PLAY IN PROGRESS

LIGHTING IN A BOTTLE

I've been very much enjoying painting boats inside bottles over the last few years, so I'm going to shake things up and paint a lighthouse inside the bottle this time! The fabulous background is from a trip to Grand Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy.

Here are some progress shots of the painting that I'm currently playing on (I don't call it artwork because it's too much fun to create). The most recent shots are at the beginning, so just scroll to see how the painting came together. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Nov 23, 2022

I've given the lighthouse a proper base and am loving how the distorted background behind the lighthouse looks like a dark and stormy sky, giving the whole thing a moody feel.

Nov 19, 2022

It didn't take long to come up with the perfect title for this painting. Although I had initially liked "Lighthouse in a Bottle," it didn't take long to realize that "Lighting in a Bottle" was much better because of the fact that it played with words and against expectations.

Nov 18, 2022

I started painting the lighthouse in the bottle at the Home for the Holidays Show in Markham, Ontario.

VOYAGEUR SPIRITS

We're joining this show already in progress! I've been doing a lousy job keeping this page up to date so here's a current progress image of my latest boat in a bottle painting, this time a voyageur canoe with passengers against the background of Burleigh Falls.

Sept 18, 2022

I know that, like our children, we’re not supposed to pick our favourite paintings, but I’m not going to lie: this one has struck a chord within me.
Presenting my latest watercolour painting: "Voyageur Spirits." I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out

Sept 18, 2022

Portrait of the artist's son, hard at play. He's been asking if he can paint a part of it for days, so I finally gave him a spot...

Sept 13, 2022

I'm taking my time painting the details of the background behind the #voyageurcanoe #boatinabottle, and I'm very happy with the way it's turning out...

This will be my last post until it's finished! Probably in the week of Sept 19th!

Sept 9, 2022

More of the rock on which the #boatinabottle with the #voyageurcanoe is resting. Does it look sufficiently wet?

Sept 7, 2022

I shifted my attention away from the blurry background today to focus on the foreground (focus - get it?)

One of the challenges of this composition was to interpret the rock on which the bottle is resting as wet. Obviously, the source image made it look that way, but I'm trying to enhance aspects of it to make the wetness even more obvious. So far, I'm happy with the results.

Sept 6, 2022

The background behind the bottle will be based on pictures I took of Burleigh Falls earlier this month. Here's a chunk of that background made to look blurry in order to make the bottle and the canoe look more like models.

September 5, 2022

I was at the Kawartha Arts Festival in Fenelon on the weekend, and demonstrated watercolour painting by starting to add a background to the bottle

Summer 2022

I started this painting in July, and worked at it during several of my art shows. At this point, the bottle with the voyageur canoe and passengers is pretty much done and I will begin to add the background.

MGA SPORTSCAR COMMISSION

I'm taking a break from the snowy owl painting to play on a commission. A short while back, a gentleman approached me at one of my shows to ask if I'd be interested in doing a commission. He'd seen my painting of the old Volkswagen microbus, and wanted to know if I could do something similar with his MGA sportscar.

To personalize it, I worked with him to come up with a concept for the painting that showed his car parked in his driveway with lots of colourful Autumn leaves in behind. He also wanted to incorporate some his home, so I've put the reflection of his log home on the side of the car. In fact, it's so personal that we've even included his beloved family dog waiting patiently to go for a ride in the car!

March 16

I've got a couple things going on in tonight's progress shot. The first is a little more foliage in the upper right, and the second is that I put a dark green wash over the cabin to help it blend in a little and look more like a reflection. I'm much happier with it now.

March 15

I'm grateful that I have multiple outlets for my creativity. On days when the words just won't flow, I can get a bunch of painting done...

March 9

The ground around the #mga is starting to take shape...

March 5

I honestly don't know how I feel about the log cabin reflection yet. It kind of makes it look like there's a depression in the side of the car!
I'll continue to work with it, and maybe it will make more sense when there's more background...

March 2

The only thing left to paint on the #mga is also the most potentially difficult part since I'm going to try and experiment and show the reflection of the owner's log cabin. If I get very sad and withdrawn tomorrow, it's because the experiment didn't work.

March 1

I still have to adjust the colours of the shadows a little, and do a smoothing wash, but here is the gist of the #mga's colour scheme...

Feb 26

Today, I got a start at adding the colour to the #mga. It's promising to be a challenge because the high gloss is reflecting everything around it!

Feb 24

Well, I think we have a good idea as to what this #mga would look like if it was white!

Feb 23

I sometimes will shy away from the opportunity to paint commissions out of concern that I might not connect with the subject. I like subjects that I resonate with and can find a passion within, and my paintings are better for it.

I'm happy to say that I'm feeling that connection with this particular commission. It's taking me right back to the heady days when I first discovered that I could paint and there weren't enough hours in the day.

Feeling grateful for the opportunity.

Feb 21

Today, I got a start at painting the car in my #mga commission. I thought I'd start with the main grill. I've never painted chrome before, and am very pleased with the results.

Feb 20

One last progress shot tonight showing the completed car with the bespoked wheel (that's a word, right?)

Feb 20

Now that the pet portion of my MGA commission is done, I can move on to the car. First, to pencil it in...

Feb 19, 2021

I don't usually do pet portraits, but my client wanted to know if I could paint his beloved family dog into the painting looking like he's eager to go for a ride...

SNOWY OWL

Just as I was thinking about getting back into painting, a friend of mine posted an awesome picture of a snowy owl online, and I was inspired! This will be a big painting (30" by 22"), and will depict a rural agricultural scene with lots of split-rail fences!

Dwayne R. James

Watercolourist & Writer

LIGHTING IN A BOTTLE

Play in Progress

VOYAGEUR SPIRITS

MGA SPORTSCAR COMMISSION

SNOWY OWL