The Art of Richard De Wolfe

12 Day Carnival Mediterranean Cruise

2012-01-17T19:16:00.000-08:00

It was quite a shock to witness the sinking of the Costa Concordia cruise ship off of the west coast of Italy at Giglio Island on Friday, January 13th, 2012. It makes me think that 'but for the Grace of God, there go I'. Just three months ago, my wife and I had the trip of a lifetime on Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Magic, that took us on a 12 day trip, primarily centered around Italy. At that time we were also visitors to the port of Civitavecchia, where the Costa Concordia had departed before it's sudden demise at Giglio Island.

Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images

Fortunately, our cruise left us with nothing but fond memories and high respect for the level of professionalism of the staff and crew aboard ship. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of the passengers of the stricken Costa Concordia, who are still missing, together with the families that are awaiting their safe return.

Jones's Creek

2012-01-16T16:11:00.000-08:00

I painted this little picture about a week ago. I worked from photos that I took several years ago while driving around the countryside north east of Kingston Ontario. The location is a place called Jones's Falls. I liked the look of the winding river as it flows through the granite outcroppings of the Canadian Shield. The trees in the middle and foreground frame the animated water flowing toward the viewer, while the distant blue trees in the background give the painting a sense of depth.

I don't know what kind of flowers grow in the marsh along the river, but they make a wonderful counterpoint to the deep green of the trees that make up a large portion of the picture. The whole thing makes me long for summer, which is still about six months away!

This painting measures just 8 inches high by 10 inches wide. It is painted on a canvas panel support using alkyd oil, my medium of choice. You can find the painting for sale at www.dailypaintworks .com or www.rdewolfe.com, along with a wide selection of other paintings I have created.

The Art of Richard De Wolfe: Sailing

2012-01-05T03:36:00.000-08:00

The Art of Richard De Wolfe: Sailing: Sailing It is early January in Canada. This winter has been the warmest I have ever experienced here. We still have no snow and the groun...

Sailing

2012-01-05T03:35:00.000-08:00

Sailing

It is early January in Canada. This winter has been the warmest I have ever experienced here. We still have no snow and the ground has only just become frozen. The last two days were very cold and it has quickly reminded me how much I miss warm summer weather and boating. It would be nice to just sail away to a tropical island.....

This small sailboat is actually one that I viewed from the upper decks of a cruise ship as we slowly entered the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy in October. The painting is just 6 inches by 8 inches, painted in oil on a canvas panel. I am offering it by auction at dailypaintworks.com.

I Saw the Light

2012-01-04T08:02:00.000-08:00

I Saw the Light

Here it is, Day 2 and I have another small painting to post! This one also measures 5 inches high by 7 inches wide. It is painted in oil on canvas panel. Painting at this size is not as easy as it may look. You have to be spontaneous but accurate with your brush stokes on a support that is not much larger than your hand. I am having fun though!

This painting is for sale by auction at Daily Paintworks.com. If you would like to bid click here.

I love to paint pictures with water in them. This spot is near my former home just south of Lake Simcoe, Ontario, Canada. The sky was rather tepid so I decided to create some drama by painting a defined cloud base with a strong sunrise over the horizon. I was pleased with the result.....did it work for you? Post your comments, I would love to hear from you!

North Shore

2012-01-03T08:51:00.000-08:00

North Shore

This little painting represents a new direction for me. It is very small, measuring 5 inches high by 7 inches wide. I have become interested in the 'Daily Painting' movement that promotes painting a picture every day (or as close to that goal as possible). It sounds rather daunting to me! In the coming days I will post more of these small paintings as I create them, along with a few older pieces that fit the genre reasonably well. You will find these paintings for sale at Daily Paint Works. I hope to add a new one every day or so and I hope you will check them out there and return often. Please don't be shy, leave me a comment on what you think of this little painting and whether you think small daily paintings are a good idea.

A Day in Rome

2011-12-28T10:19:00.000-08:00

We visited Rome for one busy day. After a long drive from the port of Civitavecchia, our tour bus became lost in Rome. It turned out that the driver had never been to Rome before! It is a very busy city with a lot of traffic congestion. The old walled city within takes you back in time from the moment you enter the gates.

The statues and building facades are all very beautiful. This is part of the dramatic equestrian art that embellishes the Trevi Fountain.

The Pantheon was a beautiful, domed building with massive columns adorning the entrance. It is filled with art and artifacts of the early church. Raphael's tomb is within.

This delicately carved pair of doves hang suspended over the tomb of the artist Raphael.

We did not stop at the Coliseum but only saw it from the tour bus as we worked our way past it in afternoon traffic. We had to hurry, we were on our way to Vatican City and St. Peter's Basilica!

Milan, Italy

2011-12-27T10:28:00.000-08:00

Milan was the next stop on our cruise. This is another beautiful European city filled with historic monuments and buildings. Art is everywhere!

Medieval sculptures and ornamentations are the order of the day in the old parts of the city.

I found the contrast between old and modern technology to be very interesting.

The French Riviera

2011-11-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

It was more than a month ago that I promised to post to my blog during our 12 day cruise of the Mediterranean. Obviously, that did not happen! We were so busy touring in each port that I did not get a chance to do much else. This cruise was fabulous but exhausting!

I expected to see many statues and monuments 'decorated' like this ediface over a doorway, but surprisingly, this was one of the few. Aix en Provence was a very clean town on the French Riviera.

The old part of the town was filled with delightful inner courtyards such as this one, which is now part of the university that is located there.

This fountain was a beautiful spot in the center of the old town, and students seem to congregate there, to enjoy the sun, to read and to socialize. Aix en Provence was one of my favourite places on the cruise, offering many wonderful subjects to photograph and to paint. This is the town where the painter Paul Cezanne lived. We ate lunch in the cafe where he often spent his afternoons.

Mediterranean Cruise

2011-09-25T01:53:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Barcelona early yesterday morning to begin a twelve day Mediterranean cruise. From here we will travel to Marseilles, France, Savona, Rome and Naples, Italy, Dubrovnik, Croatia, Venice, Italy, Messina, Sicily and then back to Barcelona! There should be much inspiration for painting along the way!

The picture above shows the Mirador de Colom, a monument to Christopher Columbus, in Barcelona, near our hotel.

Columns from the Temple of Augustus, preserved in Barcelona, inside a building.

I will post a few photos from the ports we visit over the course of the next two weeks. This is my first visit to Europe and I am sure I will be filled with artistic inspiration all along the way. There will be a great deal of art to admire and much architecture to see. I will keep you posted.

Tropical Rain Forest Toucan - Step Four

2011-09-13T06:28:00.000-07:00

I continue to add basic detail to the foliage behind the toucan. Each plant has it's own shades of green. The leaf structure and veins within them also vary from plant to plant. In the background I paint subtle whisps of vines to suggest greater depth in the picture.

I continue to paint layers of detail into the leaves until they seem to be strong enough to stand out without overpowering the toucan in the foreground. The last thing required is to intensify some of the colours in the toucan, mango, butterfly and tree frog. The picture is complete when I ad strong white highlights here and there. I save the greatest colour contrast and largest white highlight for the toucan and it's bill, so that it will dominate the picture, both in size and strength.

Tropical Rain Forest Toucan - Step Three

2011-08-31T07:35:00.000-07:00

Now I paint stronger, more vivid colours into the beak and eye patch of the toucan. Lighter green is back painted into the background to suggest light filtering through the foliage. This gives another layer of depth to the scene.

Next, I wash in thin layers of acrylic paint over the mango in the toucan's beak. I am starting to suggest the grainy surface of the skin and the subtle changes in colour from red to lime green to golden yellow. The complex pattern of the butterfly is laid in with flat colour before I begin modelling the leafy foliage and flowers in the middle ground. The tree frog requires careful attention in order to keep it from becoming lost against the green frond on which it sits.

Tropical Rain Forest Toucan - Step Two

2011-08-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

To suggest thick rainforest vegetation, I paint the background with a solid application of very dark green acrylic paint. All of the foreground and middle ground objects are now wisible in stark relief. The dark green will make the brighter colours pop out.

I start to add colour to the Toucan. There is a subtle pattern in the heavy bill and I wash this in with a mixture of red and burnt sienna. A bit of blue establishes the local colour around the eye. A very light, warm wash of acrylic gives the white 'bib' on the bird's throat some form.

Tropical Rain Forest Toucan - Step One

2011-08-19T14:58:00.000-07:00

This is an illustration that I created primarily for art licensing. I started by working out a pencil drawing using various pieces of reference material from my scrap file. Once the drawing was worked out to my satisfaction, I transferred it to illustration board.

I then used a kneaded eraser to remove most of the pencil from the illustration board, leaving only faint lines to guide me. Next, I painted in the black areas using acrylic paint.

Holly Hocks

2011-07-31T13:43:00.000-07:00

My wife and I used to own a farm on Lake Simcoe, in Ontario, Canada. For many years, this was the view from my art studio. The north window faced this barn wall and pasture, where I planted holly hocks, which we enjoyed every summer.

I enjoy looking at paintings that I have done in the past, that show places and things that may no longer exist as they once were. It brings back fond memories in a way that only a painting can. Not only does it record the way it looked, but also the way it made me feel.

This painting measures 16 inches high by 20 inches wide. Friends of ours purchased it at one of my art shows a few years ago and they seem to enjoy it too. Prints are available here.

