Sunday Sampler (September 20)

Always a pleasurable to share my Sunday with Swinton's to teach a sampler. It was gorgeous out so I am really happy people decided to spend their day learning the basics of painting in Acrylics with me:D

Keep in mind these pieces are done by first time painters first paintings done in under 3 hours. Adequate proof of their talent and my ability to teach.

Ramsay Community Mural Complete!

The summer weather left much to be desired in terms of work days but I managed to finish up the painting when it was nice enough out, no hail, thunder showers or excruciating heat destroying my poor brushes. Here it is take a look!

Its so long, you cant see it all at once or take a single picture of it in its entirety. So I made a quick mock up to give the general impression of the majority of it by patching a bunch of pictures together quickly in Photoshop.

I also got a page featured in the local Ramsay Neighborhood Newsletter on page 13. Its in Black and white and the mural is very colourful but it gives you an idea.

I'd like to take this opportunity to give a shout out and show my gratitude with a special thanks to the following: John Holt for introducing me to Shannon who was my go to person for this project. The Ramsay Community Association for giving me the opportunity to splash paint in my hood. To those volunteers that helped me along the way: Jordan, Greg, Ben, Nolan, Teegan, Becky, Lanny and Cindy. Thank you!

 Above are a few more to help get the idea across if you haven't visited the Ramsay rink to see the completed piece it in person yet.

Filling up - Ramsay Mural

IV on the Ramsay Mural

Its been a lot cooler out, which is really helping with the application of paint. The pigments are covering with fewer layers because it is coming out of the can thicker.

I also brought up a camping chair for the lower bits so I don't have to kneel on the gravel. Unfortunately, it broke within the first hour of using it.

I'm adding pink and purple which is getting me closer to finishing off the pattern in many of the letters.

The remaining white areas will eventually be filled in with blue, a different blue than the background.

My buddy wandered up and reapplied some of the orange he painted to make it less streaky and transparent. It was a super hot day that day and the paint was coming out of the can as thin as ink.

The letters are shaping up. Once they are filled in I will go back and retouch the black outline.

Add more colour to your world

When I'm not teaching my teen camps full time, I sneak in some colour after work and on the week-ends, wether permit tin, on the Ramsay Community rink mural. Got his by some bad storms which really cut down how much I could do this past week but I did have a little help from my friends recently.

My best friend Ben, and niece Teegan, helped me add some orange and magentas while I added some green to the piece.

There is an overall pattern I am following, ROYGBIV and mixing the previous and following colours onto each letter.

One thing I didn't expect that has become apparent as I proceed, is that the pure tones need multiple coats to flatten them out and hide the transparent looking brush strokes. Meaning…… I have many more hours to put in than I anticipated. C'est la vie.

Its nice and quiet when working alone, but much more fun when I have music playing and helping hands. I teach after my day shift tonight but will be back at it tomorrow night and throughout the week-end if anyone out there wants to pop by, message me for details :D

Ramsay Mural - Red handed

Every chance I get after work I get up the hill to put down paint on the Ramsay mural.

I left it a bit too long and it acquired some graffiti, the whole purpose being that this mural would hopefully discourage it altogether, Where it got tagged, I will be painting over it with my signature information.

I started filling in my lightest hue - yellow.

I filled in the many little shapes which has been taking a lot longer than I initially expected and needs multiple coats to cover properly.

The process of filling in the letters gets underway.

On another session I start in on the red.

Some of the letters get a bit more emphasis than others.

I get to the end of the long line of letters and anticipate my next session of paint application.

Acrylic Sampler at Swinton's

Sunday Sampler at Swinton's Art Supply. 

What a lovely way to spend a Sunday.
I wish I got to do this every Sunday.
My kind of church, the "Church of Creativity." 

Here is my quick demo piece for this weeks class.

No experience necessary!!!!
If you have always wanted to try painting, but don't want to drop hundreds getting the supplies before you try them out, Come down to Swinton's for on of their samplers. I will help you get your paint on.

This class is for people who have never painted before or a re beginners who have been hit by the creative bug. Its a great way to try out a new medium and to learn to mix different colours.

We work on fundamentals then everybody gets a bit of time to make their very first acrylic painting that they take home after they are finished.

I love the colours on this piece as it gets blocked in, a little more time and thick application of pigment......

And presto, nice work Lisa!

this mushroop piece was started on a bright yellow underpainting which gave the mushrooms a luminous quality, I'm totally stealing that idea. Even the instructor learns stuff on sampler days.

This participant had a wonderful sense of lighting on this snowy mountain.

Think you might want to try acrylic or oil out with me? go to Swinton's website (here) and look up when the next sampler is scheduled.

Ramsay Community Rink mural

I love my neighborhood, ramsay. I was elated to be awarded the opportunity to do another mural for my community. This time it is along a wall over 100 ft. long near the rink, at the top of the hill. The community decided on my preliminary, had the wall primed and I got to work.

There are a lot of invisible steps when making an outdoor mural. First you have to visit the site and take measurements. Then you have to transfer that data to a suitable design template. 

 Then you have to design it and have it approved, in this case by the Ramsay neighborhood community board.

 After that happens, other parts of the machine need to get going, you need to get money and gather the necessary materials, especially the paint colors.

 I definitely will go over budget on the paint but I'd rather get good outdoor plaint that will last if I am going to put many hours in on this piece.

 I managed to get down most of the lettering free hand, with a bit of planning but no measuring to get them to fit in the length properly.

 Then I begin the elaborate flower of life patterning in each letter.

My initial plan had a much larger circumference but this far more detailed version is due to the garbage can lid I decided to use to construct the pattern.

 It is a challenge to go around the posts so I'll have to create a cardboard shape that can bend and fold around the posts.

 I had a friend pick the paradise blue that will be filled in around the letters.

 My nephew Nolan came to visit and "help" me on the mural.

Stay tuned there is more to come.