8 x 8 Oil Painting

Here's an oil painting I recently did for "The Checkerboard Project" at the Sante Fe Gallery in Owen Sound, Ontario. The inspiration comes from a doorway I took a photograph of in Sainte-Foy-la-Grande while I was in France last year.

Coffee Girl Sketch

Quick sketch of a girl and her coffee. :)

Moleskine Sketches - St Cirq Lapopie, France

Here's a couple sketches of St Cirq Lapopie, a beautiful French village I had a chance to visit a few months ago. I'd love to go back there some day. It's definitely an inspiring place to wander around.

Not-so-Monthly Maps II

Well, I think my idea of having a monthly post about maps was well intentioned, but isn't something I'm going to be able to continue, at least on a consistent monthly basis. I've discovered that I've been spending way too much time working on maps, and I've completely neglected to do other art. I love making maps, but right now I don't have the time needed for them and my other existing art projects.

That being said, here are a few maps from a little while ago. They're all a bit different from each other stylistically, and I'm not entirely sure what I think about them yet. I was trying to experiment a bit with how I draw in order to figure out what I like and what I think works for me.

The first map was entirely an excuse to try drawing trees in a different way than I normally approach them. I think I like the effect but I won't know for sure until I explore that route a little more in some bigger maps. 

The only thing about the second map that's different than the way I usually draw dungeon maps is the trees just outside the cave. I think I need to come up with some better trees :P 

The purpose of the third map was to come up with a way of drawing waterfalls. I like the way that one worked out.

The last map was really fun to make, but I'm not sure how successful it is in conveying that it's a multi tiered city. I haven't figured out a good way of showing elevations in maps that are so small and so dense. It's also a bit hard to see some of the tunnels, and to make out what's going on without having to stare at the image for a bit. I'm sure drawing bigger would definitely help with some of that.

Monthly Maps I

I've decided that since I like drawing maps so much, I'm going to try to do a monthly post about some of my maps. 

Here's a couple maps of some coastal areas that I drew not too long ago. They are both drawn in a moleskin sketchbook using micron pens sizes 005 and 01. 

A Few More Octopuses

Here's a couple more.

Quick Octopus Sketches

Here's a couple octopus sketches that I did for http://weeklysketchart.blogspot.ca/

Goldfish Painting

Lately I've been experimenting a bit with watercolor and oil painting. I've been doing a few small quick pieces, mostly to try out different materials or techniques. Here's one of them, a watercolor painting of a goldfish.

Painting in progress, plus the art supplies I used. 

Goldfish done!

Distillery District Sketches IV - Sketch Dump

Here are some more sketches that I've been doing in the Distillery District of Toronto, Canada. The area used to be an old whisky distillery, and at one point it was the largest in the world. It is one of Canada's few pedestrian only historical districts, and according to wikipedia it "is the largest collection of Victorian-era industrial architecture in North America." If you ever find yourself in Toronto, this is definitely an area that you should check out.

Distillery District Sketches III - Trinity Street

And another sketch of some buildings on Trinity Street, in the Distillery District of Toronto, Ontario.

Distillery District Sketches II - Trinity Street

Here's another sketch of some buildings on Trinity Street that I did this morning. There's a lot of beautiful architecture on this street.

Distillery District Sketches I - Trinity Street

Here's a sketch I did the other day of some buildings on Trinity Street in the Distillery District in Toronto. If you're ever in Toronto, it's a cool part of the city that is definitely worth visiting.

Watercolor Workshop with Lin Souliere

This past weekend I had the privilege of being able to participate in a 3 day plein air watercolor workshop with Lin Souliere. She's an amazing Canadian artist, and a member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour, so I knew I was in for a real treat! She also happens to be my mother-in-law, and I've been wanting to participate in one of her workshops for years! :D
 
On the first day we all went for a hike on the Bruce Trail just outside of Lion's Head to find our painting spot. This is one of my favorite trails on the Bruce Peninsula, everywhere you look is absolutely beautiful and inspiring! Having never done plein air painting before, I wasn't quite sure where to start and what to paint. Fortunately Lin did a lesson and talked us through how to approach finding an interesting subject matter without getting completely overwhelmed by our surroundings. Our main focus for the day was to get comfortable and confident while sketching in the forest, and to start introducing watercolor to our sketches.

I mostly did some very small pen/marker/pencil drawings at first, and then started to introduce a bit of watercolor. I also ended up focusing primarily on closeups of plants since I didn't think I'd have time to complete any large landscape sketches/paintings. In the end, the day was a perfect warmup for the next 2 days of the weekend.

A couple of plant sketches.

On the second day we went to Tobermory, and Lin started things off with a watercolor demo. She painted the light house just off of Big Tub Harbour, and made it look quick and effortless! After that, we all set up our equipment and spent the rest of the day painting the gorgeous landscape around us.

Lin doing a demo and making it look easy!

Here are a couple of the paintings I did while in Tobermory:

Paintings of Big Tub Harbor, Tobermory, ON.

And a picture of my painting supplies:

On the third day of the workshop, we all went to Barrow Bay and painted the old general store. I discovered that I'm pretty slow at painting with watercolors, so I didn't get a chance to finish either of the paintings that I started. I'm happy with them as works in progress though! Even though I did take reference photos, I don't think I'll go back to either painting and I'll be leaving them as-is.

The old general store in Barrow Bay, ON.

Close up painting of peeling paint on old door.

For more info on Lin Souliere, check out these links:
http://www.dragonflyridge.ca/the-art-of-lin-souliere.html
http://www.dragonflyridge.ca/workshops.html

For info on the Bruce Trail, look here:
http://brucetrail.org/

Nigiri Dynamite, the lovely Mon Calamari Scout

This is a small oil painting I just finished as a thank you gift for a friend. It is of her Star Wars tabletop RPG character, Nigiri Dynamite! During the campaign, her character went out of her way to collect luxurious silks when not blasting Imperial Stormtroopers (mostly in an attempt to gain Admiral Ackbar's attention...)

 

 

The final drawing in my sketchbook...

...and it transferred to the 6 x 8 canvas.

 

The colour comp I did in Photoshop. 

In progress...

 

 

My painting setup with my awesome new Italian easel!

 

The final painting! Not the best quality pic, was only taken on my phone... will try to get a better photograph once it's framed! :)

More Maps!

Here's a few more maps from my little dungeon map sketchbook.