"1938 Chevrolet Master Deluxe Coupe" acrylic 11 x 14

Ahhh -- what a super duper car - made a year before I was born. Go figure. In fact my dad had one of these and I remember the humungous Dickie Seat at the back.
I used acrylic paint because it's so vivid and clean. This painting could have been painted in a photo-realism way but I like to see that there is an ARTIST behind the style...
Click on't to see a bigger version, and leave your COMMENT for me?
Thanks
Ron

"Vintage Truck - Heritage Acres" acrylics 11 x 14

I like the clean look of acrylic paint - this old truck languishes in a shed at Heritage Acres in Saanich, Victoria BC, a place which serves as a museum for farm equipment mostly.

The vehicle MAY be restored, I'm not sure, but at least it has been saved from the crusher.

I decided on happy colours instead of brown rust - who knows, there may be hope for the vintage vehicle.

If you know the make and year of the truck please COMMENT and I'll post the details.

Friday Fish" oil 8 x 10

If it's Friday it must be fish. On a technical note I used my conventional oil paints today, not my water-soluble oils. It felt good. Just like the days of my youth.
Conventional oils have that honest-to-goodness feel and swishability (my word). I think I'll keep 'em in my paint drawer for forays like this into the future. By now I know that YOU know you can click on the image to see a bigger view. As always I'll value your COMMENT. (See below).
Thanks,
Ron

"Maria - portrait no.3" oil 8 x 10

Maria was our sitter again at the Goward House Portrait Painters group - this time I felt the likeness was better. Scroll down a few pics to see my first attempts.

"Oranges and Blues" 8 x 10 oil

Juicy orange wedges complement the ultra blue of Dunny's mug. In this painting I used a loaded brush "paint like a millionaire" someone once said. Thick and juicy - click on it for a bigger view. Add a COMMENT below if you like.

"Dancing Iris" oil on canvas 8 x 10

We came across this iris in the grounds of Government House in Victoria. Spring is on the way...
My approach was to use expressive and somewhat large brush strokes loaded with paint - very little correction.
Hey, I'm almost pleased with the end result - but then artists are always (quite rightly) self-critical...

"Pearly Onion" 8 x 10 oil

I love the way the light digs deep into the common onion and the veggie seems to have an internal glow like a pearl. A nice challenge which we got to eat afterwards...a double whammy.
As for the painting execution, I could have gone on and on making the work even more realistic but this way of painting is my HOME STYLE, and I respect it.
Sooo...
Your COMMENT (below) is appreciated.
Oh yes, and click on the image to get a bigger view.
Cheers
Ronnie

"Nicolle" oil 8 x 10

Nicolle, one of our artists, took a turn in the sitter's seat at the Goward House Portrait Painters group today.

Apart from the technical need to get a likeness, we also try to reach for some feeling or emotion in the work -  who knows when a painting has feeling - it's inanimate, but I think I know what they mean - a sense of pleasantness and beauty.

Anyway, your COMMENTS (see below) are welcome.

Brass Rubbing 6 x 8 demo by Pat Hindmarch-Watson

At a meeting of artists in Oak Bay this week, Pat Hindmarch-Watson demonstrated the fine old art of brass rubbing and invited several of us to try our hand - this is my rubbing. Pat kept a friendly and helpful eye over my attempt and I'm delighted by the result. Thanks Pat.  We used a special black paper imported from England and rubbed over a genuine brass using  a wax crayon made with brass powder it seems. What fun.  Isn't art wonderful? So different from working with a brush - here's my 6 x 8 oil sketch completed the same day entitled "The Fire Hydrant."

You know you can enlarge these images by clicking on them. Please use the COMMENT feature below.



"Ann" portrait sketch oil 8 x 10

If you're an artist and the sitter you've engaged doesn't appear for this week's session of the Goward House Portrait Painters then it's understood that YOU have to sit instead!

This happened to Ann this week.

Usually at these sessions Ann works with her iPad2 creating portraits in her own unique style. Go to Facebook and search "Goward House Portrait Painters" and check out her digital art, amongst the dozen or so pencil- and brush-wielding artists.

