bodner015

From another walk by the river I made the drawing and then bak at the studio I used oil pastel.  First an undercoating of oil pastel, further layers ending with Sennelier oil pastels.

Well, I drew some simple compositions and inked them.    Then I added some oil pastels as undercoating.  And, finished up with further layers of oil pastels and then Sennelier to finish.

Another angle of the train pilons in the Grand River.  Here the ice has flowed beyond the pilots and piled up on the island creating a jagged landscape. Interesting to see the pastels online.  I get to see whether or not the painting works from a different view point.

I am using the oil pastels to get my ideas down quickly.  Mannie and I had gone to river by the house.  The river had opened and was somewhat high.  During our ventures to the Grand River in our area the water either roiled or just rolled along.  The juggernauts that had once been the pilons for the railroad tracks stood sturdily in the river thwarting the ravages of the ice that had crashed into them and piled up on the island just in front. Prior to the crush up on the island the island ice and snow was receding. The underpainting for both oil pastels was done with a variety of oil pastels that are a little harder than the Sennelier oil pastels that I used for final colour.  I am enjoying the pictures done with this medium.  Depending upon how I see this picture in the next week I will or will not add burnt lines. For now, I am leaving the Noodle Pen ink lines you see.  Presently, I don't mind the little flakes of oil pastel that are on the surface o...

These works were featured at the last art show. and sale.  I was questioned about doing this type of work.  Oil pastel works with lines burnt into the illustration board.  My Granddaughters were over to view the pictures and we have come up with a story board in order to create a book.  I have more paintings to do in order to fill in the blanks of the plot.  We shall see what happens. So far the pictures are: Please excuse the light flash in some of the photos.  I took the pictures after I had framed them.

Minnie and I have been busy putting our work into Art Show and Sales all over the county.Here we are at the Orangeville Art Group Annual Art Show and Sale held at the Best Western Plus in Orangeville.  The show had diversity of media and techniques that has improved over the years. Mannie submitted a series of French dyed silk mandalas. I submitted my Ridge Rabbit and Gazebo Bunny Series which my granddaughters and I will make into a book. The day went well but artists continue to ask what has happened to the sales.  (Sales were made at this show but not in the numbers one had hoped for.)

I  created an oil pastel (with burnt lines into the illustration board) series for the Orangeville Art Group Show and Sale this weekend : Tales of the Ridge Rabbits and Gazebo Bunnies             In my backyard, beneath the gazebo live the Gazebo Bunnies.   They come out to eat in the garden, on the lawn, and on the deck.   Often I see them hopping about or sunning themselves on the grass.   The babies often hide beneath the garden leaves and have startled me as I work in the garden.   I have felt like Mr. McGregor at times.             Now beyond the cedars that encircle our property live the Ridge Rabbits who come through the trees to sit upon the backyard ridge and look down at the gardens, lawns and pond. Their venturing further into the property awakens the ire of the Gazebo Bunnies who come from their safe home beneath the gazebo to chase the Ridge...

Oil pastel is mixed directly upon the illustration board and then the lines are burnt into the illustration board to get that clean line I like.  The colour mixing is always a challenge as it must be done directly on the illustration board. Here stands a Guardian of the Ridge looking to come down onto the Gazebo Bunny back yard.

Further oil pastel work on the adventures of the Ridge Rabbits and Gazebo Bunnies. The Sultan often comes out and stretches in the sun to peruse his domain. Ridge rabbits who dare to venture forth are often chased and at times jump into the air and fight.  Here the Sultan is resting  --waiting.

The rabbits pop up throughout the garden.  Their pausing is that moment in time not to be repeated.  The young gazebo bunny found time to pause amongst the delphiniums.  Such innocence.

For years I have watched the Ridge Rabbits come down to feed and mix it up with the Gazebo Bunnies.  Sometimes they eat side by side.  other times they chase each other around the yard.  And then there are the times they fight -jumping up into the air and boxing with paw or foot.  there's a story in there somewhere. While walking around the pond something scurried over my foot and under the lilies at the edge of the pond.  I bent down to peer at what ever it was -thinking muskrat, mink  -but not a baby rabbit.  And there it stood, ready to run, frozen for a moment in time. Now this spurred me to put together a series of rabbit oil pastels  -I have a show coming up this weekend (Delphinium Festival).  I needed to have some new work and so I have been busy -and no time to get to the cottage. I used oil pastels and burnt the lines into the illustration board.

This week has been a time of gathering up art work from one venue and putting work into others.  Co-ordinating the changes is interesting -but do it we must.  These are the activities of artists that no one sees.  Our work just appears somewhere and a price affixed.  (We do have to pay for gas to move our work around and to participate in receptions, etc -all busy-ness.) The works in the Grand Valley Public Library will be taken out and a new venue found.   The works and our names will thus keep circulating -and that is a good thing. Mannie has now set up this cabinet in the Grand Valley Public Library for the next two months. Just as we are doing this, we removed works from the Orangeville Mill St. Public Library.    Now we are off to put a display of our work into the Main St. window space in Grand Valley.  Busy-ness, Busy-ness, Busy-ness!

