Roses are beautiful flowers, but they are a challenge to paint or draw because of all the petals. To color a rose involves layering the colors one on top of the other until the surface is completely covered, a process called layering and burnishing. With lots of patience and hard work, simple basic techniques can produce a realistic rose or any flower for that matter.
I took several long drives outside the city last month, to have a look at the Canola Fields. In some fields, the canola appear very yellow, while in others they appear a yellowish green as in this painting. No matter how one sees them, the contrast between the colors and the blue sky are stunning. I took some pictures from the side of the road on my trips and combined elements from them to create this painting. I took into account small details such as the gully with some standing water in it (probably from recent rains), broken fencing and a row of hay bales wrapped in white plastic. I'm happy with the end result.
When I first moved to Alberta, more than 30 years ago, a few things about this province really impressed me. One was the beauty of the Rocky Mountains and the other was the vastness of the Prairie landscape. The third would have to be the Aboriginal People of Alberta. Being originally from a large metropolitan city in eastern Canada, I had never seen an aboriginal person before. Only from books, television or movies, is how we really saw them when I was growing up. The year I moved to Calgary, I went to The Calgary Stampede for the first time and saw in the parade the various aboriginal tribes of southern Alberta in their full native outfits. It was an awesome sight to see and it inspired me to draw this picture in my art class.
