Category Archives: drawing

Daily Drawings, drawing, Painting, Urban Sketching

Bits & Pieces – Summer 2022

August 3, 2022 cyn 2 Comments

We’re into August and I’ve been procrastinating about updating the blog because I didn’t think I’d done much that was blog-postable. However, now that I’ve sat here for a while, turns out there may be some bits that just make the grade. Just.

Ongoing: I believe I’ve moaned about trying to make my work a little more dynamic. I continue to do value studies, particularly as I hope to attempt some larger foliage-type pieces soon. Soonish. Here’s a small study and a small watercolour study of the same subject.

Nitobe Gardens - Bridge, value study in pencil

Urban Sketching – Made it to the local Farmer’s Market and listened to the Band!

Holidays – Had a pleasant sojourn in the Interior with family – and drew their house. Random Bits – I take so many photos of things that momentarily pique my interest – the sunflower garden at VanDusen was particularly fascinating last December. I did a quick watercolour and ink sketch from a photo and, although the blue wash in the background is regrettable, (mistakes are learning moments, right? ) I still like the image.

caricatures, Cartoons, Daily Drawings, drawing, illustration

The “R” word

May 12, 2022 cyn 4 Comments

I’m trying to avoid saying the “R” word. It’s so final. I’m happy about it though – I have time at last to do my own thing, any time, any where, without worrying about spreadsheets, documents, booking meetings on Zoom and trying to get all that office stuff done without screwing up. I’m Done.

One thing I do recognize though, is the need for a bit of routine so for now it’s art in the a.m., my “work” time. I have some bigger projects lined up for myself and have almost got back into the daily drawing habit – see “Pedestrians” and the “Tulip Bed” below. There’s also plenty of fun stuff to do to keep members of my family entertained. And I am not averse to considering craft art – thus the amigurumi bunny. I think it’s smirking.

(Just in case you don’t know what the “R” word is, it’s . . . retirement . . .)

Cartoons, drawing, Photography

Family

January 23, 2022 cyn 4 Comments

A friend recently send me a jpg of a wedding photo of her grandparents to see if I could “do anything”. I love a challenge but when I looked at this I wondered… The image was roughly cut out of a larger photo and was somewhat damaged. And old. I thought about digitally painting in missing parts, but in the end, I decided to enhance what was there and blend it into a recreated background.

Here’s the original:

And here’s the final:

I hope Baba and Deda would be proud.

Were there holidays last month? I think so and I think I experienced them because 2 new seasonal card images were dreamed up for 2021 based on a couple of surprise visitors:

Hope you had a nice holiday season!

Daily Drawings, drawing

Fall…

November 9, 2021 cyn 1 Comment

…and the fungi are everywhere. At this time of year, Nitobe Memorial Garden is loaded with all sorts of interesting fungi. I drop in often enough (it’s near work) to check the progress of things that grow.

A little toadstool, Nitobe Garden — Watercolour washes, pen

A little Toadstool opening up — Watercolour pencil washes and a dash of red

Here’s one more quick study that has become a favourite.

Student on campus. Watercolour and pen. — Watercolour washes, pen

Daily Drawings, drawing, Painting

End of Summer

August 31, 2021 cyn Leave a comment

August is the fastest month of the year. This year, at least in my neck of the woods, it was the month with a bit of a reprieve. The weather cooled down, we finally got some rain, and the fires burned with a little less intensity. Covid didn’t though – it’s still burning through.

With all the turmoil, Lori and I have managed to more or less keep up our daily drawing practice. We’ll also be posting another little “gallery” of new top ten favourites at some point. Maybe.

Here are a couple of recent daily drawings by myself and also one of Lori’s that I particularly like.

An energetic watercolour sketch by Lori Fillo:

And, finally, I actually managed to finish a painting. I’ve been slowly working on it over the past several months. (That’s my mother standing there.)

Alouette Lake, Acrylic on paper, 30″ x 22.5″/76cm x 57cm

work in progress