The Stone Arch

2011-07-28T19:00:00.001-07:00

I grew up on the banks of the St. Lawrence River, in the Thousand Islands region of Ontario. One of the places that I loved to explore in those days was Boldt's Castle, near Alexandria Bay, New York. It is located on an island just off the main shipping channel of the river.

The stone arch that I have painted here was to be the formal entrance to the castle for launches delivering guests from larger yachts anchored in deep water. A drawbridge within the opening was to provide a prominade on the embankment of the Swan Pond. Alas, tragedy struck and Mrs. Boldt passed away. Her husband, Geroge Boldt, was grief stricken and all work on the castle ceased and the entire project was never completed.

This painting measures 9.5 inches high by 13.5 inches wide. It is painted in alkyd on stretched canvas. Prints are available at Richard De Wolfe Fine Art.

Traditional Figure Painting

2011-07-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

Here is something I came across on Robert Genn's Twice Weekly Newsletter. It was inspiring to me to learn of an artist who is determined to maintain tried and true, traditional methods of figure painting. Jacob Collins is a New York artist and art teacher. His self-proclaimed goal is to be "an old-fashioned painter". Jacob works from life, be it nudes, still life or figures, in his dark but strategically lit studio. He carefully draws his subjects by the time honoured method of draw, correct, refine, until he has captured the nature and character of his model. Some may liken Jacob to a modern-day Rembrandt who stands out in contrast to many of the current avant-garde artists who surround us. The following video attests to the skills of a modern-day master. Enjoy!

Metropolitan Museum of Art

2011-07-07T14:41:00.000-07:00

It is sad that so few people take the time to visit an art gallery when they travel. Whether it is a private, personal gallery of one artist's works, or a large collective institution, art galleries hold a wealth of beauty and culture. When I travel, one of the first things I look for is the art that may be available there. I do this for several reasons. One is to see what other artists are doing or have done in the past. Another is to learn some viewpoint or technique that I might apply to my own creative process. The most important, though, is to revel in the beauty and creativity that art reveals to me.

I have visited New York City several times, but have not had the time or opportunity to visit one of the greatest art museums in the world, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I am determined to rectify this just as soon as I can return to New York City once more.

Did you know that 'The Met' contains the most comprehensive collection of American art in the world? It also has the largest collection of Degas works in the world. In fact, the museum holds the most impressive collection of Impressionism and Post Impressionist art in North America. Finally, it is a truly global collection of art, the most impressive collection in the western world.

Here is an episode of Great Museums Television that will give you an insight into what a marvel this museum really is.

A Love Affair With Art

2011-06-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

Have you ever found yourself 'falling in love' with a piece of art? It turns out that you are not alone. Professor Semir Zeki of the University College of London, England, has demonstrated that artwork stimulates the same areas of the brain that are involved when we fall in love.

Maybe this is why so many artists continue to draw, paint, sculpt, etc., even if the returns are less than a living wage. I believe most artists can never turn away from the creative path and be happy in life. It is comforting to know that many viewers and collectors may be equally moved as a result of artistic endeavours around them.

In our fast paced world of instant gratification and endless technological wonders, it sometimes seems like art is being cast off and ignored. Why create by hand images and objects that a machine or computer can reproduce almost instantly? Consider this. Maybe we still need and crave the human touch.......the touch of love.

Freighter Inviken-Step 6

2011-06-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

The final phase of the painting is a matter of going back and refining areas as needed. The clouds are softened a little and white highlights are added to indicated the direction of the sunlight filtering through them. The trees and bridge are painted in and if you look close, you will see a tiny tractor-trailer truck at mid-span. Small details are added over the superstructure of the ship and the hull is embellished to make it look powerful. I add layers of colour over the small waves and reflect the sunlight with an impressionistic application of white highlights.

The last thing I do is add my signature to the lower right hand corner. This last image is a professional scan of the finished painting and is a better representation of the true colours in the painting. As I work, I take digital photos on my easel where the light is not as balanced as it should be, so the initial images can be less acurate.

I wanted to create a painting that suggests power and industry, while at the same time indicating the power and majesty of the natural world. When I finished, I was pleased with this result. The painting measures 16 inches high by 20 inches wide, painted on stretched canvas. If you are interested in purchasing this original work of art or a fine art print on archival paper or canvas, please visit my website at www.richarddewolfe.com.

Freighter Inviken-Step 5

2011-06-14T11:15:00.000-07:00

It is finally time to start blocking in the ship itself. This is a complex shape with many small details. I take my time, painting in sections simply and as clearly as I can. The mass of the hull is mostly black with only slight suggestions of form and contour at the rear and away from the sunlight. On the right side of the ship, where the light is strong, I try to suggest heavy steel plates that are streaked with rust.

The superstructure of the freighter is much more complicated and each area requires careful consideration. I keep the surfaces that are away from the sunlight cool and subdued and begin playing up the surfaces that face the sun. This creates the center of interest in the painting. Everything is now more or less in place and working together.

Freighter Inviken-Step 4

2011-06-09T04:28:00.000-07:00

I begin blocking in the clouds now. I start with the darks, establishing the weight and mass of the cumulus formations. When I placed the general cloud masses in the sky, I drew them in perspective, going from large shapes in the foreground above the ship and progressively getting smaller as you look further back and down towards the distant horizon.

Now I begin refining the darks in the clouds and adding mid tones to soften and mold these areas. I work progressively lighter, leaving the brightest highlights until last. Now I have established the general look of the sky, with only the ship itself to be blocked in. The overall look of the painting is beginning to make me want to get back out on the water myself!

Freighter Inviken-Step 3

2011-05-31T18:54:00.000-07:00

I continue to build simple colours in the water, the headlands and the bridge that is back near the horizon. Already the ship seems to be sitting on the surface of the water and moving towards the bridge.

I add more detail to the trees and then spend more time building subtle colour shifts in the surface of the water. Each wave is a separate surface. Each of these surfaces is concave in shape, so light is reflecting off of them in a multitude of angles and intensities. Everything is in continuous motion, so I find the best way to paint water is to recreate the impression it gives you rather than trying to sort out specific details. I work over this surface a number of times, occasionally adding a thin glaze with one colour to unify everything if it gets too busy.

Freighter Inviken-Step 2

2011-05-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

Now I create a tonal image on the canvas, using progressively darker mixtures of my ground colour. This gives me a feel for the tonal balance in the painting. In other words, I can assess where the lights and darks will fall and what sort of positive/negative design this will create in the finished work.

Now it is time to switch from acrylic paint to alkyd. I usually block in the sky first, working from dark to light and distance to forground throughout the painting. I have painted the sky a darker shade towards the zenith and becoming progressively lighter towards the horizon. I also keep the sky lighter on the side towards the light of the sun and darker on the opposite side. As you can see by the light side of the ship, the sunlight will be on the right side of the painting. I avoid getting to fussy or detailed at this stage.

Freighter Inviken

2011-05-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

It is the beginning of boating season here in the Thousand Islands area on the St. Lawrence River. I love the water and boating, and soon I will be launching my own craft once again. The St. Lawrence Seaway has been open to shipping for several months now and will remain open until late autumn, alllowing ships from all over the world to reach ports all around the Great Lakes, deep in the interior of Canada and the United States .

This is a freighter from Europe that I saw several years ago as it was approaching the Thousand Island Bridge, between the U.S. mianland and Wellesley Island, N.Y. I loved the powerful mass of the ship, rising off of the water like some displaced, highrise architecture. I found the persepective leading to the arch span of the bridge in the distance to be an interesting design that appealed to me. The rolling clouds overhead seemed to enforce the energy and power of the massive ship churning upstream to Toronto, Detroit and perhaps many ports beyond.

Once I had worked out the composition to my satisfaction, I transferred the drawing to a 16" X 20" stretched canvas. The next step was to spray the drawing with fixative to prevent smearing when I started to paint.

After fixing the canvas, I applied a mixture of matt medium, burnt umber and cadmium red, to create a warm, earthy ground. This acrylic mixture is mostly matt medium to maintain a high degree of transparency so that my pencil drawing remains very visible. The warm colours will be complimentary to the cool blues of this waterscape. At this stage I am always eager to see some local colours applied to this ground.

Across the Miles - Step 6

2011-05-10T07:38:00.000-07:00

The most satisfying part of creating a new painting, (especially one that is a product of your imagination) is seeing it all come together as a credible scene. This is the way I picture mail delivery 100 years ago, when the majority of people lived in rural settings. Actually, it is not so different from what I remember when I was growing up in rural Ontario. The main difference was the mailman drove a VW Beetle rather than a horse and sleigh. Other than that, this was a daily occurrence at our house.

I have completed the rail fence and then added some wild shrubbery in the foreground to lead the eye into the picture to start the viewer's journey around the canvas. Tweaking things here and there and painting the gifts in the mailbox complete the picture.

The signature goes on and the painting is finished. This last image is closer to the actual colours in the painting. The previous images were shot in my studio with the painting on the easel, without balanced lighting. This image is a professional scan of the finished painting.

