Been bouncing back and forth between this piece and something very different (hint; nautical).  Progress is being made on both.  Here the painting(s) are starting to look something.  Lots more refining to do but the promise I had envisioned at the beginning is starting to materialize.  I'm especially looking forward to seeing this one wrapped up so I can experiment with the space between the individual pieces when hanging it.   A decent sized wall will be required!
Be back with yet another exciting update soon, I promise! 

Finally, a new painting to show off!  This one proved to take a while, the complexity of the reflected image was indeed a challenge to pull off.
The image itself is based on the final paddle of the season around a typical lake found on the Canadian Shield.   Although the canoe and paddlers etc. are not actually seen, my goal was to communicate the unique perspective and  feeling of coasting a canoe in close to the shore, at a relaxed pace that allows lots of time for close observation. 

After realizing I had no way of supporting the joined panels, I decided a new easel was needed and commenced to fabricate one that will do the job nicely.

Once the images is sketched in, it's time to wash in a value study type foundation.  I like to do this quickly and use just one brush as much as possible.  Now it's time to get going with some real colour underpainting, pics soon!

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Why a triptych?  Well for a few reasons actually; first it is a way of scaling up to a really large painting without dealing with  the physical challenges  that accompany one huge stretched canvas (like how to get it out the door for starters!), second the design possibilities of spacing out the 3 pieces creatively to suit a particular room or viewing space, and third, because I only recently became aware of the very idea of a  spreading a painting over 3 seperate panels, who knew?

​For my first attempt I chose to depict a broad landscape scene I had been saving for the right moment.  While working away at the piece I will drop in here on occasion and report the process and progression of the painting.  I think it has the 'bones' to be a special piece (pieces)?, we will see!