3rd Annual Miniature Show at the 337 Sketch Gallery

I am part of the 3rd Annual Miniature Show at the 337 Sketch Gallery in Hamilton. The Show is on from 3rd to 26th October and features two of my plein air miniature paintings. Over 50 local and international artists will be exhibiting in the show. Check it out if you are in the Hamilton area.

Gallery wall featuring watercolour, oil and acrylic miniatures.

Woodbine Beach, Plein Air Study

This is a quick plein air study from Woodbine Beach. I painted this on a rainy day under a gazebo near Woodbine Bathing Station.

Woodbine Beach, 2.5″x3.5″, oil on canvas 2013

“Song of Nature” Group Show at the McKay Art Centre

I am pleased to announce that I am participating in a group show “Song of Nature – The 2nd Exhibition of Paintings of Yaohua Yan Art Studio” at the McKay Art Centre. The show is on from September 11-15 at the McKay Art Centre in Unionville. There will be a meet the artists reception on Saturday, September 14th from 2:00pm – 4:00pm. The exhibition features 65 paintings from 13 artists including our outstanding teacher, master watercolour artist Yaohua Yan. The show includes four of my watercolours and four of my plein air oil miniatures.

Two of my miniature oil paintings.

Tubs & Gee Gage Rugby Field, Plein Air Palette Knife Painting

This is a quick 4x6in plein air palette knife study from Tubs & Gee Gage Rugby Field looking towards Ashbridges Bay Skate Park.

I pass by this area quite often, and been planning to do a painting here for a while, but I have the tendency to gravitate towards water scenes, and so I end up painting by the lake most of the time. This time the changing weather and the dramatic lighting made me stop here…
Here is my effort to capture the brief moments when the evening sunlight found it’s way through the gathering storm clouds.

Leslie Street Spit, Plein Air Palette Knife Painting

This is a 4x6in plein air palette knife painting from Leslie Street Spit (Tommy Thompson Park) a unique urban wilderness minutes from downtown Toronto.
I was fascinated by the color contrast between the dust covered trees, and the bright colors of the Eastern sky. The sun was hitting the scene at a very low angle, and I knew that I had no time to walk around my motif to find the best spot, so I just set up my camp stool right in the middle of the dirt path and jumped right into painting…

DIY Pochade Box

All of my small oils (up to 5″x7″) are painted plein air using my DIY pochade box.
It is a pretty small hand-held box, the palette/mixing area measures 5.75 x 8 in.

I made the sides from Oak, the rest is Baltic Birch ply. I planned to make a brass lid support and a spring loaded panel holder (similar to Open Box M), but after using the box prototype for a while, I fell in love with it’s simplicity and decided to keep it just a box. I use it with either canvas taped on, or small canvas panels/gesso board mounted with four small pieces of sticky-tac. I hold the pochade box with my left hand using my thumb as a lid support.

Pochade Box Top Panel Pochade Box – varnish applied
Pochade Box Ready to Go

Acrylic palette in place and loaded with titanium white, cadmium yellow light, cadmium red light, alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue.

Watercolour Landscape from Imagination

Watercolour studies from Ashbridge’s Bay Park

Convenient setup near Martin Goodman Trail.

A quick color study using arbitrary colors.