Across the Miles - Step 5

2011-04-26T07:46:00.000-07:00

I have now blocked in the entire canvas with colour. Finishing the snow-cover changes the mood and the look of the painting quite drastically. This gives me a really good idea of how the finished painting will look. The contours, light and shadows in the snow requires a subtle touch. It is important to create the illusion of an undulating plane, falling away from the foreground to the mountains in the distance. The roadway must also appear to 'sit' into the snow rather than on top of it. The fence now appears to stand up from the snow, three dimensionally.

Painting and refining the white lettering on the side of the postman's sleigh is meticulous work and requires patience. There is more work in this painting than I expected!

Across the Miles - Step 4

2011-04-18T04:31:00.000-07:00

I continue the process of painting from back to front. I render the barn in the distance, then proceed to the farm house in the middle ground. Once again, I am choosing warm colours to keep this winter picture from becoming too 'cold'.

The next thing I tackle is the horse pulling the mail sleigh. This is a critical element in the painting, essentially the center of interest so I must take great care in how I paint it. I choose to make the horse black to create a high contrast with the white snow around it.

At this stage, I have left out the snow in the middle ground and started blocking in basic colour and detail on the rail fence in the foreground. This helps me to keep a visual balance throughout the painting. I have included the rail fence in the composition in order to add 'weight' to the lower portion and to guide the eye back toward the center of interest.

Across the Miles - Step 3

2011-04-10T13:04:00.000-07:00

Usually I like to do a quick underpainting with acrylics on top of my toned canvas, but occasionally I will start to paint directly on a toned and shaded drawing. I have decided to take the latter approach this time, starting from the sky at the top (furthest away from the viewer) and working my way down and progressively closer to the viewer as I go. This allows me to build an illusion of depth into the work.

To keep the work from being too 'cold', I add warm yellows and pinks to the clouds, suggesting late-day lighting from the left. I block in the snow-covered hills and move forward through the heavily laden spruce trees. The last thing I do at this stage is to begin adding more form and colour to the mailman's sleigh and the mailbox where he has just made a Christmas delivery.

Across the Miles - Step 2

2011-04-05T18:05:00.000-07:00

Now I start my under painting by priming the canvas with a mixture of acrylic made up of burnt sienna, cadmium red and a generous amount of mat medium to make it very transparent. I apply this evenly over the entire canvas to give it a warm ground for me to paint on.

Once that is dry, I use a mixture of the same colours, but with less medium and I wash in some tonal areas to establish some basic form. I work up some darker areas using the same colours and I delineate some details, such as the rail fence, sleigh, the horse and the buildings. I place dark tones on the fir trees to establish a pattern of snow on the upper side of the branches. Things are starting to take shape!

Across the Miles

2011-04-02T13:54:00.000-07:00

Here is the beginning of another new 'horse and sleigh' painting. These pictures are especially popular with my clients for such things as Christmas cards and puzzles. This one is called "Across the Miles". It is a depiction of the mailman making his delivery rounds by horse drawn sleigh. The scene is a snowy landscape in rural America, just before Christmas.

This canvas measures 16 inches high by 20 inches wide. Once I have worked out my initial drawing, I transfer it to stretched canvas, then spray it with workable fixative. Once that is done, I'm ready to start painting!

Arctic Summer

2011-03-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

I created this painting when wildlife art was in high demand. That wasn't the reason that I painted it, but that market has fallen off drastically, so I paint much less wildlife now than I did then. Art subjects are cyclical and like every business, you need to pay attention to what the market wants, at least some of the time.

The Arctic wolf lives in a tough environment, above the treeline. Summers are very short there, and the tundra bursts into bloom for only a matter of weeks before temperatures begin to drop once more. These pups are enjoying the mid-day sunshine while the mother wolf keeps a watchful eye on them. There is little cover for them, should a predator happen by.

I painted this picture on stretched canvas using alkyd paints. The painting measures 16 inches high by 22 inches wide. I used a circular composition to direct the viewer's eye from the pup in the foreground, up to it's mates, and then to the mountain peak in the background before flowing to the she-wolf and back to the pups again. The colour scheme is warm, which fortifies the feeling of mid-day sunshine.

You can find this painting and archival quality prints on paper or canvas at my web site www.richarddewolfe.com or my publisher's web site http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/richard-de-wolfe.html

Running Horse

2011-03-04T07:11:00.000-08:00

This is something new I am experimenting with for art licensing. I am working with computer software to create the entire illustration. I bought a drawing tablet and got CorelPaint software with it. I have been experimenting and here is one piece of art that I have created as a result. I am using it in conjunction with PhotoShop software that I am more familiar with. CorelPaint seems to be a really great tool, so I may decide to purchase a complete and more current version. Both CorelPaint and Adobe PhotoShop are great tools both for creating art and manipulating digital files for today's graphic artists. If you haven't tried CorelPaint, I highly recommend it.

Painting Progression4 - Winter Really is a Blast!

2011-02-14T09:35:00.000-08:00

In the final stage of this illustration, I add a sprig of holly to give it a Christmas feel, which is important for licensing. I apply a glaze over the entire painting to unify all of the colours and to create a tonal cast upon which I will paint my final highlights. The glaze is a weak mixture of ultramarine blue made extremely transparent by combining with a large proportion of mat acrylic medium. I mix them together well, and then apply this evenly over the entire surface of the picture. Once it is dry, I repaint some of the snowflakes and the highlights on the main subject with pure white to make them stand out. A signature is added and the picture is finished.

Painting Progression3 - Winter Really is a Blast!

2011-02-03T13:51:00.000-08:00

I accentuate the shadowing on the scarf before adding a snowflake pattern to the material. I continue to add detail, both light and shadow, on the fur, eyes and features of the polar bear's face. More modelling is also added to the mitten. The last thing that I do at this stage is to paint snowflakes in the air. I add 'speedlines' to suggest a driving snow storm, in keeping with the title of the piece. This also creates another illustion of animation in the painting.

Painting Progression2 - Winter Really is a Blast!

2011-01-31T17:32:00.000-08:00

In this stage I continue to block in flat , local colours on the touque, scarf and mitten. I add simple detail to the bear's fur, nose and eyes and create a little texture on the fuzzy edge of the touque. I have just started to suggest a lighting scheme in the fur, with a warm cast on the upper right and a cool blue cast on the lower left. The picture now has a loosly defined colour scheme to build on. Any mistakes can easily be corrected as I move forward from here, since I haven't commited myself to much detail yet.

Painting Progression - Winter Really is a Blast!

2011-01-28T09:05:00.000-08:00

This is a new illustration image that I created for art licensing purposes. I call this one "Winter Really is a Blast!" It might do well on greeting cards or flags. I am working on acid-free illustration board, using acrylic paint over a pencil drawing. I have drawn the bear leaning into the picture on a bit of an angle to create a feeling of action. In the first step I blocked in a simple background, delineating my subject and defining the design shape. I start to block in some basic details with a mixture of ultramarine blue and lamp black on the scarf, touque and face.

Mikey

2011-01-15T14:20:00.001-08:00

"Mikey" is one of the horses that are boarded at our farm. I painted Mikey for his owner in a small format, just 6.25 inches by 9.25 inches. When I do these small portraits I usually work in acrylic, as I did here. I did the painting on acid free art board and I worked in several layers of wash, particularly on the coat, then increased the level of opacity as I added detail to the horse's features and bridle. By painting the background in a heavy impasto in a very loose manner, I created an illusion of greater realism in my subject. The black bridle seems to pop out in contrast to the rich red coat of the horse, while the contrasting blues and greens of the background makes the subject dominate the painting. Carefully placing the highlight in the eye makes the whole thing come to life. As always, prints are available or I can be commissioned to paint your horse or pet.

Snow Day!

2011-01-06T14:21:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about living in Canada when you are a child is winter. Adults may dread it, often finding the cold and snow a hardship to deal with, but children look forward to it all year long. The great thing about a northern winter to a child is lots of snow! When the weather gets stormy, most school buses do not venture out and many schools close for the day entirely. This creates an unscheduled holiday that kids really appreciate.

I created this painting as an illustration for art licensing. I wanted it to be colourful and dramatic in order to convey the excitement of the children. I used my granddaughter Ashley as a model for both the boy and the girl. My work boots fit Frosty perfectly! I added the glow of the sun to warm up an otherwise cool setting. The painting is 9 inches by 12 inches, painted in alkyd on board.

Sleigh Ride!

2010-12-29T08:26:00.000-08:00

This painting has been very popular for my collectors and also licensing clients. It is the perfect Christmas image, both nostalgic and exciting! The horses are galloping briskly along the roadway with a frisky dog leading the way. The period dress of the sleigh's occupants suggest Victorian times, when horse and sleigh were the main mode of winter transportation. You might also notice a buffalo skin rug in their laps, which was used to keep travellers warm. The old wooden pump in the lower right corner is now a thing of the past. These pumps were carved entirely out of wood by skilled craftsmen!

The limestone house in the background was once owned by my wife and I. The beautiful blue spruce tree stands just as I have painted it, beside the house in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The historic stone church in the background actually exists in Barriefield, just across the Rideau River.

