Patron of the arts

H. Dunstan Browne, attorney at law, is my patron.
Dunny has a great influence on my career as an artist.

"Beverley" acrylic 8 x 11

Beverley was our sitter at the Goward House Portrait Painters today. She's a painter herself so she knew how to sit still for three hours. Whew.
I chose acrylic on watercolour paper in keeping with my avowed policy of stretching and experimenting with different media so's to learn.
Click her for a bigger view.

"Sig" watercolour and pastel 11 x 12

"Sig" my painting buddy who always thinks my stuff is great, I was able to try and return the compliment by crafting his watercolour-plus-pastel portrait of him at Goward House Portrait Painters today. He owns this painting now, and slipped me a little green by way of thanks. Nice, eh? Again, click't for a zoom view. You know the drill...

"Belfry Coffee Break" oil 4x6 miniature

Small is good. Because it makes you focus on the essentials. I wish I could translate this sensitivity into my really big BIG paintings...maybe I should one day soon. It's tiny, 4x 6 inches.
Click it for a bigger view. Contact me if you want this one.

Ronald, my namesake, is a retired sea captain. He agreed to come sit for the Goward House Portrait Painters today. The deal is that you sit for free but at the end of the session (with about a dozen artists painting) you get to take home the portrait of your choice!
I used my favourite Conte black pencil together with a watercolour wash. It's quick and loose, I love the medium. Click the image to zoom...

Prairie transport

Men can ride side-saddle too. This father has two main reasons - (a) he can keep an eye on his papoose as he gingerly rides along, (b) he can use the full extent of his blankie instead of dividing it on the horse's back. Click on my watercolour for a zoom view. Unframed = $98.00 please contact me for shipping to your part of the world.

Grand Canyon South Rim oils 12x16

The rock face looks as fresh as the year it burst forth. Click it for a bigger view.
I used a varied underpainting of pink and red, which set the harmony for the impasto work to follow. The edges of the painting are kept in soft focus in order to draw the eye to the centre, and the squarish slab in particular.

"Belfry Kiosk, Fernwood" 6 x 8 oil

On a dark orange underpainting I quickly sketched this long-standing notice board/kiosk in front of the Belfry Theatre this morning. It was bitterly cold but at least the sun was shining brightly on the Fernwood Corner. A few of my fellow artists took refuge in the local coffee shop. Woosies.
Click on't for a bigger view, and if you like to own it for $98, contact me.

Two "goes" at painting in the rain - watercolor

Above, a rainy morning in old Victoria BC, sketched in pen and wash - sitting in my tiny car.
Then I repeated the scene, leaving out the detail:

Second "go" - "1900 Store" much looser and true - leaving it up to our imagination suggested by the watercolor washes. If I tend to overwork a scene I start a second painting, leaving out stuff. Funnily enough, it is a better rendering, they say that less is more, Well, it works for me. This is where I want to be.

(1900 isn't the number of Store street, it's when the Capital Iron building was built...)
The images are clickable.

"Lone Tree" miniature 3.25 x 4.5 inches oil

Miniatures help me to isolate the truth. They allow one to concentrate on the essentials in a landscape and to sublimate the rest of the scene, making for a powerful image. After all, we can't focus on everything. Next step = paint like this on my very much bigger paintings!

Father Michael pastel 8 x 10

Father Michael, a Catholic priest, sat for a dozen or so Goward House Portrait Painters today.
I felt my drawing was a bit too long in the face, like a Modigliani portrait. Sometimes I'm so lost in the process that I miss the geography and mapping, but I really engage these challenges to gain experience in media other than my home medium of oils. I believe that the more I explore other media the richer the effect on my oils.

Chef Scott of John's Place 8 x 11 pastel

Scott has a great face for portraiture. I spied him through the serving hatch at John's Place in Victoria BC yesterday.
Click his image for a bigger picture.

"Monument Valley" oil 8x10

Monument Valley is one of my very favourite places for art subjects. I like the random placement that Nature gives us, and I made sure that my bushes formed a semi-circle guiding the eye to the main feature. For sale at $98.00, shipping a little extra but at cost.

"Little Holiday Hut, Hawaii" mini oil 4x6

Darrell Hill was a great influence. He summed up Hawaii like the local that he was. But getting on to the STYLE: My own style is 100 years old. I appreciate abstract paintings 'cos I think they're like visual music without words. Of course they are relevant, but I cannot produce any such work, except for some few abstract elements which may apppear in my realism/impressionism paintings..
Boy, where did all THIS come from? Anyhow, hit the image to see a larger version. The painting is really quite small in real life, only four by six inches. If you want it, send me a message.

