First painting back to the west coast

It sure is different to come home. When I left for NY, Vancouver was in full spring, everything was green but not quite . When I came back it felt like summer. Everything looked different, new shapes, new shadows, new colours...

North Shore in May - oil on panel - 9" x 12"

Paintings from New York State

I was away for 3 weeks in NY visiting family. I managed to squeeze out a dozen paintings. I could have done more, but we made an impromptu trip to New York city and I had to ship the paints back home a few days early as I didn't want to risk bring them with me on the plane.

Here are some of them:



First painting I did there.

Village of Penn Yan - oil on panel - 6" x 8"

My brother-in-law drove me around the area and we found inspiration at this cemetery.

A resting place - oil on panel - 6" x 8"

A Mennonite woman came by with her children as I was working. When I finished the painting I crossed the road to show it to her husband as it's their vineyard. They all enjoyed looking at the painting, though they didn't own a camera to take a picture of it.

A Mennonite vineyard - oil on panel - 9" x 12"

After the storm on Keuka Lake - oil on panel - 12" x 9"

I was only able to complete only about 50% of it on location. I was high on a hill, so the sun set behind me earlier than I expected. I finished the rest at where I stayed from looking at the screen on my digital camera.

Bluff afternoon - oil on panel - 9" x 12"

Outlet creek - oil on panel - 9" x 12"

Windy day at Indian Pine park - oil on panel - 6" x 8"

This is a very special painting to me. It was done on the property of our friends Pete and Elaine. I have visited their farm for many years, and enjoyed tremendously each visit. This time I finally had the chance to make a painting there, only wish there was more time for me to do more.

Carlie and Katie - oil on panel - 9" x 12"

During my 3 weeks there, the leaves were just starting to bud. Hills of red buds appear purple in the distance. I tried to capture that in several paintings.

Willem Bastiaan Tholen

I have just learned about Willem Bastiaan Tholen (1860 - 1931) from Holland.
I am a sucker for naturalistic paintings. These paintings of his are special to me:


This is such a everyday encounter one would have at a near by park.

Willem Bastiaan Tholen

A painting of a back yard with dirt floor with a bold design.

Willem Bastiaan Tholen

A painting that required masterful restraint. 

Willem Bastiaan Tholen

Top of pines

Top of pines - oil on panel - 8" x 6"

Blogging will resume after some break.

More trees!

More paintings of trees! I used to look at paintings of the woods and wonder how they were done, so much detail in real life, how it was simplified and organized... I am slowly learning.

The figures really suggested scale in the photo. I wish I could do that in my paintings, but at the moment I am not confident at adding figures to my work as I believe a weak figure will weaken the entire painting.

Two crows - oil on panel - 12" x 9"

Nature's tally - oil on panel - 12" x 9"

 I was sitting on the side of the trail as I painted the above painting, many people would walk pass and look to the direction I was looking at, to see what glorious view I was painting, but no one slowed down and I supposed it's because they didn't see anything interesting.

Painting really opens my eyes, it helps me see beauty everywhere, more than ever. This is the view the hikers would see at 4 km per hour.

Here is my trick for sitting on soft ground, in order for the chair legs to not sink in the dirt I fold a garbage bags a few times and put it under the legs.

New phase

I am going through this phase where I love to paint trees, especially pine trees. They usually come in large numbers, show off depth well and easier to paint than a deciduous tree with 500 irregular branches. It's usually dark in the woods too which I like; it gives me an illumination level that's unique with an overall green brownish colour cast.

Central Park walkway - oil on panel - 9" x 12"

Pine woods at Central park - oil on panel - 12" x 9"

Heather took these nice pictures of me. The pictures seem bright but it was actually quite dark. In the second picture you can see the book light that I used to brighten my painting surface.

Heather says the cherry trees here look like cotton candies, I guess the clouds too? I drove around in pouring rain and finally decided on this spot, and the rain stopped and the sky cleared.

Candy land - oil on panel - 9" x 12"

This one was at Jericho beach. Both Heather and I feel like we have seen this painting somewhere before, but neither of us can remember.

Corridor - oil on panel - 12" x 9"

Having had done so many paintings at Penzance beach, I am starting to try to squeeze the last juice out of it. Whenever I get to a new place I go for the low hanging fruit, the obvious nice views. After several paintings, it gets harder and harder to find a different subject, though the decision making process is always based on the arrangements of shapes.

Rocks on Penzance beach - oil on panel - 9" x 12"