I chose to paint a colourful winter sky in keeping with the animated feeling of the overall painting. This gave me the opportunity to reflect all of these colours in the snow and gives the picture additional life. The painting measures 18 inches high by 24 inches wide. It is painted in alkyd paint on a canvas support. The original is not for sale, but prints are available at: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/richard-de-wolfe.html Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Fallen Angel

2010-12-23T07:29:00.001-08:00

I like to do art photography as well as painting. This is a shot I took of a cement cast angel that usually resides on a raised portion of a bird bath in our back yard. I also like to write, and I am currently working on my first novel. I am considering this photo as the basis for the cover design, should it ever make it into print. I also offer this photo as an art print on Fine Art America. You can find many more of my photos and art prints at: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/richard-de-wolfe.html

An Old Fashioned Christmas

2010-12-09T18:26:00.000-08:00

I thought it was time to post a real Christmas painting. I call this one "An Old Fashioned Christmas". Plenty of nostalgia depicted here, about a much slower and innocent time, when most people lived in the country or at least very small towns and villages across Canada and the United States. In those days the main mode of winter transportation was by horse drawn sleigh or 'cutter'. The scene is typical of many communities in Easter Canada and the North- eastern United States. It is dawn on Christmas morning, and people are gathering at the church for an Early Christmas service.

My composition is based on an "S" pattern. The eye enters from the lower left following the direction of the horse and sleigh, over the bridge to where the figures in front of the church are congregated, and finally the church itself. The stone mill beside the church and the mail boxes in the lower right corner lead the eye back to the horse and sleigh approaching the bridge and the whole process is repeated. The snow covered spruce tree acts as a visual stop and keeps the eye from wandering off to the left.

The painting measures 48 inches wide by 30 inches high. It is painted on stretched canvas, and as I usually do, I worked in alkyd paint. I found this cutter in a Sotheby's auction catalogue and I loved the ornate style. It is being pulled smartly by a high stepping Hackney Horse.

Puppy Love - Step Five

2010-11-10T03:21:00.000-08:00

I have resolved the dilemma of what to do with the bedding and cushions by using a colour scheme that is primarily purple with golden yellow accents. The purple is a restful, nocturnal colour and the gold is on the opposite side of the colour wheel, making it the complimentary in this case. It ties in nicely with the colour of the girl's hair, the puppy and the teddy bear, too.

I have created some dramatic, low lighting on the cushion in the background and deepened the dark brown behind them. There is now a distinct background, middle ground and foreground in the picture. This creates a feeling of depth in the picture and helps build a strong, interesting composition.

Detail and depth of colour are added throughout the painting, and finally, highlights are added at the very last as the finishing touch.

Puppy Love - Step Four

2010-11-08T16:59:00.001-08:00

I continue to add detail, slowly building up colour and form primarily with thin washes and glazes using mat medium. I darken the background with a mixture of burnt umber and black to really punch out the foreground. Everything other than the bedding and pillows seems to really be coming together at this point. I am still undecided about what to do with the cushions in the background.

Puppy Love - Step Three

2010-10-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

At this stage I begin introducing local colour throughout the painting. I wash in flesh tones on the face and arms of the sleeping girl. I begin accenting details on all three characters in the picture. Simple washes of colour are blocked in on the blanket and cushions behind the figure. I block in the hair with a wash of colour, then add initial detail with burnt sienna. I do the same with the puppy and the teddy bear, then concentrate on adding the most detail to the central character, the puppy.

The teddy bear leans into the picture and the girl's arm leads the eye to the puppy and then to the girl's face. The flow of the hair leads the viewer's eye to the cushions in the background. These cushions act as a 'backstop', leading the eye back to the teddy bear and the cycle is repeated, keeping the viewer's eye within the picture, always returning to the puppy and the girl's face.

Puppy Love - Step Two

2010-10-23T17:35:00.001-07:00

Once the drawing is well fixed, I tone the entire surface with a thin wash of blue-gray acrylic paint, thinned heavily with mat medium and water. I add some slightly darker washes of the same colour, particularly in the bedding. Next, I begin building form and detail to the teddy bear, puppy and sleeping girl. The last thing I do at this stage is to block in the background with a heavier wash of burnt umber.

Puppy Love - Step One

2010-10-22T10:35:00.001-07:00

I thought it time I posted another painting progression, since I haven't put one up for quite a while. This is a picture I am painting primarily for licensing. Companies pay me a fee to use this type of art to illustrate a product such as puzzles, calendars, greeting cards, soft goods, etc. for a specified period of time.

This piece is titled "Puppy Love". I started out by doing a detailed drawing on illustration board. Once I am happy with the drawing, I spray it with workable fixative, then seal it with acrylic mat medium. I also give the back of the illustration a quick application of mat medium to prevent serious warping as the picture dries. If you only paint on the face side of the board, it will often curl due to tension caused by shrinkage of the drying paint. An application on both sides of the sheet counter acts this tendency.

Weather's Changing

2010-10-14T16:21:00.001-07:00

I don't paint much wildlife anymore, but at one time, the genre represented a large percentage of the paintings that I produced. When I was a child, birds were my passion, especially the ducks and geese that frequented the Thousand Islands region. I learned much about drawing and painting by observing them and then trying to capture their likenesses on paper or canvas.

The Lesser Scaup or ‘Blue Bill’, as many locals know it, is a diving duck that will feed and rest in the thousands along the lower Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River districts during the migration south each autumn. They nest in the Arctic but they will spend the winter anywhere from the US/Canadian border to as far south as Central America.

This painting shows both male (purple/black heads) and female (brown heads) of the species, on a beautiful autumn day, but ominous clouds are building, suggesting a change in the weather is coming.

This painting measures 16 inches by 20 inches and it is painted in alkyd on stretched canvas.

Golden Lake

2010-09-29T17:26:00.000-07:00

I want to stay with the autumn colours for a while longer. This is a great time of year in the northern hemisphere. A day like the one in this painting is something to be savoured against the cold, barren days to come.

This scene is typical of lake and river country throughout Southern and Central Ontario, Quebec, and the North Eastern United States. The reds and golds of hard and soft maple, white birch, oak, beech and ash trees contrast beautifully with the deep greens of white and red pine, spruce and cedar.

I wanted to play up the crystal blue sky and fluffy white clouds against the strong yellow and gold of the birch and maple trees in the foreground. This is echoed in the shoreline foliage in the middle ground and again in the hazy distant trees in the background. The composition is designed so that the trees in the foreground lead the viewer's eye into the picture to the pines on the opposite shore in the middle ground. These trees, in turn, guide the eye back into the upper foliage of the foreground trees and back around once more. The ripples and abstractions in the water reflections give the painting a feeling of life and movement.

The painting is done in acrylic paint on stretched canvas. It measures 16 inches high by 20 inches wide.

Geraldine

2010-09-18T10:29:00.001-07:00

I decided to stick with the boating theme once more, but this time it is an autumn scene, in keeping with the change of seasons. I am always amazed by how quickly summer seems to end and autumn begins with cool nights, changing leaves and shorter days. It is one of the nicest times of the year to be on the water provided the sun is shining and the winds are calm.

The Geraldine is a restored steam yacht, that is now on permanent display at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York. At one time, boats like this were common on the St. Lawrence River. In the background is a 1000 Island landmark, St. Brendan's Church, at Rockport, Ontario.

I started this painting as a demonstration at an art show. The painting measures 16 inches by 20 inches high. It is painted in alkyd on canvas panel. Prints are available.

Elusive

2010-08-30T16:54:00.001-07:00

Every year, about mid-summer, there is a show and auction sale of antique boats at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York. I caught this wonderful mahogany speed boat, a fore runner of the modern 'cigarette boat', as it left the Alexandria Bay boat basin during the Antique Boat Show several years ago. She has just passed the Sunken Rock lighthouse, at Alexandria Bay, New York, heading back upriver toward Clayton. When the captain opened the throttle, she was gone in a flash.

I loved the way the cumulus clouds were building in the sky and the way the sun shone on the highly polished varnish finish on the hull of the boat. The long, narrow shape of the canvas adds thrust to this composition, and the bow-view accentuates the length of the boat in relation to the size of the figures in the cockpit. The original painting is done in alkyd on a canvas panel. It measures 12 inches by 24 inches. It now hangs in one of the beautiful old summer homes on an island on the Canadian side of the river.

Boldt Castle

2010-08-23T17:16:00.001-07:00

This is another example of a painting that I did of a boat in the 1000 Islands. I saw this small, antique sail boat, with the bright red sail and I knew I would have to paint it. I took a number of photos, circling the craft in a power boat, and I am sure the sailor wondered what I was up to.

In order to create an interesting composition, I used the image of the sailboat to create a lead-in to the castle on Heart Island in the background. The six story, 120 room mansion is a full size Rhineland castle, built by George Boldt as a wedding present for his beloved wife, Louise.

In 1904 tragedy struck and Louise died from tuberculosis. Construction of the castle halted immediately, never to resume. Broken hearted, Boldt never completed it and he never returned to the island again.

The picture is actually only part of a larger painting that I did of the entire island, which features stone buildings at either end in addition to the castle itself.

Swell

2010-08-02T13:23:00.001-07:00

I love to do paintings of the Thousand Islands, and antique boats are special subjects to me. There is no place I enjoy spending the day more than on the water where I grew up. This spot is just a half mile from my old home, near Rockport, Ontario.

"Swell" is a beautiful example of a 34 foot Elco Cruisette that was built in 1925. She is seen here passing smoothly under the Thousand Island Bridge on a warm, misty morning, as the sun begins to burn through the river haze. You can almost hear the throaty melody of her 38 HP, 4 cylinder inboard engine, as it pushes her smartly through the calm water at a respectable 10 MPH. Antique boats like this one are still fairly common in the Thousand Islands and they are highly prized by their owners.