"Jill" 8 x 11 acrylic sketch

Jill sat for the Portrait Painters at Goward House yesterday. I completed this acrylic sketch in just over two hours, using a bold and brushy approach. Click on't for a bigger view.

"Kip_kip_kip" miniature oil 3.3 x 4.5 inches

Optional title? I could easily call this "Where are you going?" as one chicken races past another. And I could have easily painted this smoothly but I'm at home with brrrushy work. Paint is the cheapest part of the whole process so I painted "kip kip kip" like a millionaire. Luckily my fellow artists are responding warmly to the thick impasto paint so I'll do some more like this in time. To see a larger image please click on the painting, and do leave me a comment if you want to own it at $58.00...

"Cow Bookends" Michell's farm

"Cow Bookends" oil on canvas board, smallish 3-3/8ths x 8 inches. These are Vern's cows on Michell's farm.  Details to be had at my email - see the little white envelope below if you're seeing this on my blog. Otherwise, send me an email from my website artistwilson.com.

"Riding it Out" 12x14 oil

I have a number of old oils in a box, and this is a good way to use 'em up in the studio whilst keeping a full set of water-soluble oils for work en plein air!
The two water fowl have a ride in the surf during active weather at Cattle Point.
Like some of my colleagues, I get the odd rejection from galleries, so splashing out in vivid colour is Ronnie's revenge - it brightens up my palette AND my day. Try it whenever you're blue. Or red, or yellow.
Hit the image for a larger view.
Buy it now for 500 dollars. Free shippimng.

"Joan Smith" oil 11x14

Joan is a volunteer at Goward House, and she was good enough to sit for the group of portrait painters today. This lady has oodles of personality. Hit the image to see a larger view.

Digital abstract portrait of no-one in particular

A digital abstract portrait painted with my finger on my iPad using the Brushes software.

Click it for an enlargement. Comments encouraged.

"Alfred the Flowerman" duo drawing

Alfred sat for the Goward House Portrait Painters today. I used watercolor and Conte pencil to stretch myself again. I like this approach because the early washes show me the way and the heavy pencil gives me the punch. The color sketch is OK but I really like the little drawing which is a better likeness I feel. You could click the image if you want to see a larger picture. (My fellow artists might also tell you that working in different media actually strengthens one's home style).

"First call of the day" oil 6x8

First call of the day as the crow greets the early morning sail past at cattle Point.
Painted with traditional old-fashioned oils.
Click on't to expand the picture. Your comment is invaluable.

"Elfrida" pastel 8x11

Elfrida, a fellow artist, sat for the Goward House Portrait Painters today. I used pastels and a sketch style. to To see the texture close up, click on the picture.

"Elfrida"

"Autumn Aroma" oil 6x8

At this time of year some of us are allowed to burn Fall leaves. Watching the fire puts one in the zone.
Click for a bigger view. Go to my Fine Art America website if you want to own this one. It's a goodie.

Goward House Portrait Painters = Andrea

Andrea sat for the Goward House Portrait painters today. Click on the image for a bigger view. I used pastels.

"Jim's Shop" acrylic 10x10

Jim has this massive old barn filled to the brim with all manner of old cars - mostly Bentleys, Rolls and Morgans but here in the yard is the remains of an old Rugby truck which he saved from the crusher. Click to see a bigger image.

Highlighters & Pen

Being laid up with a bad cold and listless/bored I scribbled this 2x3 sketch with highlighters and a pen.

When I scanned and enlarged it, it looked promising...go figure.
Maybe I'll go into abstraction...if your computer does mouse-over enlargements, try it. I think it'll make a great modern poster.

"Oak Bay Marina" w/c 6x8

In the early morn pre-rain light the shapes are soft and even. I was drawn to this gondola-shaped hull in the bay. Overcast weather is when you haul out yer watercolours and stretch yer paper. A few swift strokes is all you need or the painting gets too busy - when you get the message and know what it is, it's time to halt.

"Carla" charcoal and pastels 8x11

"Carla" charcoal and pastels - I liked this one and so did two of my fellow Goward House Portrait Painters, yet at the end of the session Carla chose to take home NOT my charcoal drawing but my little pastel sketch instead!

It only took a few minutes but she liked it anyway...

"Red, Red Wine" 12x16 oil

The sun and the grapes become liquid sunlight in a bottle. Cha cha cha folks! With water-soluble oil I kept my brush strokes loose for this impressionistic-realistic still life.

