Dutton Facade

Sometimes, when I’m running errands, I see something that catches my eye and I try to snap a picture or make a quick sketch to use later. This building is typical for small towns in my area. When the photo was taken I thought the crumbling building breaking through the weathered paint might make for an interesting composition. I didn’t realize there was a cat in the window. It was a happy surprise when I looked at the shot later and saw it basking in the sun. The painting is rendered in acrylic on board. It’s only 8 inches by 10 inches so it’s fairly simple. I wanted the piece to be more about capturing the feeling of a sun-drenched Southwestern Ontario afternoon rather than a faithful reproduction of the photo.

Crow Study

This blog post was originally shared on my old studio blog on August 19, 2019.

This crow study was completed in my small (5 1/2 by 8 in) sketchbook. Rather than using a pigment (ink) pen this image was rendered with a brush, Speedball Super Pigmented Acrylic Ink, and acrylic paint. Using a brush with the acrylic ink allows for the opportunity to make a variety of marks without changing tools. The super black ink is highly opaque when undiluted but I also used it as a wash here to create different tones. I opted to work from dark to light and layered acrylic paint on top of the ink to flesh out the image.