I painted this picture on cotton canvas, using alkyd paint, applied very smoothly. It measures 16 inches wide by 20 inches tall. Occasionally, I am commissioned to paint antique boats, such as this one, for their owners. Prints are available for this and a number of other antique boat paintings that I have produced. Check out www.richarddewolfe.com for other examples.

Lost In Thought

2010-07-18T15:51:00.000-07:00

This painting is a little bit of nostalgia from my youth. I grew up in farm country, and though I did not live on a farm at that time, I did spend much of my time exploring farms and of course, fishing whenever possible. What could be more idyllic for a boy than a clear summer day, accompanied by his dog, with a can of worms and a make-shift fishing pole?

I painted this picture on stretched canvas, using alkyd paints. It measures 18 inches high by twenty-four inches in width. Prints are available.

Farm on Warden

2010-06-30T06:18:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I like to stop and document a quick impression of a scene in a small, thumb-nail sketch to be referred to later for a larger, studio painting. This little piece is called 'Farm on Warden'. It measures just 4.5 inches by 6 inches. I painted it on an artist's sketch pad, first doing a quick pencil sketch, then quickly painting over that with acrylic paints, which are perfect for this type of work. They offer a full range of coverage from ultra transparent to heavy opaque, and they dry almost immediately. They are water proof and completely permanent. The colours are also particularly brilliant and there is a relatively small colour shift when dry.

By working this way, I can achieve a degree of impressionism that usually escapes me in more carefully planned works. When I attempted to recreate the feeling of this small sketch in a larger painting, I found that I preferred the small size and casual spontaneity of the original, so I framed the sketch instead.

I used to drive past this spot almost every day on my way to my studio in downtown Toronto, back in the days when I worked as a full-time illustrator. On this particular day, I could not resist the temptation to record the scene. As is so often the case, I am really glad that I did, since it no longer exists in this way. I especially liked the way the sunlight struck the face of the distant farm house and also the split rail fence that leads the viewer's eye into the picture.

Daisy Chain

2010-06-18T11:05:00.001-07:00

This is another piece of art that I produced some time ago, specifically for art licensing. I thought the idea of pink pigs all in a row and sound asleep would make an interesting card motif or maybe a border or who knows what! Unfortunately, my licensing rep is not into pigs at all, so this image has not been promoted yet. Should you be interested in licensing it, please let me know so I can tell him 'I told you so'.

The painting measures twelve inches high by twenty-six inches in length. It is painted on illustration board in gouache (opaque watercolour). If you are an artist and you have never tried this medium, it is well worth the effort. It is unlike any other medium I have used. Right out of the tube or jar, it goes on flat and completely opaque. It dries quickly but it always remains water soluble. You can mix it with transparent watercolours, acrylics, dyes or any other water based medium. Have fun!

Painterly Illustration

2010-06-10T05:24:00.000-07:00

During the 1980's, I shared studio space with several other artists and a photographer. One of these artists (we were all illustrators in those days) was Stewart Sherwood, one of the most talented and prolific artists I know. Stewart has produced paintings and illustrations based on a wide range of subject matter. He is also amazingly fast, often producing a number of finished pieces in one sitting.

Stewart handles any subject with warmth and humour. Today, Stewart paints primarily for the art licensing market and is one of the most successful artists in this field today. As I mentioned, his subject matter is broad, including Christmas, nostalgia, portraits, sports, animals, landscapes and so much more. I particularly love the many paintings of children that he has produced over the years, many for the Bradford Exchange, as collector plates. For more information on Stewart Sherwood and many more examples of his wonderful art, visit his web site at: www.stewartsherwood.ca

Confederation Park

2010-06-02T15:08:00.001-07:00

I love to paint pictures of the Thousand Islands, the St. Lawrence River and boats. This painting is one that I did several years ago. It is the Confederation Boat Basin in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, not far from where I live. In the background is Kingston City Hall and Confederation Park. This is a great place to spend a summer evening near the water when the weather is warm. The view here is from the outer docks, looking back toward the lights of downtown Kingston. The sunset is rapidly fading into twilight and the ducks have settled for the night in the shelter of a boat slip in the foreground.

The painting is sixteen inches wide by twenty inches high. It is painted on cotton canvas with alkyd paint. Prints are available.

Starry, Starry Night...

2010-05-26T17:56:00.000-07:00

Here is something very beautiful, both visually and musically. Don McLean's recording of "Starry, Starry Night" expresses the emotions that many people feel for the great impressionist artist, Vincent van Gogh, who experienced very little artistic acceptance or financial success as an artist during his lifetime. Sadly, after only ten years of passionate and wonderful painting, he took his own life. Ironically he has since become one of the most sought after and highest priced artists of all time. The visual presentation of van Gogh's paintings blend beautifully with the sad but beautiful music of Don McLean. Enjoy...

Passing Giants

2010-05-18T10:31:00.000-07:00

A true giant of illustration passed away last week. Frank Frazetta, the undisputed king of Science Fiction and Fantasy art, died from complications of a stroke in Fort Myers, Florida, on Monday, May 10, 2010. Frank was 82 years old.

I can't describe how much I looked forward to every piece of illustration that carried the distinctive signature of Frank Frazetta when I first became interested in illustration as a very young teen. I never lost interest in or my love for the work of this tremendous painter. Warren Publications introduced 'Creepy' and 'Eerie', two brand-new high-end comic magazines in the mid-sixties. Through the amazing art on their covers, I was introduced to the work of Frank Frazetta. In earlier years, I had enjoyed the comic strip, Lil' Abner, which also featured the art of Frank Frazetta, but I was unaware of that at the time. Later, Frazetta produced paintings for the covers of the 'Conan' series of pocket books, written by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprauge de Camp. The painting used on the cover of 'Conan the Adventure' recently sold for one million dollars! How many fine art painters can claim as much?

So long to another unique artist-idol from my youth. Rest in peace, Frank.

For more insight into the work of Frank Frazetta, please visit http://drawn.ca/ or follow the direct link to http://drawn.ca/2010/05/13/frank-frazetta-1928-2010/

Mya a.k.a Woofie

2010-05-12T13:00:00.001-07:00

I sometimes do portraits of pets for their owners. Most of the time, the subject is a horse or pony, a dog or occasionally a cat. This pup was a very exuberant model, much more interested in play than she was in posing. It was no easy task to get a photo of her to paint from, let alone expecting her to sit still while I painted from life.

She is a sheep dog, a border collie cross and her name is Mya. I preferred to call her "Woofie", since her boisterous nature just didn't seem to fit with a name as formal as Mya. I tried to capture her love of life and playfulness in this small, simple portrait.

The painting measures 6.75 inches wide by 9.75 inches high. It is painted in acrylic paint on art board. Prints are available.

Best Friends

2010-05-05T14:42:00.001-07:00

I can hardly believe I missed posting anything throughout the entire month of April. A trip to Florida with my granddaughters definitely changed the routine, and I had lots of catching up to do when we got back. As always, the month flew by and now it is May.

In honour of Mother's Day, I thought the painting "Best Friends" might be an appropriate pick.

This painting is not truly original, it is a copy of an old print by Virgilio Tojetti, who was born in Rome, Italy, in 1849. He was a resident of San Francisco up until 1883, then moved to New York City, where he died in 1901.

One day, a client brought a print that was more than 100 years old into my studio. It was in extremely poor condition, due to water stains, tears and acid deterioration of the paper. He asked me to restore it, which I did. When he picked up the reconditioned print, he was so pleased that he asked me to paint a new one. I did so, signing my work after the original artist, "Tojetti".

I painted my version on canvas, using alkyd paint. The painting is much smaller than the original, and measures 18 inches by 24 inches. The dog in the picture is a Great Pyrenees Mountain Dog. These are beautiful, faithful dogs who are great companions and protectors of children.

Collecting the Sap

2010-03-31T06:01:00.000-07:00

Here is another painting that I think is well suited to the season, here in Ontario. Our maple sugar and syrup making season has just ended for another year. The tradition of collecting sap from sugar maple trees is well known in eastern Canada and the north eastern USA. It is done in early spring when the sap stored in the roots of the maple tree begins to travel back up the trunks of these trees, to feed the buds that will soon blossom into leaves. Small holes are carefully drilled around the circumference of the tree and 'taps' or 'spiles' are driven into these holes to collect some of the sap as it flows upward. The sap, in turn, is allowed to drip into pails attached to the tree, or as is most common today, into a network of plastic tubing, which may run for miles to a central collection point. The sap must be boiled down quickly to avoid spoilage. It takes approximately eleven gallons of raw sap to produce one gallon of delicious maple syrup.

For the most part, tractors and modern equipment have replaced the horses and sleighs that were traditionally used in collecting the sap for delivery to the 'sugar shacks' for the long process of boiling over a wood fire. If you look hard enough, it is still possible to find teams of horses, such as the Belgians pictured here, being used in the bush to bring tanks of sap to the wood fired evaporators and maple sugar shacks.

The title of this painting is 'Collecting the Sap'. This painting measures 18 inches by 24 inches. I painted it on stretched cotton canvas, using alkyd paints. Prints are available.

