Double Portrait WIP 4

Hi everyone

Sorry about the delay but I havent been well. I have been allowed home from hospital today for a couple of hours and managed to do a little more painting. It was good to hold a brush again. I miss the joy of creating. Most of the progress that you can see was done last weekend gradually defining the features on the mom's face. Today I have only done her sweater. There is still lots to do particularly shading on her neck and of course her hair but I have to go back to the hospital now so the painting will have to wait until I am discharged. I hope its not too long because I have an idea for the next in my orange murder mystery series and i'm really keen to get started. I think a sketch pad may well be making its way back to the hospital with me so I can try out some ideas.

Ona

Double Portrait WIP 3

I've finished painting the daughter now apart from a couple of small touch ups. I'm afraid I can't get her hair in my photo looking like it does in the real painting. I think the camera picks up on all the colours that I have used because her hair is made up of many layers of fine brushstrokes and then washed with clear water to soften it. I decided to finish the daughter before doing any more work on Mom because this now gives me some value references to help me get her skin tones correct.. at least that's my theory.


Ona

Double Portrait WIP 2

Today I began developing the skin tones on both the mom and daughter. I have only completed the first 4 layers on mom's face though so she still looks a little orange. I had great fun on the daughter's face developing the different skin tones to help suggest the glass in her glasses. I also used a wash of clear water over the whole area to soften her features to make them appear behind the glass. I still have a little work to do on her mouth and eye brows but I think other than this her face is done. Tomorrow I am hoping to start her shirt.


Ona

Double Portrait WIP

I am progressing well with the painting. I decided to create a traditional dark studio style background. This was a challenge because I am using hot press paper. I glazed multiple layers of colour to create a mottled effect and had to wait nearly 90 minutes between layers for the paint to totally dry before rewetting and applying the next glaze to avoid creating a muddly mess. Once the background was complete I then started to underpin the facial features of mom and daughter. They both look a funny colour at this stage but the skin tones are yet to be added. At least they are starting to look recognisable.

Ona

Pet and Portrait Commission

First I would like to wish you all a very
Happy New Year!

As you can see I have been busy over the last couple of weeks painting a commission for my client of her daughter and her dog. I have really enjoyed the opportunity to paint a dog again. Its been a while since I last did the one of my dog Harry with my son. Each dog has such a wonderfuly individual character and its great fun trying to convey this on paper.

My next project is one that is very special to my heart and involves a double portrait. I am really looking forward to it.

Artist at work

I've finally finished.

The last part of the painting was the painting within the painting. For this I wanted to convey that feeling of a creation in progress. The painting is of Niagara falls in the winter... the subject is not really important to all of us but hopefully is to Denis himself. We paint best what is dear to our hearts or that we have a connection to in some way and I know how much Denis loves the sheer beauty of the ice formations on the falls in the winter so it seemed just right that he would want to capture this on paper. For the rest of us artists the importance lies more in the fact that Denis, like us, is in engrossed in the creation itself, revelling in the rollercoaster of emotions as he paints. Hopefully our eye is drawn from Denis's face to his hand and down through the paintbrush to the painting but the painting itself is not the primary focus so i didnt want to paint in too much detail or use colours that were wildly different to the rest of the painting. This is why I had chosen to use the same colours for his clothes as the painting.

Thanks for following along with me. Its been nice to have company while I painted.

Ona

Artist at work WIP 4

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season. I have managed to fit in odd times to paint and have now finished Denis's hair and begun the initial washes on the table. Just the wood grain to add and then the Denis in my painting can begin to paint his picture.

Ona

progress report

I have now finished the clothes so thought I would post an update for you to see. I am now going to work on the detail on Denis's face and glasses. I hope I was be able to post another update soon.

Ona

Slow Progress

Hi everyone,

Sorry its been so long. I haven't done much more to the painting this last month as you can see but I am going to try to get back to it over the next few days. This was going to be my christmas card this year. I guess now it will have to be a New Years card instead. I hope it will be worth the wait. To you especially Denis, thank you for your patience in waiting for this painting to be finished. Hopefully painting it will help me feel stronger and more able to deal with everything.

Thank you for all your kind caring e mails cards and messages over the last month. They have all helped so much.

Ona

A portrait of Denis WIP 1

I thought it was about time I posted my progress here. I have now basically finished the skin tones on the face and hands. I am now going to work on the areas that I need to add a little more detail on. I have a WIP on Wet Canvas here if any of you want to know how I have got this far.

Ona

Mini meet of artists inspires an idea for a painting

A very special artist JJ from Australia came over to Ontario last weekend and a group of us from Ontario held a meet at my house to welcome her.

It was a fun day with plenty of opportunity for discussions about art and anything really



but we managed to squeeze in some painting time too



As James and I were sifting through the photo's James suggested that an artist at work would make a great portrait study. Capturing the concentration, the creativity, the whole 'lost in the moment' thing. An excellent idea, I thought so after a couple of days working on the outline this is what I have decided upon. The person in the painting is a very dear friend Denis keegan. Denis I hope you will enjoy watching your portrait come to life





Ona

Grubs Up

Hi everyone,

I managed to finish the mother bird today and add in the last few shadows so here is the finished painting and the story that goes with it.


Life at the moment is more than a little crowded in the barn swallows nest. The babies are growing fast. Their baby down has almost gone and they will soon be ready to leave the nest. The lack of space at the moment makes feeding time especially challenging. Each time a parent returns there is a tussle for the prime feeding spot as a sea of mouths opened wide. As mum returns once again with some food the two most well behaved babies of the family are sat nicely at the front of the nest with their fluffy little wings neatly folded beside them. They would not dream of pushing their siblings out of the way. They have their mouths wide open ready to be fed just as their mother has told them to do. The most demanding of the family however is determined to be noticed and to get his beak in front of them. The oldest baby is feeling fed up because he is not being offered the food this time. In his annoyance he decides to block the baby of the family from getting closer to the food. For the baby there is simply ‘no room at the inn’

Ona

Grubs up WIP 6

I have been busily working on the rest of the background over the last couple of days. The wood grain has taken me a while but thankfully it's nearly done, just some shadowing left to do and then I can focus on the mother bird. I am hoping that I'll manage to finish her in a day or two.

Ona

'Grubs Up' WIP 5

I have managed to get some more of the painting done today. Creating the mud pellet and straw nest was a challenge because I wanted to suggest this unique texture but not encourage the viewer to focus in on it too much as the mother and 5 baby birds are of course the centre of interest in the painting. I have a little adjusting to do to it in a few areas but it is nearly done. I have also begun painting the mother bird. I really want to capture the huge difference in appearance between the mum and the 5 babies. Although the babies colouring is largely the same as their mum, they are still much fluffier and plumper. In contrast their mother is sleek and elegant in appearance with muscular shoulders ready to power her in flight as she swoops to catch food for her young.

Ona

Grubs Up WIP 4

All 5 baby barn swallows are now painted. The last one is the most demanding of the family. He is determined to be noticed and to get his beak in front of the others. It has been fun creating their little characters and accentuating their features to convey their personalities. I now need to focus on their nest.

Ona