"Path - Dallas Road Beach" oil 11x14

Sunlight penetrated the fog and lit up the sea at the Dallas Road Beach this morning.
Plein Air is much sought-after by the cognoscenti these days even though it has been around for a hundred years.
I used water-soluble oils without any medium. With the result that I got thick and juicy brush strokes. Yes!

First shown at Dales Gallery in Victoria's Chinatown 2nd - 21st December, 2013.

Now one of THEE most visited paintings on my Blog. Super.....

"Una" pastel 8x11

Una sat for us at the Goward House Portrait Painters this week, I found her refreshingly outgoing and nice. It could have been a better likeness but I had to leave early. Again with the pastels and I'm loving it.

"Stadacona Park" pastel 8x11

After spending THREE days making my pastel box ENTIRELY out of re-cycled stuff I took it for a test drive in Stadacona Park today. It's a quickie (forty minutes) but I like the looseness and the cheeky colour. I think I have rainbow vision...

"Mt.Doug Mist" oil 6x8

'Overjoyed when I woke up to MIST this morning, and I couldn't wait to paint the softness at Mount Douglas Park.

"Urban Sanctuary" (Pavement Poppies)

Click the image for a bigger view...

Which of the two titles works BEST? "Urban Sanctuary" or "Pavement Poppies" I'd welcome your choice. Here's Colleen in Fort Street walking in the area the art experts call THE GOLDEN MEAN. Flowers galore - Victoria is great that way. Do send me your choice for the most apt title. Thanks, Ron

"Canefield, Maui" acrylic 9x12

Maui gives the artist wonderful complementaries such as the purple ridges and the yellow fields. This plein air painting was done in acrylic on stretched canvas, no frame - drop me a line if it appeals to you. It is for sale.
Click the painting for a bigger image.

"Island Beach" oil 6x8

"Island Beach" is in my backyard so to speak - it's off Gyro Park, Victoria BC on Vancouver Island. Who's a lucky artist then?
Click this puppy to make it bigger - it's loose and juicy, just how I like painting...

"Macauley Point" pastel 8 x 11

The summer never seems to end - today I took full advantage of the brilliant sun and rendered Macauley Point in Esquimalt Victoria BC with my pastels. (Click the image for a bigger view).  The original can be had through me (send me an email) or order a reasonably-priced print through Fine Art America. The link is on this page.

"Birds, Oak Bay" oils 11x14

Gulls in the sky, Canada Geese on the water. Perfect weather - plein air painting in ninety minutes. Click on it for a bigger view.

I used my trusty bike to get to the location - fun, fun, fun - who needs to ride the Tour de France?

"Happy Valley Lavender Farm" oil 11x14

Click for a bigger image.
Harvesting season follows closely upon the growing season I guess...soon the lavender will be cut for scent, oils and posies.  Go to my Fine Art America site (linked on this page) if you want to own this work.

Colour blind?

"Mount Baker and Yacht" miniature oil on Belgian Linen

Colour blindness isn't a problem. In fact it is quite a lot of fun, it sets

me apart and although I have difficulty seeing blue versus green I like the

effort.  The colour TEAL is iffy for me which is funny, 'cos it's a

favourite colour!

McNeill Bay Summer" pastel 8 x 10

Click it for a bigger view.

VicNews photographer Sharon Tiffin stopped by at the plinth that celebrates McNeill Bay - the sun was great and I nailed this plein air pastel within 40 minutes. Isn't BC the Best Place on Earth?

"Dinghy at rest" oil 6x8

Dinghies are like pet dogs - they wait for the return of the owner whilst the latter is elsewhere engaged. Patient, helpful, resolute.
Email me to own this one. Unframed, but will grace any home or boat...or office.

Click on it for a bigger view.

"Red Boat" Oak Bay Marina, 3 works

Using soft pastels and black paper from a 1920s photo album I made this preparatory sketch of a red boat at Oak Bay Marina this morning (above).

 Then thanks to a recent visit to the Art Gallery of Ontario and exposure to Thomson originals, I used thick impasto in oils (above).

They say that if we work in different media then each of these can improve. The whole lot. Oils w/c, pastels, drawings. It seems to work for me...

There was time for a third painting of my Plein Air morning so I changed to pastels again and sought out this isolated blue dinghy which I had painted a few times before (below).

(Above) This one is Pastel. Each image is clickable for a bigger view, your COMMENT will be invaluable.