Madawaska Sunset

2010-03-30T13:51:00.001-07:00

I thought this painting would be appropriate at this time of the year. We are down to the last days of March, spring is officially here, and the weather is definitely showing a warming trend. I painted this picture some years ago, when we owned a cottage on the Madawaska River, south of Algonquin Park, in Ontario, Canada. This is the view from that cottage, which sits high on the river bank, just to the right of this painting. It is a late afternoon picture and the sun is setting in the west. I loved the contrast of the warm light reflected in the water, surrounded by the cold blue of the melting ice in the foreground. The three Canada Geese tell a story of the changing seasons and the new life which will soon burgeon throughout the north.

The title of this painting is 'Madawaska Sunset'. The painting measures 18 inches by 24 inches and it is painted in alkyd paint on stretched canvas. Like most of my paintings, prints are available in a variety of sizes.

Toronto Illustrators

2010-03-29T07:59:00.001-07:00

Another month has flown by and I have found little time to add a new post to my blog. My last few posts have been in reference to my previous career in illustration. The industry has changed a great deal in more recent years, and digital art, created with the use of computer graphics software predominates these days. You can view the work of a number of illustrators, such as the one I have posted here, by visiting www.torontoillustrators.com.

Sports Illustration

2010-02-28T16:36:00.000-08:00

In honour of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games wrapping up today in Vancouver, I thought I would post an illustration that I was commissioned to paint for the Canada Games when they were held many years ago in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This illustration was painted on a fine weave cotton canvas with acrylic paints. It is hard to beat the intensity of colour that you can get with acrylics. Once again, this is a montage but this time there is a full background included. I enjoyed getting a feeling of animation in the water in the foreground and the flapping flags in the background. The colour scheme is vibrant because of the rich warm skin tones of the swimmer contrasting with the icy blue of the water around her.

Auto Racing Montage

2010-02-27T18:23:00.000-08:00

As I have mentioned before, throughout the 1970's, 80's and into the 1990's, I worked full-time in Advertising Illustration. Many of my clients were in the automotive field, such as Goodyear Tire. I produced a number of illustrations for Goodyear during that time period and this is one example of the work I did for them. What could be more fun to paint than a montage of racing machines diverging at dramatic angles?

I tried to create an interesting and exciting composition that sweeps from back to front in a dynamic and dramatic curve. The rakish angle of the Goodyear Racer in the foreground seems to suggest thrust and speed. A montage must be carefully designed to work as an interesting unit without confusing the viewer. Often it is done as a vignette, so positive and negative shapes must be considered as well. The colour scheme must work as a unit and the design should carry the viewer's eye into the picture and keep it there. A variety of shapes and sizes of the elements within a montage are required to create visual interest. The whole thing can be a lot more difficult than you might think, at first glance.

I painted this illustration on a very fine woven primed canvas, using acrylic paint. Before I began to paint much detail over the finished drawing, I loosely painted a thin wash of colour over the general area of each individual scene, using the local colour of each one. After I painted the various elements in detail, I back-painted around the illustration with white gesso to softly define the shapes.

This Time For Sure & Home For Supper

2010-01-31T18:27:00.000-08:00

This one is called "This Time For Sure". I wanted to paint a typical day of pickup hockey, played by a bunch of country kids, on a frozen farm pond. When I was a kid, we played like this, sporting any equipment that we had. Many times we would not have skates available and we would play in our boots. The 'net' would usually be non-existant too, and we would improvise with a couple of blocks of firewood from home.

Once again, this painting is done in alkyd oil on stretched canvas and measures 16 inches by 20 inches.

This one is called "Home For Supper". It features the same scene, but in the moonlight instead of mid-afternoon sunshine. Often, we played on the ice until the sun went down and supper time would arrive after dark. Finally realizing that we were late, we would drop our sticks and head for home , a hot meal and the warmth of a country kitchen.

I painted this picture smaller than the others, only 11 inches by 14 inches. It is painted on canvas using acrylic paint.

Dreams of Glory

2010-01-31T09:27:00.000-08:00

This is another of my series of paintings on the theme of country kids and hockey. This one gets the girls involved too. I call it "Dreams of Glory". When we were kids, it was common for the boys to dream of playing hockey in the NHL (National Hockey League) and the girls would dream of becoming Olympic figure skaters. The dog was usually happy to just live in the moment, jumping on anyone who happened to take a tumble!

This painting measures 16 X 20 inches. It is painted on stretched canvas using alkyd paint. You can tell it is a good old frosty winter day in the country by the crystal blue sky and the hoar frost on the trees. The farm house and outbuildings in the background, along with the style of clothing worn by the kids, suggests the 1940's and 1950's. My favourite part of this painting is the low sheen of the ice surface, suggested by the soft reflections and the crisp skate marks that define the surface.

Wall of Fame

2010-01-22T14:32:00.001-08:00

The month is flying by and I haven't found time to publish another post until now. This is one of a series of five paintings that I completed on the theme of nostalgic memories of winter skating in the country. The time period is the 1950's. In those days, hockey skates were made of uninsulated leather, dyed deep brown or black, or often a two-tone combination of the two. I call this painting "Wall of Fame". It represents the dreams and aspirations of many boys who grew up in rural areas, playing pick-up hockey on farm ponds and rivers, hoping some day to play in the NHL. In those days, the league consisted of only six teams and any school boy could name every player on every team.

The painting is done on stretched canvas, rendered in alkyd paint, over an acrylic underpainting. It measures sixteen inches high by 20 inches wide. Since I no longer had my own skates from my boyhood years, I purchased this pair in a country auction to use as a model for the painting. I hung them on our barn wall and leaned a hockey stick that I had in the garage beside them to create an interesting grouping. The rough texture of the weathered barn boards make an interesting background for the polished leather surface of the skates. I added some snowflakes in the air to create an atmosphere of winter and a sense of animation in what otherwise is a still life.

Look Into My Big Brown Eyes

2009-12-31T12:30:00.001-08:00

Christmas is over, so I want to move on beyond Santa to close out the year. Today is New Year's Eve, the last day of 2009. The winter is just begun, even though it always seems to be well established by this time each year!

This is an illustration that I did a few years ago as a piece of licensed art. For those who don't know, licensed art is designed to appeal to companies who need images to enhance or complete a product which they wish to bring to the market place. They pay a fee, or royalties or both, in exchange for the right to use the image in a prescribed manner on specific products and for a set period of time, usually three years. I do a fair amount of this type of work and I sometimes also license my more traditional paintings as well.

I call this piece "Look Into My Big Brown Eyes". It is a whimsical rendering of a polar bear character, especially appealing because of the "Elton John" sized glasses that he is sporting. This type of light-hearted image can be attractive to companies that produce such products as greeting cards or stitched products.

The illustration was done on illustration board using acrylic paint with a few touches of pencil crayons. The size of the original is 7 inches by 10.25 inches. You can find a complete selection of my licensed art images at www.porterfieldsfineart.com/RichardDeWolfe/richarddewolfemainpage.htm.

Jolly Old Saint Nick

2009-12-24T04:02:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas Eve and I just realized I haven't posted anything for Christmas! I decided to go with this one, an illustration I did some years ago, of the Jolly Old Elf himself. At one time, I worked full time as a freelance illustrator, creating realistic images like this for advertising, editorial, posters, etc.

It is painted on hot press illustration board using acrylic paint, applied with relatively fine sable brushes. The speckles of 'snow' on the wreath were created using a stiff tooth brush to splatter the paint with a flick of my thumb. The ribbon and some of the finishing highlights are done with airbrush, something I used often in illustration during the 1970's and 1980's. The lettering is hand done in acrylic, predating computer fonts.

500 Years of Female Portraits

2009-12-17T07:03:00.000-08:00

This clever video by Philip Scott Johnson is titled ‘500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art’. The music which accompanies the captivating faces as they continuously change and evolve from one to the next, is Bach’s Sarabande from Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 performed beautifully by Yo-Yo Ma. The video was nominated as Most Creative Video, 2^nd Annual You Tube Awards.

Posemaniacs

2009-12-16T05:59:00.001-08:00

If you are an artist who paints figurative pictures, you know how difficult it can be to work out poses at various angles. There are a number of aides that have been available and these have proven useful over the years. The old tried and true wooden mannequin has served artists for centuries and in more recent times, photography has been used to freeze an action or difficult to maintain pose, which a model just could not hold for any length of time.

One of the latest tools to assist artists in rendering life-like figures, is available on the internet, at www.posemaniacs.com. The site contains every conceivable pose from every possible angle, both in male and female forms. I find one feature of this site to be truly amazing. When you select a pose, you can then drag it with your cursor, and rotate it a full 360 degrees on the horizontal axis! There is no charge for the use of this material, but donations are accepted to finance the production of additional material.

Check out the site at www.posemaniacs.com, and prepare to be amazed by the quality and wealth of information available to artists interested in the human form.

Pleine Aire Painting - The Farm Next Door

2009-12-11T13:32:00.001-08:00

Here is the finished painting of the farm next door. It measures 12 inches by 16 inches, which is a great size to work on when using a portable easel or paint box in an outdoor setting. Small enough to manage easily, yet large enough to paint freely in a fairly short period of time.

