75 Days to Go!

Inukshuk at Whistler

Watercolour

©2009 Charlene Brown

Here’s another one of the huge inukshuks built on Whistler Mountain for the Olympics – which open in just 75 days! This one is further down the mountain than the inukshuk I wrote about February 19 and the view is in the opposite direction. Whistler Village can be seen in the valley, as well as one of the golf courses at the base of Blackcomb, some of the lower ski slopes and the top of the luge run.

Graphic Novel Artwork II

Prologue

InDesign document containing digital photomontage

©2009 Charlene Brown

I’ve been working on a comic book aka graphic novel – a fictionalized combination of some of my travel painting and workshop painting stories. Thinking that feedback from readers who are artists and illustrators would be helpful, I decided to do WIP posts on this blog. I had a lot of trouble actually getting started – until I realized there’s no rule saying you have to start at the beginning!

Finally, on September 6, I began by posting ‘Chapter 3: Calgary to Bishkek.’ After that, I worked through the plot of the story from the beginning and realized there was more than two chapters’ worth of stuff before they left Calgary.

So, I wrote this Prologue, and the Chapter formerly know as 3 became ‘Chapter 4: August 8, 2003.’ The September 6^th posting has been revised accordingly. It occurs to me that this disjointed approach isn’t really conducive to discussion, but would love to hear any comments or questions you have about these fragments of my graphic novel.

Have you been here?

St. John’s, NL
Watercolour
©2009 Charlene Brown
Have you been here? I haven’t, but the province of Newfoundland and Labrador is definitely on my bucket list.
In the meantime, I’ve pieced together some pictures of the provincial capital, St. John’s – Signal Hill, the harbour, the colourful houses, and the icebergs that occasionally get this far south – unimpeded by any realistic knowledge of how they actually line up.

Exploring Roman Africa II

--> Ptolemais, Libya
Watercolour and computer painting
©2007 Charlene Brown
Originally one of the five cities of the 7^th Century BCE Libyan Pentapolis, Ptolemais was conquered by Alexander the Great in the 4^th Century BCE (and passed to his General, Ptolemy - hence the name), and conquered by Rome in the 1^st Century CE. 

Ptolemais was the site, in 301 CE, of an early attempt at wage and price controls – Diocletian’s Edictum De Pretiis – overlaid, in this computer painting, on the background of a watercolour of the site.

Exploring Roman Africa I

--> Zaghouan Water Temple
watercolour and ink
©2007 Charlene Brown
These paintings were completed a couple of years ago following a University of Victoria travel study program, Exploring Roman Africa. 

This one, which shows the ruins of the source of the Romans’ water supply in the Tunisian mountains, was done using photographs.

 Another painting, shown below, used a sketch I painted on the archaeological site at Uthina, as cameras were not allowed at this on-going dig. It shows the ruins of the temple, the amphitheatre and, in the distance, surviving parts of the aqueduct from Zaghouan to Carthage. 

Remembrance Day at Hatley Castle

Hatley Castle

Watercolour and ink

©2009 Charlene Brown

In 1906, B.C.'s Lieutenant Governor, James Dunsmuir, built this 40-room home in the Scottish baronial style popular in the Edwardian Period. The Dunsmuirs also created beautiful formal gardens on the estate, which is situated on a lagoon near the entrance to Esquimalt Harbour, west of Victoria.

At the outbreak of World War II, plans were made for the King and Queen and the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, to reside in Canada. Hatley Castle was purchased by the federal government in 1940 for use as their residence. However, the Royal Family decided to tough it out in London and the estate was converted into a naval training facility. The name was changed to Royal Roads Military College in 1948, and in 1995 it was designated a National Historic Site, and became Royal Roads University.

My husband was a cadet at Royal Roads when it was a Military College, and we will be attending the Remembrance Day Service there today.

An Unusual Look at Banff

Banff

Watercolour and ink

©2007 Charlene Brown

A few months ago, my daughter, who was involved with organizing the annual education conference of the Canadian Association of Genetic Counsellors, asked if she could use one of my paintings of Banff (I’ve got lots) on the conference announcement. From the various digital images I sent, she selected this one, partly because it included the Fairmont Banff Springs, where the conference is taking place this week. It’s an unusual view of Banff, looking south toward Goat Mountain – the much more famous ‘postcard’ view of Banff is in the opposite direction, north along Main St. toward Cascade.

Virtual Paintout in Halifax

Duke Street, Halifax

Watercolour and ink

©2009 Charlene Brown

I was pretty pleased to find out the Virtual Paintout is in Nova Scotia, here in Canada this month! After painting a rather complicated picture for the Belfast Virtual Paintout in October I had planned to try something simpler – but when I found this view of the Halifax City Hall surrounded by new office towers on Google Street View, I thought it was just too paintable to pass up… Maybe next time I’ll select something that doesn’t make me crazy...