I worked on Skylar

I'm trying to get the ice and rocks the way I want them to make a nice flow in the painting. More work is needed.


Pam's website.

Back to the regular paintings.

I've sent my miniature paintings in and will post them later in the spring. For now I am back to working on the larger paintings. Tonight I worked on the owl painting, darkening the forest and whitening the snow. I have just started putting the snow flakes on the owls feathers.

I am going to spend the rest of the evening working on the husky ,Skylar, and the ice painting. I'll leave the husky details until I have the background the way I like it.


Back to my Website.

Adjustment of background on Owl painting.

I worked on the background, again, and fixed some of the trees I didn't like. I didn't like the abstract owl in the background so I changed it to a frozen pond. I'll have to work on that but I don't want the eye to be drawn to there. I will start putting in all the details on the Owl now. That will show me how much I need to finish in the background.

I'm working on my miniatures and will post them sometime in Feb.

Back to normal.

Well, after a few very busy days I'm back to my normal routine and hope to get a lot of painting done. I drew out the two 3 x 4 inch miniatures for the juried exhibition in Ville Marie. One is a float plane and the other is a cat squeezed into a dolls carriage. I started painting the cat miniature tonight but I won't be able to post them until the exhibition is over.

I prepared 4 canvases that are 16 x 20 inches. I think my hunting dog theme will go on one of these. I like this size for the house. Larger canvases need a large wall to display them. I need to decide what will go with the black lab hunting dog. I don't know whether to show a shot grouse in the picture. I've always wanted to paint that way but current standards don't like showing killed animals. I like doing my own thing, so I will probably put the bird in there. Other things are a shotgun, shells, water bottle, hunting vest??, and hunting cap. I want to make it look as if the hunter is looking back at his dog while taking a break.

I am at my limit for paintings and so I will finish the ones that I have already started. Must finish: The husky, The grouse and cat, The owl, and the 2 miniatures. When these are almost finished, my next ones are the hunting dog and then a fox theme. So many things I want to paint; so little time. :)

Worked on two of the paintings today.

I worked a bit on the husky in the painting and adjusted the colour of the sky and ice. There is much more to be done.

I have a deadline for the end of Jan. for 2 miniatures and I will have to start those this week and work all weekend on them. I know that one will be a float plane theme. I don't think I should have two paintings with the same theme so I'm trying to decide on another miniature.

I blocked in the two grouse quickly this evening on my other painting. I wanted to work on my owl as well but ran out of time. I have a busy day tomorrow and might not have time to paint. I know that I can design the two miniatures and my next large painting by Thursday. The next painting will be a black hunting labrador retriever with hunting gear.

Started Grouse and Cat Painting

I got a started on the grouse and cat painting, and I'll name it, "Don't Make A Move!"

I have to put the two grouse on top of the wood pile, but for now I'll work on the landscape.

I blocked in more of the dog shape in the husky painting, and I'll name it, "Sky and Ice." A play on the dog's name Skylar. After blocking it in, I noticed he is a little chubby in my painting and I'll make him thinner tomorrow.

Day off but designed the grouse painting, I think?

I took a day off from painting, but found myself itching to go to my easel and grab a brush. So I put a yellow wash and gel coat on the canvas board for my grouse and cat painting that will be called, "Don't Make A Move". Later on, I was still anxious to get to the easel so I worked on the computer design to draw out. I'm not sure if it is the final draft. I'll sleep on it and work tomorrow afternoon. I'll be glad to get back to painting. I'm becoming addicted to it! LOL

New painting started!

Tonight I started a new painting of Skylar, a husky. I spent 1/2 hour blocking in the major shapes in the painting. The main focus will be the dog and foreground.

I plan to start another painting tomorrow of the grouse, I have to prep the surface first.

I am at the fun stage of the owl painting. This is where I put away the reference photo and use my memory to finish the landscape. Of course, I'll have to refer back to photos when finishing the owl feathers. I'm going to take my time finishing this painting, no rush.

Designing new paintings.

Instead of painting today, I designed 3 new paintings to start.

The first will be a grouse on a woodpile with another animal, possibly a cat, looking at each other.

The second will be a husky sitting on the edge of a frozen lake looking windblown but warm. More abstract than realistic.

The third is a hunting dog theme with gun, ammo, coat, etc. The setting is in the bush.

Check back for updates. I'll start drawing them out.
Of course there is more to do on the owl, but I need a couple of days not looking at him before I check for any last minute mistakes.

Some tree adjustments and coloured pencil work.

I worked for a while on tree adjustments in the owl painting. The reference photos trees didn't look realistic. I wanted to get away from a Photographic look and more of a plein air look. (In other words, on location.) I have a lot more work on the painting to include all the detail.

Now is the time to start a new painting! I don't like being bogged down by little details all the time. I like to switch back and forth from different paintings. Now I have to make a decision on the next one and draw it out.






Last evening I worked on my first coloured pencil drawing of a Siamese cat. I want to practise before using coloured pencil on top of acrylic in a mixed media painting. It takes a bit of getting used to. By the time the cat is finished, I will have enough courage to tackle a painting with them.

Some quick changes.

After a long day out, I made some quick changes to the owl painting.

I noticed that the owl was a little skinny on the waist area and widened the right side. I blocked in where the feathers will be painted and tried to find the best arrangement of branches. I'm not finished deciding on the trees and branches, but I thickend the branches the owl sits on.

Not much painting.

A frig/freezer breakdown and thaw cut into my painting time today. A major cleanup was needed before the repairman arrives.
So, after the cleaning tiring me out, I didn't feel like painting.

The next best thing is planning future paintings. I have decided on two miniature paintings of historical float planes and my next 16 x 20 painting will be either a Grouse or a dog.

I'm trying to finish my first coloured pencil drawing of a cat on watercolor paper. A trial of my new pencils. I still have to try out my french easel I got for xmas. I have a busy week but I hope to give it a whirl soon.

Design inside design.

I worked a bit on the owl painting last night trying to create a design within the original design.

I am trying to have the whole painting mirror the right eye and side of the owl's head. (As shown in the photo.) Once I have the basic design that I am happy with, it should go a little faster.

Can you see the eye of a huge abstract owl just under the branch where he is sitting? The top of it's head would be the curving branches above the owl.

I don't like the top right corner of the painting and will change it.

My first post, Jan.1st 2006.

Welcome everyone to my daily blog site where I plan to show updates on my painting progress.

I work in Acrylics and love to paint fishing and hunting related paintings. As well, I love to paint plein air (outside on location) and paint historical scenes from Northern Ontario.

I am a member of the Ontario Fishing Network and these wonderful people supply me with an endless amount of amazing pictures to use as references in my work. Thanks OFNers!

On to the work now. I'm currently working on an owl painting, 12" x 12" on canvas covered board. The medium is acrylic and I plan to call the piece, "A Light Dusting", because the Barred owl is covered in a light dusting of snow. Here is the original drawing on the board.

The first step and second step are shown next.