Pleine Aire Painting - The Farm Next Door

2009-11-23T17:22:00.000-08:00

A lot of my paintings are created in the studio, from sketches, quick studies or photos. That allows me to spend as much time as I wish, working out composition, colour scheme, drawing and detail. I can pick up and also pause as the mood or situation dictates. The studio is warm in winter and cool in summer and there is never wind or rain or biting insects to dampen my enthusiasm.

That is all very positive, but in the end, it is difficult to beat the spontaneous simplicity of a painting created on the spot, in 'pleine aire', as they say.

In this case, I set up my french easle by the line fence between our farm and the farm next door. I painted for about an hour and a half, two days in a row. The scene is a small, old barn, which houses one horse and a bit of machinery. The field between was dotted with large round bales of hay which were waiting to be collected up for winter feed.

As you can see in the photos, the sun would eventually come around to a bad angle and I would finish for the day.

This is the scene that I was painting, although by the time I thought to take this photo, the large round hay bales had been removed from the field by the farmer.

The sky is not so interesting, either, having no cumulus clouds to create a dramatic background. The lack of hay bales in the field also diminishes the effect of the foreground. In the photo, the beginning autumn colours in the foliage are much less descernible than they were in reality.

When you paint out-of-doors you must work quickly and simply, in order to capture the scene before the light, mood or weather change too drastically. You must get the most important things done as quickly as you can. This forces you to be decisive and to take some chances with your approach. It is hard work but it is also very rewarding. Your confidence increases and with luck, your sense of accomplishment is much greater than it sometimes is on completion of a studio painting.

I framed this little painting and put it in a solo art exhibition several months after I painted it. It sold right away and alas, I had three separate patrons wanting it for their own.

Painting Progression-Between Nations-Step 10

2009-11-16T13:53:00.001-08:00

In the final stage of this painting, I add more detail to the wing feathers by modelling individual feathers with a range of tone and colour. I highlight the upper edges of the feathers to create a slight shine and to further accentuate the complex plumage. More detail is also added to the eagle's head and tail feathers. The breaking light in the sky and the reflection on the water is worked up a bit more and the painting is pretty well complete. Once the signature goes on, "Between Nations" is done!

Painting Progression-Between Nations-Step 9

2009-10-31T06:25:00.001-07:00

Now I add depth and detail to the eagle. The eye and heavy beak are primarily rendered with cadmium yellow, burnt sienna and white, with burnt umber and ultramarine blue mixed to create a black in the dark areas. Subtle detail is painted into the underside of the wing and the pinion feathers of the outstretched wing are highlighted to reflect the breaking sunlight.

The near wing is painted with various shades of burnt sienna, ultramarine blue, and burnt umber. The lighter details are mixed with the same colours, with the addition of white as well. When working with alkyd, the drying time is overnight at most, so it is easy to work these detailed areas, allow them to dry, then glaze a thin layer of colour over the entire area to unify and create depth before painting more detail on top. With traditional oils, this type of glazing can take weeks to complete.

The same process is used on the surface of the water, adding more detail and glazing over the entire area before adding more detail on top. It is a wonderful way to quickly build a feeling of animation and depth with subtle colour changes throughout. I use a wide, soft sable brush when glazing and a minimal amount of pigment mixed with a liberal amount of medium.

Painting Progression-Between Nations-Step 8

2009-10-30T15:05:00.001-07:00

With the sky and distant background more or less complete, I concentrate on developing the eagle and the surface of the water. It is important to establish a feeling of flight in painting the eagle, particularly in the sweep of the wings. Once again, I use alkyd paint, thinned with Liquin to glaze over the upper wing surfaces, allowing the feather structure to show through. I have also started to model the light and shadow areas of the head and tail feathers. Next, I begin adding highlights to the reflective surfaces of the water, first with a series of darker strokes, then a series of mid-tone strokes and finally some extremely light strokes along the shore lines near the horizon and immediately below the light area of the sky where the sun is breaking through the clouds. This light colour is not pure white, however, it is a subtle mixture of ultramarine blue, burnt umber and white. The very whitest strokes will be saved for final highlights on the painting.

Painting Progression-Between Nations-Step 7

2009-10-25T12:25:00.001-07:00

I have added a bit of white highlight to the edge of the cloud where the sun is trying to break through. This area was strategically placed just above the eagle's head, to help draw the eye to the eagle itself. The water now receives a glaze of ultramarine blue with a touch of burnt umber, mixed with a large quantity of liquin paint medium to make it extremely transparent. The glaze helps to unify the water's surface, although it reduces the feeling of animation somewhat. This will be rectified with carefully placed highlights later on. A dark mixture of burnt umber with a touch of ultramarine blue is used to paint in the shadowed underside of the outstretched wing and breast of the eagle. I also begin to paint in the darkest details and contours of the foreground wing with the same colour mixture.

Painting Progression-Between Nations-Step 6

2009-09-30T07:54:00.000-07:00

Now I build up the intensity and detail in the trees and bridge structure. The colours are mixed with a combination of permanent green, ultramarine blue, burnt umber and white. Next, I begin painting over the acrylic underpainting of the water. Initially, I had simply suggested the movement of the surface waves. Now I begin to model the ever changing surface of the water, using three tones of blue-gray. This gives me a dark, a mid-tone and a light colour to work with. The mid-tone represents the general surface, reflecting the sky. The darks suggest the deepest troughs between the waves and the lights suggest the most prominent peaks of waves, which catch the maximum light. Taken all together they suggest liquid movement. I add some permanent green to my darkest tone to create the reflections of the trees in the water.

Painting Progression-Between Nations-Step 5

2009-09-17T03:30:00.000-07:00

Now I begin my finished painting, working in alkyd paint. I usually begin this work by painting in the sky, which is the furthest away from the viewer. I intensify and blend the deepest shades of ultramarine & cerulean blue, mixed with white and a bit of burnt umber, at the highest point in the sky, lightening the mixture and removing the burnt umber as I move down toward the horizon. Burnt umber has a greying effect on the blue mixture which dulls the blue of the sky.

As I get nearer to the horizon, I want a cleaner, brighter colour, so now I reduce the ultramarine blue, keep the cerulean blue and add more white into the mixture. The sky should normally be darkest at the zenith and lightest at the horizon, creating a "dome" effect.

While the paint is wet and workable, I paint the clouds in, blending them softly into the sky. The lightest and brightest colour is reserved for the area about the eagle's head, where the sun is attempting to break through the overcast. The clouds appear to be mostly white, but there is a tint of ultramarine blue and burnt umber throughout these soft masses. Save any pure white for final highlights where needed when the painting is almost complete.

Painting Progression-Between Nations-Step 4

2009-09-04T05:32:00.000-07:00

Now I begin blocking in areas of the painting with simple colours, using acrylic paint mixed to a rather thin consistency. The sky is primarily cerulean blue, darkened somewhat with ultramarine blue at the top of the canvas and lightened with white nearer the horizon. The land mass in the background is a mixture of sap green, ultramarine blue and white. The darks that I have painted into the plumage of the eagle is burnt umber. The ripples on the water are a mixture of burnt umber and ultramarine blue. A bit of white is used to highlight the area lit by the sun breaking through the clouds in the background. Not much paint has been applied yet, but already the mood and general look of the painting has been established. A painting begins to emerge!

Painting Progression-Between Nations-Step 3

2009-08-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

In this stage I trace down my drawing onto the canvas. As you can see, the earth tones of the first priming show through the second layer of cooler gray priming. When I paint in the studio, I usually work out a drawing first, then transfer it to the canvas. If I am painting on location, especially out-of-doors, I often paint directly onto the canvas with no preliminary sketches. The two methods usually produce completely different results, since pre-planned drawing will usually be tighter and more controlled. Direct painting, on the other hand, will give you a looser, freer picture. In this planned painting, I am drawing from photos that I have taken on the St. Lawrence River and the Thousand Island Bridge between Canada and the USA. Once the transfer to canvas is completed, a little spray of fixative keeps the graphite from smearing when I begin to overpaint the drawing.

Painting Progression-Between Nations-Step 2

2009-08-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

After the toned canvas has dried, I decided that I would prefer a cooler ground for this picture, so I mix a new batch of gesso tinted with a mixture of ultramarine blue and burnt umber, producing a gray tone. I repaint the canvas with this color, completely covering the original earth tones. The new gray surface is still warmed somewhat by the first colour mixture that I applied underneath and I feel this is a more suitable ground for the picture I am about to paint. Now I am ready to begin drawing and painting on the primed canvas.

Painting Progression-Between Nations-Step 1

2009-08-26T10:46:00.001-07:00

This painting will be another departure from what I have demonstrated previously. The painting was a recent commission that I was pleased to receive, since it fell right into the type of picture that I had already been planning to paint next. Many of my paintings feature the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence River, between Ontario, Canada and upper New York State in the USA. When I was a boy, Bald Eagles nested and fished near my home on the St. Lawrence River. When the pesticide, DDT became heavily used in the 1950's and 60's, this population of eagles was wiped out, along with many other species in that locale. In recent years, the Bald Eagle has made a come back to the river and the population is slowly increasing. Once again eagles can be seen soaring over and fishing the wide waters of the Thousand Islands.

