MORNING MIST - MAPLE RIDGE

Finally here is the painting that has taken a few weeks to finish - not that I have been working on it all this time but rather doing a bit here and there. It came out differently from both the study I did earlier and the idea I had in my mind. Still I'm happy with it, especially since in the planning stages, I wanted to keep the foreground details to a minimum so the eye would go the the upper part of the painting. This seemed to work pretty much as expected. The image brings back fond memories of strolling through the area, sketching as I went and enjoying the misty atmosphere of trees and distant mountains. I remember that it was raining occasionally that morning but that only added to the mood and brought out the lush green of the grasses. While looking a bit dark here, this oil (on canvas) is 9"X12".

EVENING LIGHT - BLACKWATER

Another Blackwater painting started some time ago. The sky had bothered me for some time as it didn't quite fit with the landscape in the way that I had hoped so I decided to repaint. Because of the wet and shiny paint, the painting didn't photograph that easily but anyway, here are the results. In actuality, the sky is a bit brighter and the clouds don't have such a strong purplish tint. Still, I am happy with the repaint and have sent it out (along with a few others) to Berkley gallery in Warrenton, VA so if you are in the area, please stop by and take a look. The size is 14" X 18".

I have also added the 'Followers' gadget to my blog so hopefully you'll join and in return, I'll do the same to your blog - thanks.

BLACK KITE AT DAWN

I have just returned back to the studio having been away for a week (I'll blog about this trip later on when I have more studies and paintings finished). In the meantime, I wanted to share this painting that I did some time ago of one of my favorite birds.
The Black Kite (Milvus migrans) is commonly seen in and around Hong Kong and was the first raptor that I drew and painted when I moved there. They nested on the island that I lived on so were always seen hovering and soaring around the breezy hillsides behind my flat. Using a powerful telescope, I was able to get some decent studies of them in my sketchbooks and these were supplemented by more detailed drawings and watercolors that I did at a raptor rehab center. After carefully considering the composition (mostly the way that I wanted to pose the bird and the shape of the rocks) I did the painting above on Arches watercolor paper after a smaller study was completed in my sketchbook. Size is 22" X 15".