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St Joseph's Church

29/8/2013

It was another hot sunny day (31 C). We were on Lock Street in Hamilton and managed to find a little bit of shade across from this church.

I totally messed up the placement of the church on my canvas with the steeple dead centre and too much foreground. The steeple is very complicated and tough to sort out and paint. Especially with the thick paint that I like to use. It was a great learning experience so I consider it a good morning.

I really do need to paint more buildings.

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Whitefish Falls Area

26/8/2013

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Debbie and I spent a week on Manitoulin Island and I drove off the island to the Whitefish Falls area to paint. I love the La Cloche Mountains, the pine trees and the water. Together they make great subject matter for paintings. It is easy to see how members of the Group of Seven were inspired here.

This was the first painting that I did. It is from Willisville Road and I believe the lake is called Strawberry Lake.

The wonderful people at Bay Villa Lodge allowed me to wander their property at the mouth of the Whitefish Falls River. This is a scene from their island which wasn't really an island.

This is a third painting done from an old railway bed just outside Whitefish Falls. It was about an hours drive and a fifteen minute hike. I arrived just in time to catch the last of the colour from the sunrise but I think that it was worth the trip.

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Stelco Take Two

15/8/2013

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I don't often paint the same motif twice but when I got to La Salle marina, to meet friends to paint today, I discovered that the sailboat was turned to show its bow and the bright clear day totally changed the look of the steel company. I also saw it as a chance to correct some composition problems with the first try.

This was also my first time painting on a coloured ground. I like the results and will likely continue to colour my boards before I paint on them.

We are off to Manitoulin Island tomorrow and I think that the coloured boards will be a big help there.

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Stelco (US Steel) 11" X 14" oil on board

12/8/2013

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This painting has a lot of issues but it was fun to paint. I may go in and add some warm darks to the water in the foreground and brighten up the boats a bit. I have to decide whether I want it to become a studio painting or just leave it as an imperfect and loose "Plein Air" painting.

I am enjoying the fact that I only see this plant from the outside now.

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Jack Darling Memorial Park

5/8/2013

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I had a fantastic day painting with members of the "Ontario Plein Air Society" (OPAS) at this lovely but very busy park. There are now three groups of artists that I am painting with so I am getting lots of practice in but it doesn't leave much time for formatting and posting the results. I really need to find my camera charger. Both paintings, as usual, are 11" X 14" oil on hardboard.

This was my first painting of the day. I had to cross a stream to get to the spot were I set up so I didn't think that I would get many visitors. It is amazing how many curious visitors came over to see what I was doing. I am happy with most of this painting. It was a blustery day and I think that I managed to capture a bit of that.

This is my second painting of the day. There was an amazing view of the Toronto Skyline. I was standing on a very public beach to paint this one and I had lots of visitors. I am starting to get used to having people looking over my shoulder while I am painting. Most leave me to my work or make a quick comment but some like to chat. Especially other artists who could never see themselves painting where people could watch and interrupt them. Hmmmmmm.

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St Joseph's Church

Whitefish Falls Area

Stelco Take Two

Stelco (US Steel) 11" X 14" oil on board

Jack Darling Memorial Park

More blog posts by John Christie