At this point, there is little to see, but I have begun priming my canvas with acrylic paint. I use a flat, bristle brush to apply a tone to the canvas. The colour I choose will affect the finished piece, acting as a ground for the colours that follow. I often use a warm earth tone mixture of burnt sienna and red. The other colour that I most often use is a blue-gray for a cooler ground. Here I have started with the warm, earth coloured mixture, which I have combined with gesso to fill the weave of the canvas. I cover the entire surface evenly and allow it to dry.

Painting Progression-Seasons Greetings-Step 6

2009-08-13T07:23:00.000-07:00

The sky in the background is finished off and the afternoon setting sun is highlighted a bit more. It is positioned near the snowman's carrot nose and sparkling eyes, helping to attract the viewer's eye to the center of interest of the painting. The snow-laden tree branch, which also points at Frosty's face, also thrusts into the picture, drawing the viewer's eye back in. The Cardinal is finished in with more color and detail. The bird is positioned to keep the viewer's eye going back and forth between these two characters. The Christmas tree and ornaments are painted in and white highlights are added to create a reflective shine. I add darks and highlights to Frosty's mittens and make small adjustments throughout the painting, where needed. A light scattering of new snow falling adds greatly to the feeling of depth and a sense of animation. The signature goes on and the painting is complete!

Painting Progression-Seasons Greetings-Step 5

2009-08-09T10:37:00.000-07:00

With all of the basic color decisions made, I can now work up detail in every area of the picture. It is a simple matter to decide where adjustments need to be made once the picture has a complete color map. The snowman's face is the main focal point, so I try to accentuate his kind, lovable expression. I add soft blue to his coal black eyes to create a luminous shine. Next, I add a sparkle to them with a white highlight. A strong, bright red on the scarf and ear muffs give him a dashing, festive look. I use warm yellow highlights on the mittens and a healthy bright orange on his carrot nose.

In order to liven up the snowman's body, I add strong blue-purple in the shadow areas, and I build a texture over the highlighted surfaces with a dry brush effect of heavy pigment. Frosty is rapidly coming to life as the paint steadily goes on!

Painting Progression-Seasons Greetings-Step 4

2009-08-04T11:23:00.001-07:00

Now I begin to paint over the initial blocked-in areas of color. The sky is refined and painted more heavily, blending the tones together. The background trees are worked up a bit more, adding some detail and texture. The old fedora on Frosty's head is painted in and the sprig of holly is added, too. His features, carrot nose and colorful scarf get more hue, texture and detail added to them, and the picture begins to take on more life and a feeling of depth. More color and contours are added to the woollen mittens and an initial layer is added to the tree decorations. Each step taken is another building block in the structure of the painting. The work is evolving as a whole, rather than one part at a time. In this way, I always know how all the elements in the picture relate to one another. My goal is to avoid painting myself into a "corner" along the way.

Painting Progression-Seasons Greetings-Step 3

2009-07-31T15:58:00.000-07:00

Now I paint in all of the basic areas using simple colors. I am working with acrylic paint thinned with water. For the background sky, I create a wash of soft blue which I bleed into the yellow of the late afternoon winter sun. Care must be taken to avoid creating a sickly green where the yellow and blue tones meet. Each area I add helps to create a map of what the finished piece should look like. With the basic colors laid in, it is easy to decide what adjustments to make and to which areas in order to create the look that I want. If I painted one area completely before working on another, I would probably need to change it later, in relation to other areas in the picture. It is best to work over the entire picture, building a solid foundation first.

Painting Progression-Seasons Greetings-Step 2

2009-07-26T08:00:00.001-07:00

When I begin to paint, I prefer not to work directly on a white surface. I use a toned surface to help me see the colors I am applying more accurately. The surface color that I choose will also influence the finished result by unifying the final colors that will be applied later. I usually also allow some spots where this base color shows through in the finished piece. Here I have chosen violet purple which will be the basic shadow color in the painting, especially on the main subject, our illustrious snowman. Violet purple is a warm color, which will make a nice compliment to a winter scene.

I mix my pigment into a generous amount of mat medium. This makes the mixture very transparent, allowing my pencil drawing to show through clearly. The white of the art board also shows through, keeping the ground color from being too dark or heavy. By using a mat medium rather than gloss, I avoid creating a shiny surface to work on. The acrylic paint dries very quickly and I am ready to start painting!

Painting Progression-Seasons Greetings-Step 1

2009-07-23T08:08:00.000-07:00

Here is something completely different for a change of pace. No horses in this one! At one time, most of my work was illustrations done for advertising, books, magazines, posters and point of purchase displays, etc. These days I do some of my art for licensing. Companies pay me to use my art on commercial products such as greeting cards and puzzles. This is a piece of art which I have created specifically for this type of application. It is painted on art board and the image size is 9 inches by 12 inches. I have painted the finished picture it in acrylic, which is a fast medium to use on a project such as this.

The first step is to produce a series of rough sketches to perfect the idea, building a workable composition that will attract attention and be pleasing to the viewer. A jolly snowman must convey a warm and friendly personality, and the cardinal needs to be carefully placed in a natural pose.

When I am satisfied with the results, I trace my finished drawing onto illustration board, clean it up, and spray it with workable fixative. It is now ready to begin painting!

Painting Progression-Sleigh Bells-Step 9

2009-06-27T14:05:00.000-07:00

The final session is the most satisfying. Everything comes together to create an inviting winter scene. I add darks where necessary and model the snow with light and dark tones to create contour and light and shadow. The edge of a palette knife is used to simply suggest wire on the fence posts. White highlights are one of the last things I do and these help to guide the viewer's eye to specific areas in the painting. I embellish the coats of the horses and add final details to the harness. The last thing to do is add a signature! Fini.

Painting Progression-Sleigh Bells-Step 8

2009-06-22T03:06:00.000-07:00

Once all of the basic elements and areas have been initially painted in with alkyd paint, I begin the process of finishing each area, maintaining a harmonious relationship with the overall picture. I begin from the sky (the most distant background) and work my way forward, adding detail, contrast and harmony. I have embellished the light in the sky somewhat, softened the hills in the distance, and added detail to the buildings in the middle ground. The trees on the left are painted in, providing a nice border and visual stop on that side of the picture. I spend quite a bit of time on the trees and underbrush on the right side of the picture, deepening the green of the foliage, creating subtle shades on the snow of the branches and detail in the tangle below. More detail is added to the snow and the roadway, the fence posts are added and finally I spend much time painting the horses and harness and the sleigh bells from which the painting gets its name.

Painting Progression-Sleigh Bells-Step 7

2009-06-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

I have blocked in the rest of the foreground snow and shadows, creating a rutted look in the surface of the roadway and contours in the mounded snow at the shoulders of the road. The contour lines of the road help to draw the eye into the picture and the horses appear to be in motion as they draw the unseen sleigh forward.

Painting Progression-Sleigh Bells-Step 6

2009-06-05T05:33:00.001-07:00

The mood of the painting starts to change rapidly as I begin to paint in the middle ground. The muted tones of the snow on the large pine trees on the right side of the picture create a nice contrast to the brighter white of the snow on the ground leading into the foreground. These tree branches keep the viewer's eye from leaving the picture and frame the focal point of the colorful red barns that the horses are approaching.

Painting Progression-Sleigh Bells-Step 5

2009-05-28T14:23:00.000-07:00

Now I switch to alkyd paint, bringing subtle color and cloud forms into the winter sky. I usually paint from light to dark and from distance to foreground, as I am in this instance. Next I paint the most distant hills with soft tones tinted with blue to accentuate a feeling of distance. As I move forward I add more local color and detail to the hills creating a depth to the picture. The nearest hills have a strong suggestion of trees and snowy spaces between them. The background now has a sense of reality that I like.

Painting Progression-Sleigh Bells-Step 4

2009-05-23T06:07:00.000-07:00

I am still working with acrylic paint, but now I begin blocking in local color in the sky, hills, buildings, trees and horses and their harness. This gives me a basic color map of how the painting will look and how the colors will relate to each other as I continue to build my painting. It is wise to establish an under painting, that is blocked in quickly. Adjustments and improvements and even complete re-do's are easily done at this point. If you spend a great deal of time finishing off an area, then find it isn't working properly in relation to the rest of the painting, it can be very hard to bring yourself to change it, thus compromising the finished piece.

Painting Progression-Sleigh Bells-Step 3

2009-05-13T10:42:00.000-07:00

I am still working in acrylic paint at this stage in order to get my underpainting established quickly and simply, without the need for any drying time between sessions. I use my mixture of burnt sienna and cadmium red to wash in tones in the distant hills, the buildings, trees and snow. As I move further into the foreground, I use heavier, darker mixtures of the same colors. Next I add more detail in the trees and the harness on the horses using burnt sienna and burnt umber. This simple, monochromatic approach is already establishing the lights and shadows in the painting as well as creating a good illusion of depth at the same time. This will give me a good basis to build my painting on.

Painting Progression-Sleigh Bells-Step 2

2009-05-04T03:20:00.000-07:00

As I usually do, I now tone the canvas with a warm tone of burnt sienna and cadmium red, mixed with a large quantity of mat medium. This allows the mixture to remain quite transparent, there by preserving my sketch beneath. At this point I am using acrylic paint, because it dries very quickly. After I complete my initial underpainting, I will switch to alkyd paint, a type of oil medium which I do my finished paintings with most often. It is fine to paint over acrylic paint with oil based paints, but never the other way around.