i love lighthouses, i think they are romantic and mysterious; saviour of lives, witness to nature's wiles, and majestic. when i started 365 i wanted to go around the province and take photos of lighthouses and to my dismay, ontario doesn't have working lighthouses, or any lighthouse at all. surely, i said, even the islands would have one. sure enough i found out that the islands indeed have one, but one that is not working. and even harder to find.
i've scoured the islands quite a few times in different seasons and different times of day and only in 2015 did i "find" it. well, it was there all along but just dwarfed by trees, right in the middle of the island clusters. and it was by accident that i found it. and i was disappointed because i thought it was the ugliest lighthouse i've ever seen!
built in 1808, it is the oldest existing lighthouse around the great lakes and one of toronto's oldest buildings. apparently, it is noted for the mysterious death/murder of its first keeper which occurred in 1815.
and it is a bitch to paint because of all those white brick tile details. the photograph i took looks a lot better than this of course. it took me three days to paint just the lighthouse which fortunately i finished before i had my second dose or it would've been another abandoned project piling up in the corner of my living room.
i plan to add to my collection at least four more lighthouses from my photographs, which includes two canadian ones.
First of all: a photo 8s not a painting. And viceversa.
That aside, T H I S I S S U P E R C A L I F R A G I L I S T I C E X P I A L I D O C I O U S!
You master not only the the brick work, which is stunning, but also the vegetation around...
You have a YES from me. You go to the grand finale directly.
It is lovely, Vikki. Your painting looks like a photo, so real. I have a friend in Annapolis-Royal Nova Scotia who raised money to restore the lighthouse there. It’s white and red and just beautiful.
@monikozi@30pics4jackiesdiamond@casablanca@wakelys@jacqbb - artsies, you flatter me so. have you seen the works of Arkhip Kuindzhi, a ukrainian-greek painter. he's a realist painter and i was looking at his works and was really amazed by them. i have a photo of a lighthouse in maine, USA, that i shot years ago, and the background of that lighthouse was disappearing in heavy fog that is hard or impossible to emulate in a painting. kuindzhi's foggy sunset and foggy beach paintings are to die for. too bad, he's long ago died so we can't know the technique to do those paintings. of course, he painted in oil which i wouldn't touch no matter what.
@summerfield This is wonderfully painted. My compliments on the brick work and the foliage! Oil paint is in a lot of ways much more forgiving than acrylics. For me its mayor selling point is that it dries much slower……so I’m used to working on multiple canvasses, because patience is not my strong point 😂
Wow Vikki, this is fabulous. You've done an amazing job on the brickwork. I quite like the shape of this lighthouse and the fact that it's a bit different - not at all ugly :)
The texture of the canvas adds much to the overall perfection of this painting. I agree with the others about the fabulous intricate detail you have captured. I totally agree with @jacqbb About the use of oils. I feel like with your talent it would be an excellent medium for you. As for painting fog I am surprised you think it’s difficult.There seems to be nothing you can’t faster!
@jacqbb@summerfield Ahhhaaahaaaa.... patience is not her strong point!!! And she painted the fur of the hare... and the feathers of the birds... By the way, Jacqueline, did you paint the whiskers on the hare (not sure if you updated on that and I missed it?!)
@monikozi - and don't forget that she painted those window and leaves details in her alhambra painting which was so gorgeous, the bar was set too high and i have to eat a lot of chocolate to measure up to her standard of skills and excellence. @jacqbb
and if my memory is right (which it rarely is) she did complete the hare painting, whiskers and all.
@summerfield i've long ceased to measure up to any skills, including mine. Too consuming and pointless. I just enjoy when something turns out nice. (Which is really hard if i do nothing... lately)
You certainly mastered that brickwork, and the shrubs are superb. The texture had be perplexed - but I think it is the texture of the paper you are painting on? Looking good.
@helenhall - i use stretched canvas for most of my paintings. when i use watercolour, i just use watercolour paper. thanks, helen. and i'm mighty glad you're back.
Such an interesting looking lighthouse. Your painting has done it justice. I had to look twice to make sure that it was indeed a painting. So in your own words my friend - Aces!
That aside, T H I S I S S U P E R C A L I F R A G I L I S T I C E X P I A L I D O C I O U S!
You master not only the the brick work, which is stunning, but also the vegetation around...
You have a YES from me. You go to the grand finale directly.
and if my memory is right (which it rarely is) she did complete the hare painting, whiskers and all.