Day 5

Apex Downhill

12 x 12

Acrylic on Doorskin

Another winter scene for a very snowy January.

Day 4

Nickleplate Vista

12 x 12

Acrylic on Doorskin

Paused for a pic during my skate ski yesterday and couldn't wait to paint this scene today!

Strange little birds

Day 5 Chukar

6 x 6

acrylic on canvas

One of our Christmas activities this year was birding with the family and on our first day out after fruitless searches for anything with wings we finally hit the jackpot, a large family of Chukars.  These very strange looking and very shy birds were foraging in the fields below the cliffs at Vaseaux Lake and kindly gave us a few poses before scurrying off.  

The Ranch

Day 3 Winter Horses

6 x 6

acrylic on canvas

On my way up the mountain yesterday I passed herds of cattle out in the snow feeding on hay bales and coming up to the ranch I managed to get a quick shot of the horses out having their lunch as well.  I can see this 30 day challenge is going to require some organizational skills and time management.  I'm getting a little more behind each day and still find far too much time is wasted fiddling with details and taking and correcting bad photos.  This is all good though as I should most certainly improve in those areas if nothing else! 

Photographing really the challenge?

Day 2 Winter

6 x 6

acrylic on canvas

So this sketch was a joy to do - felt free and fun and although from a photo it has I think it successfully portrays my feelings of a gorgeous sunny day high in the alpines.  A day like I had today up Nickleplate with my skate skiis on.

The problem was trying to photograph the painting outside with the pesky wind blowing it away whilst my camera was talking back to me.  Image too dark! Oh, forgot to remove the lense cap.  Red dot flashing and REC as well.  Had to go inside and dig out my manual.  Hmm - seems I was trying to take a video...I used to be pretty good with technology but I struggle to get the exposure and the white balance right.  Details aside I'm happy with the design and composition.

Winter Snowshoe

Okanagan Park 

24 x 24

Acrylic on oak doorskin

Take what might be an otherwise drab winter day and turn it into something!  Snowshoeing, wieners roasted over a fire, a little shot of a warming liqueur and some ideas for a painting.

Winter Playground

Nickelplate series in progress

24 x 24

acrylic on doorskin

A new year and some changes!  Here is the first of some some acrylic paintings done on doorskin, a thin veneer of wood meant for building doors but giving a nice natural wood grain texture perfect for my woodsy series of winter paintings.  The acrylic is a medium I painted in many years ago and I find less of an issue when painting in confined spaces as the oil even though I use very little solvent still bothers my nose!  We spend many winter days skate skiing and snowshoeing up in the Nickelplate area above the Okanagan Valley and am so happy to finally start painting some of the gorgeous scenery.