Toronto skyline

Today was one of these very hot and humid days, typical for the summer in Toronto. But the breeze at the lake shore was making a whole lot of difference. We ended up walking for many kilometers along the whole bay undisturbed by the heat. It was a very pleasant walk.
This is a view of the downtown Toronto from Humber Bay Park.

Asiatic Lilies

Purple cherries

These are the first cherries I bought this year as finally their price dropped below ten dollars per kilo. Ridiculous prices, I know! Luckily I can live without this fruit. But after seeing Judy’s watercolor of cherries, I wanted to give them a try too – to paint them, that is.

Apparently I  need more reds. The only red I have is the cold quinachridone red, not counting the opaque cadmium. I used also quin. magenta and a violet, that’s why the cherries are so purple. I have to find the time for a trip to the art supply store…

Daylilies

Two small sketches

... trying to do these small landscapes quick and loose

Landscapes

Misty creek

 

Bruges 2

Foxglove

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)

There are quite a few foxgloves blooming right now in my yard and I have been trying to paint them for the last three days. They proved quite difficult for me, with too many distracting details. Here I tried to ignore the color variations and the  fascinating sprinkles on the inside of each bell and focused solely on the shapes.

Peonies

It has been a wonderful Sunday morning, sitting in the backyard, painting flowers. Beautiful weather, quiet and peaceful...
I painted these peonies while waiting for another piece to dry. Did them quickly, without drawing and they turned out much better than the other painting, which I planned and drew. Isn't this typical!?

Poppies again...

still very far from what I would have liked, but there are a few things I did right...

Poppies before the hailstorm

It has been a while since my last post.After returning from a long absence my first task was to get the garden in order. I have been thinking about the similarities between gardening and painting. You make a plan, choose plants with the right color, size, blooming time, etc. But there is much left to chance in what comes out in the end. And if you try the same combination of plants at another spot, the result is never exactly the same. 

These poppies bloomed yesterday in the backyard and today I sat outside to paint them, in a record hot weather. Half way through that process a cloud appeared, but I couldn't imagine rain on such a hot and sunny day. Well, five minutes later there was a thunderstorm and.... hail! I managed to get inside before any damage was done, but now the poppies are a sad sight. My consolation is that there are still a number of unopened buds.