Last weekend (May 21st), was my first outing of the season with the London Plein Air Group.  We visited the lovely Full Circle Ranch. 

Given my focus on improving my drawing skills, I decided to tackle something a bit more challenging... a tractor!  My nephew Lachlan LOVES tractors (I can't understate how much he loves them), so he was in my thoughts as I worked on this one.  

I got a good start on location, and finished it up in the studio.  It has been interesting experimenting with oils. I am definitely developing a preference for oils when I am paint outdoors.  

After a HOT weekend here in Southern Ontario - this painting might help cool you down.  Inspired from a photo my sister-in-law Cassie took, this painting depicts a sun setting on a crisp winter day.  

Oil paint... here is the first oil painting I have done in many years.  Despite our long time apart, oils were actually my first painting medium.  I have fond memories of sitting at my grandma Mackay's kitchen table with her oil paints.

Coming back to the present, I decided to start with water-soluble oils so I wouldn't have to worry about solvents.  I'm still on the fence ... oils vs acrylics?  Both have pros and cons.  So far here is my pro/con list:

Acrylics Pros/Oil Cons

• Quick drying allows for easy/timely varnishing of paintings before they are shipped out
• Due to the long drying time of oils (6-12 months to fully dry) - I'm not sure I would be able to varnish before selling.  Also, I am still trying to figure out how long to wait before I could ship them to new customers.  I think a month should suffice for the painting to be dry to the touch. 
• To the best of my understanding, acrylics shouldn't yellow over time.

Oils Pros/Acrylic Cons

• I love the slow drying time of oils - with allows for easier softening of painting edges.  Due to acrylics quick drying time, it's trickier to soften edges (i.e. can end up with too many hard edges in the painting).

I plan to continue experimenting with both oils and acrylic and let time help me decide which will be my primary medium.  If anyone has any thoughts on the oil vs. acrylic debate... drop me a comment below!

Hello friends!  While I haven't posted new paintings for awhile, I have been plugging away at my art.  I have been working on my online Watts Atelier Course and also started attending some life drawing classes at the Arts Project in London, Ontario.  Additionally, with the nice weather- I hope to get out and do some plein air work soon (with the London Plein Air Group!). 

I am delighted to share this painting with you!  Inspired by an Arizona sunset, this is the first in my new series of sunset paintings.  More paintings to follow in coming weeks. 

 My sister Amy and I visited Arizona this past February... so I decided to included a few photos from our trip below.  One of the highlights of the trip was purchasing a painting by talented artist Cody DeLong.