I am barely down to the last of the leftover Hallowe’en candy and already the Christmas events are being advertised. One of the popular annual happenings in this area is the sponsored tour of selected homes. I have never gone on one of these journeys but this year I will be participating in the decoration of one of them. Shoreline Artists Group, of which I am a member, have been given the a last minute opportunity to submit artwork for one of the Dennison builder homes on the tour. The designers will select the appropriate ones for the decor. I am working feverishly to finish a canvas for this. I have included a bit of the process thus far.

I select a photo with some elements that I wanted to record during a winter walk at a local provincial park: ridge ice, birch trees, cool colours against warm.

After cropping and sketching a few different compositions, I choose one to put on the canvas with vine charcoal.

24×30 oil on canvas

The painting thus far. I have stopped at this stage to allow the ‘white’ paint to oxidize for a few days. This may not be ready for the deadline of November 17th but fingers crossed…! After this I will finish adding details of ground foliage and tree trunks and post the final result.