Spring walkabouts

Couple of sketches that I did not get to post yet. I have been busy with some studio work, working on some animation related digital work, hopefully I will get to post it when finished.

 Came home from work, and painted this cloud study from my balcony deck. It was windy and clouds were moving fast, so I did too.

 Captain John's restaurant is a well know seafood spot along Toronto Waterfront. She is a former Yugoslav cruise ship now permanently docked. I nearly froze my fingers painting this one, the wind is strong down by the lake.

Painted this in the last hours of daylight. I spent nearly a hour walking around like maniac trying to find something to paint, when I just threw my backpack and said enough is enough. I turned around a painted the first view I could see.

Creemore

My wife and I visited Creemore this weekend, a small village about 100km north of Toronto. The village is surrounded by gentle rolling hills, but it is more know for it's locally produced beer. 

What I liked the best (besides the beer) is that you can see for miles ahead, and it is refreshing to paint that far, hazy, ethereal distance.

 8x10in     "Creemore"     Pastel on Canson

This is my current set-up. A cheap 20$ tripod that is still holding up, a modified "Dakota Deluxe Travel Box" that fits about 230 pastels, detachable masonite board with tripod mounting head on wich I tape my painting paper, and "Best Brella" umbrella. I am really happy with this arrangement.

  

Something that always bugs me is the loss of accurate colour information when photographing my paintings. Often I see my originals and they loose that richness and depth of colour. However, sometimes the photograph actually brings out something better that was not in the original, but that is not the case with the painting bellow.

8x10in     "Lavender Hill"     Pastel on Canson

This one was painted closer to home at Ashbridges bay. Initially I painted more of the forest, but figured I was focusing on too many elements. So I cut the top part off and boiled it down to what this painting was suposed to be about, the reflections.

7x8in    "Water's edge"    Pastel on Canson