Labarrier Park

The sky was overcast but not so dark that you were afraid rain was imminent. Angela picked me up just shortly after 7:30am and we headed to Labarrier Park which is not too far outside of Winnipeg.  As we passed over the perimeter, we spotted a sign saying that the bridge at Labarrier Park was closed so we headed to Pembina Highway and went as far as Provincial Road 247 which was the exit we needed to take to get to the Park.

When we arrived, we were one of only two or three cars there. We headed down to the river and walked along until we came to the little foot bridge which took us back closer to the parking lot again. As we walked along the river, we spotted a small animal swimming. It looked like a young beaver. As I got closer to take a look, he took a dive down so I wasn't able to get a really close look at him. We crossed the foot bridge and took a path that led to a field that had some type of crop just coming up. Behind the field was a row of willows with one larger tree in front. The wooded area behind us provided complete shelter from the wind. We decided on this location and went back for our painting gear.

Today, I decided I was going to take more time with my painting and paint with larger brushes. I chose one of my small carton panels to begin my first painting. I chose to paint the trees way off in the distance with farm buildings. The middle ground was the field just coming up and the foreground was the edge of the field. I very quickly laid down the bands of color I could see; the overcast sky, the more distant green fields and the more near fields where you could see the crop just barely up. Details in the painting were kept to the suggestion of farm buildings and sprouting crops and debris in the foreground.

A second painting was completed in approximately 40 minutes. I looked more to my right where there was a nice row of willow trees following a road and one larger tree in front with some scrubby bushes. For this painting I decided to try and keep it very simple and not get too calligraphic with details. I was relatively pleased with both oil sketches today. Practice certainly seems to help.

I'm still uncertain what to use to haul all my equipment for painting. Today I used a smaller bag for my box but had to carry a small backpack and my tripod separately. This worked alright until I had to carry my equipment plus two small wet paintings back to the car. I will have to think about using my larger backpack again and having a lighter wet painting carrier . Unfortunately, we can't always count on being only steps away from our vehicle.

Our plans are to go out again Thursday or Friday depending on which day is better weather wise. We may also consider taking our bikes out and head to a park with our watercolor paints.

First Painting

Second Painting

Painting at Beaudry Park

We went to a different spot today; Beaudry Park which is just west of Headingley. The weather was perfect. The sky was clear and sunny. The temperatures were quite cool to begin with but gradually warmed while we were out. I picked up Angela for 8:00am and by the time we drove out there, got set up and began painting, it was probably after 9:00am. Angela chose a line of trees along the river to paint and I went for the long grasses against one tree along the riverbank. We were both working with our oil paints.

Angela's painting was quite impressionistic and reminded me of Monet's Poplar paintings. My paintings were less successful. The first one was too busy and overworked. For my second painting, I chose to do the same scene but zoomed in on what I was most interested in. I will need to be more careful about my palette. It included Winsor blue which is way too strong for an outdoor landscape. I also had a lot of trouble getting the right color for the lightest grasses.

There were some lessons from this outing:
Work larger ... my supports seem to small for these outdoor landscapes
Pick your palette carefully ... Winsor blue just doesn't seem right for the outdoor landscape
Don't paint into the sun .... It was very difficult to see the colors as they were going on to the canvas; at the end I started to turn my back on the sun just so I could see what I was putting on
Bring a snack ... We stayed until about 12:30; by that time I was starving!

Sweeping grasses along the River

Reminiscent of Monet's Poplars


 

Marsh Marigolds - here for a short while only

I had one hour to squeeze in some painting before heading off to play ukulele in the afternoon. My choice of subject today was a Marsh Marigold next to our pond in the backyard. These are one of the first flowers to bloom in spring and last only a very short time. It was a somewhat challenging subject as there was lots going on with all the leaves, flowers, rocks and the piece of driftwood lying beside it. This plant is near the base of the waterfall on our hill that flows into the pond. Given I only had an hour, I was relatively pleased with my effort. I think for anyone looking at this painting, it may not be obvious what the subject is. The log in particular isn't all that convincing. What works is the abstract pattern of colors and shapes in this painting.

Tomorrow, my painting partner and I plan to go out but the location has not yet been decided. It's my turn to pick so I may cycle through Assiniboine Forest and check it out as  a location for painting.

Marsh Marigolds

A happier African Violet

I am not all that good with plants. Occasionally I bring home a beautiful, healthy plant thinking that this time I will care for it continually. This African Violet has been sitting in my north facing front window for some time without blooms. When I was doing some tidying up, I decided to move it and an orchid to my south facing kitchen window. Since they are now sitting above my sink, they are receiving regular watering and I have been rewarded with beautiful magenta blooms on the violet and the orchid plant is starting to put out a flower stock.

Today I decided to paint my African Violet. The support I used was a Judson carton which is a card impregnated with resin. The support had a coat of clear acrylic gesso on it which meant I was working with a toned surface. This is painted in oils and includes my first time use of Michael Harding Magenta oil paint. I had some difficulty getting the bright magenta I was looking for. Even though the magenta highlights are not exactly the correct color, the important thing is I achieved the appropriate value balance between the lights and darks of the flowers.

African Violet

Plein-Air Painting in Winnipeg

I became very interested in plein-air painting after attending the Door County Plein-Air Festival in Door County Michigan. On that same trip, I purchased a Judson's painting box and tripod along with some oil paints. Last fall, I took an online plein-air painting course with a friend which was a great way to get introduced to painting plein-air and in oils. Homework was three to four sketches for the duration of the course which forced us to get out and get painting.

This winter, I registered for a plein-air painting course with Marc Hanson. The course is scheduled for this coming July on Madeline Island. I'm feeling the pressure of needing to get lots of plein-air painting practice in before going on this course. The course description said it was for intermediate to advanced plein-air painters and I'm still at the stage where I'm struggling with how to get my pochade box mounted on its tripod. I have also found a second person who is interested in plein-air painting and the really great thing is that she lives close by.

To date, I have gone out twice with my box and paints. The late start is due to the unseasonably cold weather that Winnipeg has received. My first outing was just my backyard. There's comfort in knowing that if you've forgotten something, you can quickly duck back inside to retrieve whatever you're missing. My subject for this painting was the bags of mulch lying near our apple tree. I wanted to take what might seem like a boring subject and see if I could make it interesting. I was particularly interested in the lovely lines of the still bare apple tree with the lights and darks on the branches.

The second outing was with my new plein-air painting partner Angela. We chose to go out last evening to Omand Creek. We had been there before with our sketchbooks so this was our second time to this location. The weather was absolutely perfect. The sun came out just for us and created those long shadows that we artists love. There was no wind to speak of and it was comfortable without a sweater or jacket. We weren't alone;  there were a few people fishing in the creek. After we had been painting for awhile, an older woman stopped and spent a few minutes looking at Angela's painting. Based on the comments she was making, she had obviously done some painting herself. I guess I was just far enough away that she didn't come to look at what I was doing. It was a very successful evening and makes me look forward to going out again. I'm feeling relatively organized as I had spent a great deal of time adjusting an old backpack and making sure I had all the supplies I needed.

We will hopefully be out again early next week ... I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we get some good weather.

All set up and ready to go at Omand Creek

Omand Creek - Too much going on in painting

Above Painting - Detail of (should have focused on just this)

Bags of Mulch in my backyard

Painting based on Watercolor Sketch at BeaverDam Creek