Back On-line - September 17, 2015

Hello all
Sorry for not posting for a while I was very ill. Just undergone a liver transplant here in BC Canada.
Thanks to a matching donor things have gone extremely well so far.

I do also want to thank all the doctors, nurses, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and supporting staff at both Vancouver General and St Pauls hospitals for their tremendous work and care.

The transplant seems to have bern a success and I am now working on recovery and mobility. At this time I am still at VGH until I can stand on my own two feet and be somewhat self sufficient ready to go home.
I must also thank specially my sister-in-law and my brother for their incredible help during this time. My sister-in-law just jumped on a plane from Toronto and dedicated herself to support me until I have recovered. This is a long term commitment that I have really appreciated. Thanks to all my friends that have supported me through this. I have a second chance now.

I was very fortunate that a liver match was found so quickly and made available.

During the wait for the liver I was maintained three times a week through dialysis both as inpatient and outpatient at both VGH and St Paul's Hospitals. It appears at this time following the liver transplant, my kidneys seem to be responding nicely now and hopefully will be able to go on without further dialysis in the future. We shall see in the next while.

I look forward not only getting back to working again but especially back to doing artwork again.

Cheers
Dave

Blog Not Closed Just No Art Activity

Sorry  all..

It has been a while since I did any new blog entries. Partially for health reasons, partial because I have not completed any new pieces of art for a while.

I'll see if I can get back into this again and start blogging.

Cheers
Dave

Doug & Hugh's - Milwaukee Trip 2013

My old friend Doug and his pal Hugh took a motorcycle trip to Milwaukee from Sept 22 through Sept 27. Their trip was to see the Harley Davidson plant in Milwaukee. Their ride took them fron Ontario (Doug from Brampton and Hugh from Wasaga Beach) to Sarnia, to Lapeer Michigan, Muskegon Michigan, across Lake Michigan by ferry to Milwaukee.

You can follow Doug and Hugh's trip here:
Doug & Hugh's Milwaukee Trip

The following is a Sepia tone watercolour of Doug and Hugh during their trip.
22" x 18" watercolour on Fabriano Artistica 140lb Rough paper.

Step 02 - Final - Oct 06, 2013
Tried a new technique to do the face and I am not really 
happy with the outcome.

Step 01 - in progress

This was from Doug and his gang's trip in May/June 2013 to
Connecticut and Maine

F1 On Three Wheels

Mark Webber Loses Wheel In Pit Lane

Step04 - Painting In Progress 

Further painting - detail not yet added

Watercolour 16" x 28" on Fabriano Artistico 149lb Rough

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Step03 - Painting In Progress 

Roughing In

Watercolour 16" x 28" on Fabriano Artistico 149lb Rough

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Step02 - Drawing In Progress

Drawing using black watercolour and pencil

Watercolour 16" x 28" on Fabriano Artistico 149lb Rough

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Step01 - Drawing Started

Drawing using black watercolour and pencil

Watercolour 16" x 28" on Fabriano Artistico 149lb Rough

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Aston Martin GT #2

"Aston Martin GT #2"

Step03 - Further painting progress

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"Aston Martin GT #2"

Step02 - Painting in progress

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"Aston Martin GT #2"

Step01 - Drawing in Black Watercolour & Pencil

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Depicted -
#99 Aston Martin Vantage V8 [Aston Martin Racing] GTPRO
#40 Oreca-03 Nissan [Boutsen Ginion Racing Team] LMP2

Aston Martin GT

"Aston Martin GT - 2013 WEC Silverstone"

Step04 - Painting complete

27" x 14" on Fabriano Artistica 140lb Rough Watercolour paper

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"Aston Martin GT - 2013 WEC Silverstone"

Step03 - Further painting 

27" x 14" on Fabriano Artistica 140lb Rough Watercolour paper

[click for larger image]

"Aston Martin GT - 2013 WEC Silverstone"

Step02 - Painting in progress

27" x 14" on Fabriano Artistica 140lb Rough Watercolour paper

[click for larger image]

"Aston Martin GT - 2013 WEC Silverstone"

Step01 - Drawing with Black Watercolour & Pencil

27" x 14" on Fabriano Artistica 140lb Rough Watercolour paper

[click for larger image]

DTM Racing Series

"DTM Racing Series" - Audi - Driver: Rockenfeller

Step02 - Painting complete

22" x 11" on Fabriano Artistica 140lb Rough Watercolour paper

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"DTM Racing Series" - Audi - Driver: Rockenfeller

Step01 - Drawing with Black Watercolour & Pencil

22" x 11" on Fabriano Artistica 140lb Rough Watercolour paper

[click for larger image]

World Wide Sketchcrawl #39 - Part 2

World Wide Sketch Crawl

Drawing marathons from around the world. Hundreds of artists, sketchers, sketch journalists in countries around the planet sketch on the same day. The idea of SketchCrawl is that of a global drawing marathon: taking a day to journal and draw all that is around you. Everyone participates by sketching something in your environment (city, home, street) and post the sketches on the forum at http://www.sketchcrawl.com/forum/

The day is always decided by the web site creator from San Francisco, Enrico Casarosa .

This is the second sketch from my Saturday session.

"Cyclist" - colour version

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"Cyclist" - sketchcrawl #39

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World Wide Sketchcrawl #39

World Wide Sketchcrawl - Vancouver, BC - 13-Apr-2013

I had a late start today and did not get out for my "crawl" until afternoon. I was able to do sketch the sketch below, and started by doing the rough of another. The second was a cyclist, so speed was definitely a key factor, as these guys don't stay still for long. I'll see about finishing the second sketch asap as I want to use the cyclist as a base for an up-coming painting.

"Street-Sale" - Sketchcrawl#39

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Adora Project

On Saturday February 09th I began looking for something to paint. I wanted something a bit more challenging, preferably including a human figure but with some kind of theme or purpose. I just happened to be checking out some marvellous paintings on the blog site of Ramesh Jhawar and noticed he had painted a portrait of a little girl "Adora". Apparently this was his contribution to the "Adora project", a project started by her father where he has commissioned hundreds of artists to create portraits of his beautiful daughter.

This is my second portrait attempted for submission. The first entry I did needs to be re-worked as I am not happy with the result. Concept I like but not the execution. You can find the first version on the same blog site.

See my journal blog site, reference at top right of this blog.

"Adora - Sleeping Beauty"

Finished Painting in Black Watercolour & Pencil

14" x 19" Watercolour and Pencil on Arches 140lb CP paper

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"Adora - Sleeping Beauty"

Step04

14" x 19" Watercolour and Pencil on Arches 140lb CP paper

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"Adora - Sleeping Beauty"

Step03

14" x 19" Watercolour and Pencil on Arches 140lb CP paper

[click on image for larger view]

"Adora - Sleeping Beauty"

Step02

14" x 19" Watercolour and Pencil on Arches 140lb CP paper

[click on image for larger view]

"Adora - Sleeping Beauty"

Step01

14" x 19" Watercolour and Pencil on Arches 140lb CP paper

[click on image for larger view]