Gallow's Cove Pond

 Gallow's Cove Pond Melt Down

5 x 7    oils

Available for purchase here.

There is a hint of spring in the air lately.  Yes, its still quite cold at times. but the temperature's rising and with that the snow is slowly melting.

Ice on the lakes and ponds begins to form pools of water on the surface as the sun and warmer air transforms its winter coat back to liquid again.  The darkness of the water beneath contrasts against the pale blue of the ice surface.  Its an time of contrasts.

I pass by this and many other bodies of water on the way to and from work each day.  On the way home just as dusk was closing in, the light was hitting the water on the ice surface and starting to take the colour away from the surface and the trees which were more like silouettes than individual forms.  I stopped for a few minutes to soak in the landscape and colours, took a few photos with my cell phone then came home to paint it.

It is said that dawn and dusk are magical times for artists.  I firmly believe that.

FISH

I've had an idea simmering for awhile for a painting that could act as the front piece or banner for my work with fish and water.  I've searched around for ideas and finally came across this neon sign FISH.  It was perfect!   The photo was taken by Thad and was on stock.xchng.

This is on a half sheet of 200lb paper and I've spent some time tonight drawing it out and now comes the fun of masking the letters then starting on the background which includes diffused reflections from the neon lights.  I'm hoping the quinacridone colours will help me out a bit here and I'll experiment a little on some scrap paper to see what works best before I commit to it on a larger scale.

The image itself here needed a bit of manipulation to make it viewable online as the initial lines are quite faint on the paper.  This is why it may look a bit mechanical here.

Looking for perfection

I've got my fingers in several pies lately and am completing the last couple of pieces for my gyotaku project.  Why is it that when you have a body of work, there is always a need to replace pieces with others you feel are better?  I line them up and look at them, then take one or two out and mentally make a note to redo a print or two and try that instead in the frame.

Its a built in process for making myself crazy, but I can't help doing it.  Thank heavens I'm not a baker or the house would be full of cakes, pies, and biscuits as I strive for perfection.  Its that same little voice in my head that helps me screw up paintings too.  You know, its the "I'll just add another layer." or "I'll repaint that tiny section."  Then before you know it, you've got another piece for the never never shelf.

One of these last pieces is of  brook trout.  Despite the sedate print in pthalo blue, I wanted to hint at the colour of the actual fish and put down layers of watercolour, letting the bleed together in sections with the background.  Each print that I produce, even if its from the same fish, is entirely different and the end result is something beyond my control.  At the risk of sounding crazy, the fish and the paper tell me what to do.

Now I must finish this conversation with a brookie...

Number 3

This is the beginning of the third painting this year with a concentration on water.  This time a gannet in flight, soaring over the ocean.  This image was generously supplied by Avenue, through Wikipedia Commons.

Northern Gannets are found in Newfoundland and at Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve is one of the largest nesting colonies of gannets in the world.  If you don't mind cliffs, the view is amazing and you'll find gannets in their thousands who return to the same nest here each year.

I've pulled out my oils for this and had forgotten how lovely they are to use after fighting with acrylics for the last few paintings.  This is on 18 x 24 gallery canvas.  I had done an initial sketch for the piece to get a feel for it, then drew straight onto the canvas with thinned burnt umber and now am starting to block in shapes. I will build it from there with thin layers of paint.  I'm using just turps or Liquin for the paint when needed, but mostly applying it straight from the tube once the initial layers are down.

Its not much to look at yet, but I'm hoping it will start coming together over the next few days.

www.jeanettejobson.com

Landwash

12 x 36, acrylic

This is the completed piece that I've been working on for a couple of weeks.  I've added some glazes of colour in areas of water and foreground to bring interest to what is a rather monotone surface otherwise.  This will sit for a few days before any final adjustments, then its time to move on to the next water piece.

I've toyed with the idea of a website for several years and now have taken the plunge and added it to my marketing repetoire.  Its taken a number of hours to add content, links, etc., but I've published it knowing there is still some tweaking to do.  Websites are a work in progress and this one still has some areas for completion. The main changes that you'll see through the interconnection between blog and website are:

• I have moved larger paintings to my website and smaller ones will remain here on my blog.   
• I have provided free drawing tutorials for download on the website, which were previously available for purchase on the blog.
• Purchasing of major pieces is available on the blog, but I do not have a dedicated storefront there.  It is something I am considering.  For now, Buy Now buttons are being used that direct users to PayPal.
• another email for contacting me is available info @ jeanettejobson dot com

I'd love to hear your comments and suggestions on the site.  You can find it at:

www.jeanettejobson.com