Red rowboat sketches II

Red Rowboat I, 10 x 7", watercolour

After having made some thumbnail sketches, I started working in colour.  I did three 7 x 10" paintings, each showing a different view of the painting. The above painting I did three times before I got it right.  You will not see the first three here as they were not satisfactory.   

Sunlight on a Rowboat, 7 x 10", watercolour

This one is not what my client had ordered but I had been fascinated by the reflections of the boat in the water and the play of light on it's side.  You can click the title of this painting and the one below to view them on my online studio website, http://www.poppybalser.com/ .

Rising Tide, 7 x 10", watercolour

I was pleased with how the trees reflect in the water around the boat in this one. 

I showed the three above to my client and she chose the last of the three, but asked if I could not include some sky in the picture as well.  So back to the drawing board and some more sketches for her to review.  You will see them soon.

In the meantime I did this larger painting to satisfy my own esthetic.  Obviously, it is based on the third of the smaller sketches.  I wanted to expand on that theme, seeing how it looked in a larger view.  This was valuable preparation for when I created the final peice.

Rowboat in the Raquette, 14 x 21", watercolour

This painting represents a step forward in my ability to paint rocks.  I have struggled with painting rocky beaches for years, never being quite satisfied with what I managed to portray.  Finally, though, I feel that the beach in this one turned out well. 

Red Rowboat sketches

I was asked to paint a picture of a rowboat that is moored each summer in one of the small bays in the town of Digby.  I have wanted to paint this for a while as it is a pretty little rowboat.  It is bright red and often sits in the waters reflecting the green of the trees and reeds around it.  (Red and green are complementary colours and the red of the boat stands out quite dramatically against the greens which predominate in our summer)

I started with the requests of my client who wanted a picture of the boat when the tide was coming in with the water halfway up under the boat. She hoped that I could include a line of white at the edge of the water, which she she has observed is a means of determining if the tide is coming or going.  Armed with this I spent a couple of weeks chasing the tide and the weather.  I had to get good photos to work from as this was a surprise for her spouse, who would be able to see me painting if he passed by the beach where I would be working.  It was astonishingly hard to get the right combination of good weather and the right tide at the right time of day.  The best time of day would be early morning or later in the evening as the light would be coming in sideways and highlighting the side of the boat.

I made several trips and got photos of the boat on the sand, the boat in the water and the boat in the middle of the day.  But none that matched what I was looking for.  In the end, in desperation, I dragged the kids along with me when conditions were good and got a few photos that I thought that I could work with.  I almost missed the tide as it was as I had to disentangle a child from the pile of rocks that he was climbing...  However, now I had something I could work with.  (Distraction with bagels from Tim Hortons helped this trip immensly, it was only when they were done with the bagels that the mountaineering began!)

Then I started doing thumbnail sketches, and here they are:

Because I had a few that looked promising, I then started doing some colour sketches.  I will post them in the next day or so.

Fall Colours Dahlia Completed

Fall Colours Dahlia, 10 x 14", watercolour

Private Collection

Here it is complete.  It has been delivered and the recipient is very pleased.  Hooray!  I have completed three commissions in the last month.  I will begin a post about another of them tomorrow, showing you the steps from sketchbook to completed painting.

Dahlia painting continues

So here it is, almost finished.  I need to add some definition to a few more of the petals, but overall it is coming along nicely.  I have been busy with things other than painting lately, mostly working on building a playground (click here to read about the new playground at Digby Elementary School.  This was a MAJOR undertaking for our community.  I am pleased to have been a part of it from the beginning and now also pleased that the playground is built and now I can start to focus on other things again!  Like painting more.)

A Dahlia in Fall Colours

It has been a while since I have posted a work in progress.  This painting is a request by a friend of mine.  I hope that she will enjoy seeing it in it's various stages.  I began with a fairly detailed pencil drawing (no photo of that) and then started with the shadows on the small white petals in the center, working my way out as I went along.

I did not want to get into too much detail before I had the background in, so that went on soon.

I realized that some of the earliest shadows were a bit light, so I started making them darker as you can see in the lower left corner. 

As always, I welcome comments.

btw, this painting measures 10 x 14". 

Open Farm Day

Today was Open Farm Day.  And I missed it!  I had scheduled one of my children's birthday party for today and by the time it was over we were all done for.  So we went home and played with new toys (them) and cleaned up (me).  At least I am learning something and we had the party at the bowling alley.  Money well spent to outsource the location.  Much less cleanup, need I say more?

So I missed my chance to visit with local farmers.  At least four farms in the near-by area opened their grounds to the public today, giving us all a chance to meet them and learn more about what it is that they do.  I am lucky, I have met all these people before and know they grow good stuff.  But they always put on a good show for us on Open Farm day with activities for kids, yummy snacks and animals to see and touch.  And the weather was perfect for those who did go.  I will try harder to get there next year...

On an agricultural note, my painting of my family haying has won some recognition,  which is very exciting!

Finalist- Outstanding Watercolor, Bold Brush Painting Competition (August 2010)

While the Sun Shines, 14 x 21", watercolour, 2010

Guess Who?

Guess Who

A Mystery Art Auction

 sponsored in support of the CLASS program

by Sunbury Shores Arts and Nature Center

***

I was once described as a child of Sunbury Shores.  True enough, my family has been intimately involved with the Center since I was a wee one.  I took my first real class there as a young teenager but attended a preschool and a kindergarten there years before that. 

I have certainly benefitted from early exposure to all sorts of artistic pursuits, from the usual crayons and pencils familiar to most children to the less usual pottery, print making and weaving.  I am pleased to support this fundraiser to give other children similar experiences. 

And it looks to be a fun evening.  Click the link above for all the details, but here they are in brief.

Tickets $10

W. O'Neill Arena, St Andrews-by-the Sea

 Oct 2, 2010.

Be there to view the artwork around 5 pm or so. 

(Yes, the website says 7pm but I was told today that they want people there earlier)

Your $10 gets you in the door and a ticket in the draw.

If your ticket is drawn you get the opportunity to choose a painting which you may purchase for $90.

This brings me to

THE ARTWORK

6 x 8" canvasses

creatively adorned by

Celebrity and local artists.

This includes the like of Robert Bateman, Freeman Patterson and of course, me, too!

 

Here is the kicker:

The artwork is signed ON THE BACK!

You have to guess who painted what. 

You'd best hope that your knowledge of Canadian art is up to the task, because

you could end up with a $5000 painting and only have paid $100!

Good Luck!

Hope to see you there.  It should be an entertaining evening!