies, using watercolour and pen.
I hope you enjoy the new posts.
Best regards.

Other than a few watercolours over the years, I am tackling landscapes for the first time.  It's rather ironic that it has taken me this long, as I love the outdoors to the point where I would rather be outside than inside.  After a few small sketches, I set about to paint a larger one.  Here is the newest, largest one.  I'll also post a few few of the small ( 5x7") sketches so you can get an idea of my progress.  These are all paintings of the marsh and shoreline that surrounds our bay.  In winter, I love the wild tangle of grasses, brambles and branches that all writhe together heading upward into winter washed skies.


"Blackie Spit"  Oil on  Canvas         18"x 24"

 

Sketches:  5" x 7" oil on board                                                           

Last year the dahlia tubers are started to put out white blooms rather than expressing themselves in the original colours.  I don't know enough about the plants to know if this is normal, but since many of my garden beds are in front of a very dark green cedar hedge , the white blooms tend to look like white stars.  A very good and beautiful thing to have happening!