While waiting to get some more pastels to finish up some work I found some small canvasses (5" x 7") and thought about doing some of the birds that come to our feeders. So I drew some little fellows and transferred them to the canvases.  These birds sit in the lilac trees just outside our kitchen window. American Gold Finch in winter dress A cheeky Chik-a-dee. A sulky Sparrow. A jaunty Junco. I have joined a birdwatching organization and send in data about birds and their numbers that visit our backyard feeders.  Our property is surrounded by high cedar trees.  When the sun shines on the back deck where all the feeders are the difference in temperature from the deck area compared to outside the property can be 7 degrees celsius.  As well we have 2 nyger seed feeders, 5 regular feeders, an open feeder fro sunflower seeds and 4 suet holders.  Thus, we can get up to 30 sparrow, 20 Juncos etc.  3 pairs of cardinals live in the trees and 6 Blue Jays.  We ev...

I applied some of my oil pastels to the picture of the rabbit under the forsythia bush. A New Picture from the Old -a Fierce Lapin I laid down the base colours with a harder oil pastel that blends well.  I will add the softer oil pastels later. But I have run out of white oil pastel and will need to go out and buy some more before I add the final layers of oil paste finish it.  As well, I like to see the picture up on the website in order to note how work is progressing.  I can see the need for some further shading in some places and greater highlights in others.   I can also see that the lines for my work are becoming simpler and yet portraying that image I want to achieve. Until I get more pastels, I will be doing some more drawings in preparation for painting with the oil pastels.

Sometimes you get those moments of lucidity that defy reason.  I awoke with the need to change one of the awakening picture's picture.  The bird had been giving me fits although the Gold Finch in the forsythia bush was an actual happening  -interestingly so was the new idea. In our yard we have had fights between the Ridge Rabbits and the Gazebo Bunnies (there's a story in there somewhere).  They meet in our yard and often end up jumping into the air and flicking their hind feet at each other -even on the deck where they come to eat the seeds that the birds throw everywhere.  Last spring as the ice began to melt I had gone to add dye onto the ice that would eventually go into the pond when melted.  Across the pond, under the forsythia bush rested one of the Ridge Rabbits.  I noticed him and he noticed me.  He (an assumption) scrunched up a little more and dropped down his head -giving me that fierce rabbit (rabid) look. I did not disturb him. Now ...

Getting down to work seems to be a problem -but I did it today. I picked up one of my drawings for the Awakening Series and began to apply the oil pastel colours. The background had yellow, orange, brown blended.  The pussy-willow stems were red, brown, orange and blue blended.  The Chick-a-dee and pussy willows were orange, white grey, black, blue and red -blended. This oil pastel painting is complete at this stage and is awaiting the pyrographic burning of the image and any touch ups necessary. And this is a closeup of the Chickadee portion of the painting.  I may need to adjust somethings on viewing it here. Tomorrow I burn the image.  Then the Sennelier touches.

Purple crocuses awaken under the lilac trees when the Spring sun shines and warms the backyard.  (I am doing a work from last year's garden.)  I am amazed that they can push up through such covering and add colour to the snow.   In the original piece the background is softer, paler; the tree trunks less black (especially when I used no black anywhere). The starkness of the terrain was a challenge to portray.  I put some colour into the white snow -but the white snow appears so white that it becomes hard to depict with the pastels.  The Sennelier oil pastels are so thick and rich that they impart an actual thickness to the strokes and the picture which I hope will be picked up in the final picture and especially when viewing behind the glass. Speaking of glass -the photograph of the image behind glass is quite different from the image without the glass.  I am not sure how to resolve this.  As the images of the actual painting and the photograph can...

My second process for transferring my image to a surface involves carbon paper.  Finding the carbon paper took me some doing but I found some. 1. As before I do a full scale drawing related to the final image. 2.  I place the carbon paper onto the illustration board surface and place the drawing over the carbon paper. 3.   Trace over the drawing . 4.  Add fixative to cover the carbon tracing to stop it from bleeding into the oil pastel. And now I am ready to paint with my oil pastels. Certainly the carbon process cuts out a step over the other charcoal method.

You know -preparing my drawings and then transferring the images to illustration board or wooden panels is often the most arduous.  And just the time taken...omg!!! Now I have tried transferring my images using two methods. The first involves conte (charcoal) rubbing. 1.  I do a drawing the actual size of the finished piece .   (Often I do a number of thumbnail sketches be fore doing the actual drawing). Here I work out rhythms and the composition in a size actual to the final work. 2.  Rubbing conte over the back of the drawing . 3.   Redrawing onto the illustration board. Going over the lines is a tedious chore but I can make some adjustments to the image. 4.   Now I had to go over the transfer lines   on the illustration board (or wood panel or canvass) as this transfer method creates faded lines.  Again I can make adjustments with the drawing. 5.  I use a fixative to set the lines so the lines are not blurred when I apply the oil paste...