Tag Archives: river

Lunchtime River

Posted on by
Various Moleskine sketches


I haven't been very productive of late. What with dealing with the various household problems (storm-damage to porch & roof, phone, dryer, stove, air-conditioning, printer/scanner) and summer-time guests, I haven't been painting much. Coupled with my scanner not working for a while (see above), blogging has not been high on my list of things to do. I have been sketching though, mostly at lunchtime, and here are a few quick river views. The weather has been so hot recently, that even these tend to be cut short. It is hard to stay focused when it is 37C in the shade. With humidity, that translates to very hot indeed. Last week
 apparently we hit 47C with "humidex" taken into consideration!


River in March

Posted on by



5.5"X3.5" Mixed media in Moleskine

I haven't been posting much recently. I haven't been painting much either, but I still draw and sketch most  days. I found some old watercolour sketches from the past couple of moths that I never posted, so I will try to put them up over the next few days.

I did this one in March and there was still very little sign of Spring at that time. We have had some massive storms, including one that brought down 800 trees belonging to the City of St Catharines alone, not counting those on private property. It was a city tree that came down on my house, puncturing the roof and breaking the porch as well as taking out 50 ft of fence and part of my shed! That, combined with my dryer belt breaking, my oven going on strike and my phone refusing to work properly for the past couple of weeks, has made my life complicated. Then there is work....
Anyway, I have lots of excuses for not painting, but it doesn't make me feel any better about it.

Posted by Picasa


Youngstown NY

Posted on by
8"X5.5" Pen & Ink
An interesting day. I must have walked through half a dozen climate zones on my lunchtime walk. It went from cool and overcast to gale-force wind to blazing-hot sunshine to storm-laden clouds and back to sirocco-like hot wind again.

I have drawn and painted this scene several times already. That's what happens when there is a strategically placed, comfortable bench by the river on the Niagara Parkway.

By the time I had walked down here I only had about half an hour but I provided entertainment for some passing cyclists and helped them to avoid an extensive detour by pointing out that they were in fact on the right track to get back into Niagara-on-the-Lake. They were ready to go back the way they came, which might have taken them to Niagara Falls, about 10 miles!
Posted by Picasa


Smugglers’Cove 2

Posted on by

5"X7" Acrylic on board

This time looking South-East, more or less toward Niagara Falls.

I based both yesterday's and today's pictures on very low resolution photos from my cell phone. I then cropped them even further so it certainly prevents the inclusion or unnecessary detail. The colours aren't very good either so I am left calling upon memory to keep it real.

I am still not sure that I wouldn't have done better to finish them with oils. I am persevering with the acrylics because I can see the advantages, easy clean up, quick reworking etc. I have a stay-wet palette which helps a lot but I am still not used the the incredibly fast drying time on the canvas and I miss the soft, buttery texture of oils.

Posted by Picasa

Smugglers’ Cove

Posted on by
7"X5" Acrylic on board Smugglers' Cove Boat Club sits on the west (Canadian) bank of the Niagara River about a mile south of Lake Ontario. I am not sure whether there is history to the name, it certainly seems like an ideal spot for some clandestine traffic. The history may not be in the too distant past either. The shore in the background is NY State and there must have been an awful lot of contraband, of one sort or another, passing across this stretch of water over the years.
Posted by Picasa

By the Lake

Posted on by
1

5.5″X3.5″ Watercolour pencil & pen on paper

This is the very corner of where the Niagara River meets the Lake. I am looking northish across Lake Ontario, toward Toronto. I have painted from this little car park at the foot of Turntable Way at least a couple of times before. If I had looked just to my right (East) I would be looking at Fort Niagara. I believe that the turntable in question was where the narrow-gauge railway ended and the trains were turned around to head back to St Catharines, but I am just speculating, I can’t find any information on it.

Posted by Picasa
River 12 Mile Creek