Autumn Loon

Today's  painting was another loon. This time in an autumn scene. I love the autumn in my neck of the woods. The leaves change, birds are migrating, the air becomes crisp. After the first frost the bugs are pretty much absent. The days get shorter and snow starts making it into everyone's minds. It's a very beautiful time of year. Pumpkin pie, apple crisp, and cider. Yum.

This was a rather large 16x20 stretched canvas. I wanted autumn leaves reflecting in the water of a small lake or pond. Loons tend to be solitary. At least I rarely see groups of them when I'm out canoeing, so I assume they are solitary. Their call is unique and echoe across the lake.

 

Winter Moose

It's far from winter, but a winter scene was the subject for my painting today. I haven't done a moose yet and wanted to experiment... so below is the result. The moose was done is a black/white acylic first; then masked. Fast Flo white base medium. Blend in the sky letting is disappear into the base medium. Background fir trees were put in with a script liner and kept blurred to make them feel distant. The snow is just ultramarine blue brushed into the white base medium. I love birch trees so I have to put some of those in. 😀

The moose looks okay, but not quite as I planned. Animals (when keeping them life like) are a challenge for me. The snow is the final item to add. It's done using a fan brush and very thinned down titanium white. I use a finger to pull the bristles back and let them spring forward to "spray" or fleck the paint in little dots across the canvas. Same thing works for stars in a night sky too. Done on a stretched canvas with the painting wrapping around the frame.

Birch Tree Canopy

This oil painting is a landscape perspective of looking up into a canopy of birch leaves. I did another painting similar to this months ago; but that was autumn leaves as opposed to the brighter green and yellow leaves of springtime. A few sun beams are coming through the dense canopy. I tried to give a sense of depth by painting more clarity to a number foreground trees in contrast to the same trees further away. Some leaves directly overhead are a touch more defined. (Although, I would do this part a bit different the next time around). This is on an 11x14 stretched canvas frame with the painting wrapping around the sides.

Banks of the Black River

I grew up on the Van Amber road in Lewis County. The Black River flows along the road. I played along the banks of that river as a child. Not someplace you'd want to swim, but I did swim in it with my cousins and other family on occasion. My painting below is a scene that depicts that meandering river.

Beach Sunset

I wanted to try some sunset colors and came up with the beach scene below. Just experimenting. The center of the sun is blank canvas. The other sunset colors include cadmium yellow and a mix of cad yellow and cadmium red light.

Misty lake loon

I like to repurpose and reuse things; such as this 25 cent frame I found at a garage sale. It's a deep frame. Almost like a narrow shadow box. The back was busted and not worth trying to salvage. No problem... I cut some foam board to size and spray-glued a section of canvas paper to the board. I had the frame and canvas just sitting around the house for quite a few months waiting for an idea. I pretty much  forgot about it until last week. Then I got my idea. Wilson Bickford is a local artist/teacher around here and I keep an eye on his Facebook page. He posts new painting multiple times a week. He recently did a painting of a loon floating on a lake with a great misty scene behind. His painting of course is better than mine. But it gave me the idea and I went with it.

I first painted the loon in acrylics and masked it to temporarily hide it. I then taped the canvas board to a cardboard mat. I prefer this method over using an easel because I like to spin the painting around to get the angle I want. Just my own preference. I used fast flow white as a base and started on the water first. I let the blue fade away into the distant mist by just letting the brush run out of paint as I went up the painting. I did the same with the sky from top down into the mist. I added the hint of the sun penetrating the mist. Next came the distant trees painting in a dull detail to give the feeling of being lost in the mist. I added the hint of a reflection in the water below the loon. I added a bit of the sun colors in the water since there would be some reflection of that despite the mist. Last part was peeling off the masking tape from the loon. I added a clear glaze to the loon and colored in his red eye. I didn't need to do anything else with the loon. If some of the acrylic paint came off with the masking, id need to touch that up. In this case I was satisfied and nothing further was needed.

Below is another similar loon painting I did a week later. This one is a larger stretched canvas.