Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Korea - Nam Dae Mun Market

acrylic on stretched canvas, 20x24

The markets in Seoul were amazingly vibrant and colourful! This picture was so much fun to paint. Now Chris wants to paint a market scene as well, since it's so full of colour and movement. - Jill

Korean Fishing Boat

acrylic on canvas board, 12x16

After the very detailed horse picture, I really wanted to do something more loose. I did the sea and sky quickly with a pallette knife, then tackled the boat in more detail, but didn't spend too long on it. It was a relief to paint something so much more quickly! - Chris 

Boats in Kelsey Bay

acrylic on canvas, 16x20

The photo from which this was painted was taken in July 2008, when a small fleet of native war canoes visited Sayward on their way from the Queen Charlotte Islands to Victoria. As usual, it was a pretty dull day but the colours on the canoes were brilliant. This was a tough painting to do, for two reasons - the details on the boats were hard, and many were edited out, and I also discovered later that the problems I had applying the paint were because I was painting on the rough side of the canvas! It worked in the end, though, and I'm fairly happy with the result. - Jill

Korean Horseback Acrobats

acrylic on canvas panel, 12x16

In the demonstration Korean village we visited, there were some people doing acrobatics on horseback, and I really liked the colours and movement. This was the most complex painting I've tried so far, and I found myself spending more time on details than I really wanted to, but I like the results. - Chris

Since posting this, I've changed the picture a bit - the left horse looks like it's running around with a nose bag on, so I painted out the post on the house that seems to go through its head.

Korea - Hansanman Bay

acrylic on hardboard, 20x31

A view of the bay from the Hansan Shrine, painted on some hardboard that we had lying around. The surface seems harder to work on. I just loved the colours and the very oriental shape of the tree. - Jill

Korea - Entrance to Hansan Shrine

acrylic on canvas board, 12x16

We loved the bright fall colours in this region. Jill painted a version of this first, but didn't like the result - thank goodness for gesso! I was pretty happy with this version. - Chris

Idaho - on the way to Meridien

acrylic on canvas panel, 12x16

We stopped for lunch on the way to Meridien, and were fascinated by the stream and the brilliant yellow and purple grasses. A few months ago I painted this in watercolour, but I'm happier with the acrylic version. ( The strange diagonal line on the left is due more to camera and lighting than the painting itself.) - Jill

Korean Monks

acrylic on canvas, 16x20

In our Korean trip, we visited a restored traditional village, with people in historical costumes. We suspect that these were real monks visiting the site. I chose this subject because I wanted to try painting the people. - Chris

Utah - Arches National Park 2

acrylic on canvas, 16x20

Arches National Park was amazing - all those colours and shapes. I still think of this one as a work in progress. I might make some changes. - Jill

Utah - Arches National Park 1

acrylic on canvas, 16x20

I used artistic license with this one - the colours weren't like this, but I felt the urge to throw the colour at the canvas and had lots of fun doing it. -Jill

Korean Village

acrylic on canvas board, 12x16

I painted an earlier Korean village scene, but ended up discarding it because I got the proportions all wrong, and the rocks didn't look very real. I felt much better about this one. (We visited our daughter in Korea in Nov 2006, and were astonished at the beautiful colours of the trees and landscape, as well as the interesting architecture.) - Chris

San Antonio - Riverwalk 3

acrylic on canvas panel, 12x16

I just loved the Riverwalk in San Antonio, and this picture really captured it for me. I really enjoyed painting this one. - Jill

San Antonio - Riverwalk 2

acrylic on stretched canvas, 24x30

Another view of the Riverwalk - I'm the person in the red jacket in the picture. I painted some extra people and brighter colours to add interest to the picture. - Jill

San Antonio - Riverwalk 1

acrylic on stretched canvas, 24x30

This is the painting I did at Brian Simons' workshop in Sayward on Oct 23-24, 2010, from a picture we took on our holiday in Nov 2009. - Jill

San Antonio - La Villita

acrylic on stretched canvas, 24x30

After the workshop, Jill and I were eager to try the new techniques we learned. I chose this picture of the La Villita district of San Antonio - I wanted to experiment with the different textures in a cityscape. I had a really hard time getting the bright values bright enough, but at this point the painting was telling me to stop. - Chris

Utah - Zion National Park

acrylic on stretched canvas, 24x30

My first picture, done during Brian Simons' workshop in Sayward Oct 23-24, 2010. This was from a photo we took on our holiday in Nov 2009 - Chris