Government House lower slope 8x10 oil plein air

 Smoke from the US fires. Dull sky but good visibility at ground level..............

When I want to compose my painting, first I usually do a little brief Conté sketch beforehand.

It's like a warm-up at tennis. It clears my mind and I can focus on the essentials.

Grass - oil 9" x 12" on canvas laid on board

Grass

 

Tall grass, cedar rail fence and a close encounter with the sea. All things a painter can find at Cattle Point on Vancouver Island's great little city of Victoria. An artist can go crazy here. Paint, paint, paint - it's all possible!

"Cattle Point Portal" oils on canvas covered board 8 x 10

"Grand Vision (canyon)" oil 11 x 14

My son Tim made me a rigid board which he coated with a sandpaper-like paint. The surface is coarse but it certainly takes paint well. This is my impression of the Grand Canyon which I call the grand vision because of the colours I chose.

"Deer Tree" w/c 3.5" x 5.5"

Along Fort street in Victoria BC.

"Schooner Northwest" oil 0n canvas board 9x12

Calmly and steadily the schooner sails on through the Northwest with the seagulls swooping above.
Email me for details.

"Picnic" pastel and watercolour on Arches paper 6x8

Victoria BC -- Holland Point Park above the sea - spread yourselves a blanky and relax amongst the wildflowers like this young couple.

"Two in a boat" pastel and w/c 7.5 x 10

Harmony in Nature.

Donna - acrylic on vinyl covered board 6" square

I saw with happiness that this wonderfully strange rendering of mine is quite the thing on Fine Art America!
I did it cos I thought my regular work was getting no attention - plain, boring.
Click for a bigger pic.

Johnson Street Bridge - oil 8x10 plein air

This is Victoria's new bridge which replaces the old Johnson Street Blue Bridge. My plein air outing took place in perfect weather, I had my Van Gogh wide brim straw hat and sunscreen, a long sleeve shirt and shorts. Wow. Lookout Clint Eastwood!

I painted the new bridge from a spot on Centennial Park (not to be confused with Centennial SQUARE). Google it, it is in Victoria BC.

How do I feel painting in the open air? Rejuvenated, fulfilled. What I am placed on this earth for. The only game in town. Setting up the easel is a ritual performance in a very good way. Onlookers don't bother me, as long as you keep the covid-19 distance and don't distract me from the work. What wonderful work painting is.

Constable's Haywain scene painted today - oil 8x10 inches

Instead of a hay wagon (haywain) I found a duck in the pond of Willie Lott's house, Compare with the original by John Constable, very little has changed. My impressionist style differs from the master of course.

"Stadacona Park Bench" oil on canvas board 8 x 10 inches

Spend a little rejuvenation time in a city park, keen among the green. 20 minutes will do ya. If longer buy the little painting - available and affordable. Try me.

"Leafy Cathedral" oil 6x8

A canopy such as this eases one's soul. Don't know how or why, but it does. Granny Kit used to sing "Excelsior" every time we drove through one like this on our way to the store.

"Crow and Mt.Baker" w/c

Watercolour is easy and difficult - easy to do yet difficult to do it well.
But it's art, so it's so enjoyable. Artists are extremely lucky I think.

"Crow & Mt.Baker" pencil sketch

Prep for a watercolour I am planning. I am excited to have a new sheet of Arches cold press and I am dying to see what depth the paper will give my colours. Yippee.

Van Gogh homework while in lockdown

Nobody can emulate Vincent's brush work, and the movie "Loving Vincent" just confirmed it for me. A brush stroke by Vincent is like a signed cheque that only he can reproduce. Nice film though.

But I started reading the 1946 book entitled VINCENT VAN GOGH (editions de la Connaissance) printed in Belgium and it shows his portrait with a grey felt hat, black and white...

If you Google his portrait in a grey felt hat you'll find it in colour (as I did), and to learn something while in quarantine I decided to try painting it as an exercise, with no signature of course. Repeat: The JPG below is NOT a van Gogh original - it's my COPY that I painted as a learning exercise. Besides I believe his works may be in public domain. We'll see.

Brother Théo wrote to their sister wrote about this painting "it is as if two men were in him, one wonderfully gifted, fine and soft, the other proud, selfish and hard. What a pity that he is his own enemy, because he makes life difficult not only for others, but for himself."  This quote is from the book mentioned above.

Get this - Vincent Willem van Gogh inherited the artist's collection. This is Uncle Vincent Willem van Gogh in 1968, he died at the age of 87.

Still, Vincent the artist is one of the greatest artists who ever lived, and I believe he only made $169 dollars from his sales, ever!

Take heart, fellow artists.
Ron 2020

"Oxpecker and Buffalo: 4.5 x 6 inches watercolor

"Red-billed Oxpecker and the Cape Water Buffalo" - imagine having someone to fuss and clean, getting rid of all the wild insects that plague you...a common sight in the Kruger National Park of South Africa.
Watercolor, Conté pencil, pen, white watercolor pencil and acrylic paint. That's what it took to render this little work. As usual, click the image for a slightly larger pic.
Send email if interested.

"Mossie" isolation painting postcard size

Mossie is South Africa-speak for a Cape Sparrow, the beloved local bird found around many a home.
To see a bigger image, click the bird.

"Nuthatch" pastel on postcard size paper 4 x 6 inches

Nuthatch, lil' cheeky thing. You bandit you..but cute hey. You've got your eye out on us.
As per usual folks, click on the image to see a bigger picture.

"Grapes - 2020" pastel on postcard paper

"Grapes" which were bought at 7am Save-on-Foods this morning. The grapes were still wet.

We were wearing gloves (and scarves for the face) saving our N95s for later.

Incidentally, a man tried to sell us plain face masks upon which someone had printed "N95".....

Pastel on postcard paper