"Duncan Wetlands" acrylic 11x14

A leaden sky but a beautiful day. This wetland is a little way out of Duncan on the road to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Hit it for a larger image.
Acrylic - thin and thick. That's my treatment here. Want it? Email me.

"Swan on the Lake" oils 6x8

Having very little time 'cos I arrived late at the Viaducts Flats this morning, I chose to use a 6x8 canvas board and paint rapidly with a big brush. Hey, I like it! Hit the image for a bigger view. Do you want this oil sketch? Email me.

"Doug Foreman" ink cartoon 8x11

I get intention tremor, the "writer's vibrato," so cross hatching is good for me. In fact it's soothing.
This is Lieutenant Colonel Doug Foreman's second sitting with the Goward House Portrait Painters.
He first sat for us last year and his pencil portrait appears in my older posts. See January 22, 2013.

Caricature calls for exaggeration but the colonel graciously accepted the distortion with good humour...
he said the troops would appreciate the portrayal 'cos they say he can be a hard r's. I dunno, he seems like a pretty likeable guy to me.

"Linda" portrait from life at Goward House

You have heard me declare before that Goward House is my testing ground for art in all sorts of media from oils to pastels and beyond. Well today I spent an hour crafting this pen 'n ink portrait of sitter Linda.
I believe that working in one medium visits kindly upon the other media that I find myself embracing.
My portrait of Linda was done very lightly in pencil first, then I gradually applied cross-hatching in pen before flooding the larger planes in bold black. Voila. Hit the image to see a bigger view. Comments encouraged. Thanks, Ron.

"Vineyard" now a mural in a wine cellar

Following my tiny watercolour sketch in 2010 I was invited to paint the scene on the wall of a wine cellar, this time in acrylics. Size 24 x 36 inches. Naturally I adapted the feel of the piece to suit the cellar, the horizon line of the mural is about eye-level which is the convention for bigger pieces. Anyway, the owner was happy. He has place an oak barrel below it and a French wine box with raffia on the floor next to it making the whole scene so effective. No, I wasn't paid in wine!
Click the mural for a bigger image.

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.