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Another collage on a notecard, featuring a leaf from today’s walk in the woods at Presqu’ile Provincial Park.

Hello again

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Uh oh… I have let a couple of weeks slip by. During that time I have moved out of the little cabin studio, where it was getting too cool, and set up in the other guest room in the basement of my folks’ house. And now I will try to climb back up the slippery slope!

Today I found a pretty little maple leaf, so I stuck it on a note card with some watercolour and gold leaf.

Last But Not Least

Venetian Pear 14 in progress, 48 x 48”

Venetian Pear 14 in progress, 48 x 48”

Today I worked on the finishing touches (top coat, etc.) on Venetian Pear 13 and made a start on the colour glazes on this, the last and biggest one of the current batch.

Work in Progress...

“Venetian Pear 12” in progress

“Venetian Pear 12” in progress

I started adding the colour glazes to this one today.

I am often asked about my method for these pieces. If you’re interested, read on.

Here are the steps involved:

  1. Photo shoot. I manipulate the fabric to make sure the shapes and lines of the shadows are interesting.

  2. Charcoal drawing on the canvas to establish where everything is. This is “fixed” with a coat of mat medium.

  3. “Grisaille” painting in black, white, and grey paint. This is when the image is fully rendered, with careful attention to the values (lights and darks) and edges (hard and soft).

  4. Colour glazes. A glaze is made with just a bit of transparent paint diluted with a glossy medium. The glazes are like veils of colour, applied in many layers. The values from the grisaille show through.

  5. The finishing touches: several layers of a glossy top coat on the surface, and the edges painted with a graphite grey.

CAA Magazine Challenge

“September”: CAA Magazine collage in my art journal

“September”: CAA Magazine collage in my art journal

Are there any other CAA members out there who would like to join in? The challenge is this: when you get your CAA Magazine in the mail, simply tear out any images that grab you for whatever reason and make a collage with them. Today I couldn’t resist my favourite complementary colour combo, orange and blue. And I often end up using another favourite method, cutting the images into strips.

Time for Colour!

“Venetian Pear 10”: acrylic, 20 x 20”

“Venetian Pear 10”: acrylic, 20 x 20”

The time has come to add the colour glazes to all the Venetian Pear grisailles I have been working on. For practice, because it’s been a while, I started with this one, which has a flaw in the canvas. (See all those wrinkles in the middle? Long story.)