"Mt.Doug from Mt.Tolmie" oils - colour note, 11 x 14

A sunny but cold and windy morn atop Mount Tolmie facing Mount Douglas --
I may decide to paint a large painting here in my studio later but I need this plein air colour note to remind me of the yellow moss, the green grass and the slate-grey rock.
(I don't wish to be reminded of that chilly breeze...) brrrrr

"Nicolas" iPad2 drawing

'Still with the steep learning curve of "painting" with my finger on my iPad2 screen - this is Nicolas who sat for us at the Goward House Portrait Painters today.
I selected the "chalk" setting with the soft edge and had a ball choosing outrageous colors. This took about two hours and I was zonked afterwards - it was exhausting (I must be an artist)....
Click on the image to see a bigger version.
Thanks, your COMMENT will be helpful.

"Mount Tolmie" oil 11 x 14 plein air

Today I perched on the side of Mount Tolmie in Victoria BC and painted the suburb below. One-and-a-quarter hours in quite good weather. I was drawn by the leafless Garry Oak silhouetted against the shadow side of the rock.
One thing about painting versus photography is that I was able to put ME into the work - I mean HOW I personally felt about the scene - the strength, the light, the exhuberance.

Here is a pic I took after I had finished:

All in all, a good day to be painting outside.

Yes, the original IS for sale. Email me for details.

You know you can click on the images to see a bigger view.

Here's an iPad2 drawing I did of my plein air painting:

Cheers

Ron

"Ron Wilson" acrylic profile by Jim McFarland

My buddy Jim McFarland painted this profile of me while we're on location in Saanich. (He was tempted to put a little stick tree on "my canvas" but thought better of it) - it would have been hilarious!

"Just a face" iPad2 sketch

Amazing. I sketched this face on our new iPad2 - just a face, it was too snowy for this South Afrcan born artist to go driving all the way to the Goward House Portrait Painters session so I stayed at home and experimented with the iPad. I made up the face - it's no one in particular.  Technology today is ammaaazzing doll! Click the image to see a bigger picture.

"Maria" portrait at Goward House

My first portrait on  an iPad2 -- the finger painting takes a bit of learning, I feel like a caveman already. Our sitter today is Maria:



My thanks to Ann Wheatcroft for 'pointing out' the controls to me. It is a steep learning curve. Exhausted after the effiort, I retreated to my good 'ol oil paints and I did a small 6 x 8 monochrome oil of Maria:

Maybe I'll give it another go again at Goward House some time. But what a lotta fun.

"The Legislature" in pencil 9 x 12

I am planning an oil of this scene at some time in the winter so this morning I went down to the "Ledge" (as it's known by the locals in Victoria BC) and did this quick pencil study just to do a bit of prep work.

Bruce Stotesbury of the Times-Colonist was taking photographs at the Legislature in Victoria BC and he took this front page pic of Frank Mitchell and myself in action at the paint-out.

Thanks Bruce.

Ron



"Farm Shed - Saanich" oil 12 x 16

A studio painting of the shed at the edge of the property,  Hunt Valley Farm. The winding path and the thick leafy trees caught my attention, apart from the shed of course...
Yes, I simplified the scene somewhat - (artists are good at shifting trees around) but the painting IS true to the spirit of this farm.
I like colour, so I've used a variety of yellows and greens, subdued into submission!

NOTE: Click on any image to see a bigger picture...

"He-who-sees-far" oil 11 x 14

Portraits have been much on my mind and on my canvas lately - this chief in his ceremonial headdress was my Christmas day and Boxing Day project. I painted this using only WARM colours, mostly burnt sienna, raw sienna, orange, raw umber and white.  I learnt a lot from it.

"Sea Stacks" oil 20 x 24

We came across these amazing rocks off the Oregon coast - a search on the Internet revealed that sea stacks are formed through a process of eruption and erosion. Anyway, I like the greening of them all, like banners in the wind. I had fun with the impressionist pebbles on a realistic beach. Click the image to see the big picture.