A new favourite place in Banff

The Hot Pools at Hidden Ridge

Watercolour and crayon

©2014 Charlene Brown

Friends who still ski regularly have told us there’s nothing better than a soak in a hot pool after a cold day on the slopes… But I’m here to say that a soak in a hot pool about 30 years after your last cold day on the slopes is much better, especially if it’s first thing in the morning, before all those sporty Boomers arrive.

This was painted from a photo taken at about 9 am on a day when the temperature was -30 C and the pools were still in the shadow of Rundle Mountain. Isn't it just perfect!

Getting Christmas tidied away before Easter

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Christmas in Banff

Watercolour and crayon

©2014 Charlene Brown

I’ve been contemplating the demise (or maybe just the delay in starting) most of my New Year’s Resolutions... but am encouraged by the successful completion of at least one.  That is to tidy Christmas away, so I can get on with the projects that got put on hold for the holidays.

I had been planning to post this picture, painted from a photo taken during some last minute Christmas shopping, sometime next December… but then decided to use it to brag to you all that I've rounded up all the stray holly berries and parts of handmade Christmas things that fall apart, put away decorations, filed special cards and letters, and written thank you notes.  

And painted a Christmas picture.

Virtual Paintout on Cape Cod

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From Salt Works Road

Watercolour

©2014 Charlene Brown

The Virtual Paintout is on Cape Cod this month.  

I’ve never been to Cape Cod, but have often heard references to ‘Cape Cod cottage’ style… so I set off on Google Streetview with some pretty definite ideas about what features I was looking for. And I wanted the place with all the appropriate Cape Cod cottage characteristics to be rather larger than a cottage, and to have a nice ocean view.

I soon learned that most of the nice big ‘cottages’ have so many trees you can barely see the house, much less any sign of the ocean, and painted the first exception to this rule.  Here is a link to it. 

Year-end Review/The Plan for 2014

Side view of St. Mark’s in Venice

Watercolour

©2013 Charlene Brown

I agree with what Chris Guillebeau said on his Art of Non-conformity blog:  ‘We tend to overestimate what we can do in an average day but underestimate what can be done over the course of a year. Looking at a whole year in review, you may be surprised at everything you’ve accomplished… And next year, if you take this goal-setting process seriously, you may be even more surprised with how much you’ve done over the year.’ This concept has been working for me for five years now!

As I start the sixth year of 1150 Words, I hope to continue shifting from representational landscapes toward more stylized paintings. I’m planning to continue travel journaling (and, of course, traveling) as much as I can.  So far I have just one (still tentative) plan for 2014. It involves six countries, two of which I’ve never visited before.

I’ve painted every Google Streetview location presented in the Virtual Paintout this year – today’s painting is my second entry in the December 2013 location, Venice.  I plan to continue doing that and possibly adding some more night-time versions of the views I select. (Understandably, Google Streetview does not include much in the way of night scenes.)

I published Plein air Painting: the drama through Kindle Direct Publishing in April (I do not recommend this format for books with a lot of illustrations) and in paperback on Createspace  in May. I’m really pleased with the ease of use and results on Createspace. Both the Kindle version and the paperback are up on Amazon.  I’ve started a new book project, including almost 20 blog posts so far, with a working title, “The Fine Art of Physics.”

Over to the darkside again

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Vancouver after dark

Watercolour and marker

©2013 Charlene Brown

This is a night time version of a picture of Vancouver (as seen from the tower of the Vancouver General Hospital) that I painted acouple of months ago.   It required less guesswork than my previous darkside paintings, because I’ve actually seen Vancouver at night… That is not to say, however, that this is particularly realistic rendering of it.

Virtual Paintout in Venice

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Corner of Calle dello Spezier and Calle Fondamenta Megio

Watercolour

©2013 Charlene brown

The Virtual Paintout is in Venice this month  and I was lucky enough to land on this nicely composed Streetview almost immediately after I began maneuvering the Google camera boat around town.

I also had a look at one of the most frequently painted places in Venice – Basilica Di San Marco, but found the front was boarded up for restoration… But then I made the happy discovery that the side of the building, though also partly covered in protective boards and tarps, presented a very paintable design!  I’m not quite finished it, but hope to have it ready to post next week.

Another 'Darkside' painting

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Seoul in a different light

Watercolour and marker

©2013 Charlene Brown

I’ve extended the idea of painting night time versions of some of my Google Streetview ‘Virtual Paintout’ paintings to one of thelandscapes I did of Koreaa few months ago. 

Computer abstracting

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Hanging gardens of the Rockies

Watercolour and Photoshop™

©2013 Charlene Brown

I liked the abstract effect I got with Photoshop in HangingGardens of Quadra a couple of months ago, so I decided to try the same Photoshop filters on a watercolour of the top two falls in Johnston Canyon near Banff. Unlike on Quadra Island, where the gardens had ‘driftwood, ceramics, and metal sculpture combined with flowers and arrayed around rock pools or hanging from trees,’ the canyon featured an impressive, but much less structured, display of moss and icicles.