Tag: Valleyfield

Painting, Sketches / Drawings / Paintings, Watercolour

:: Paroles de Migwetch ::

by Jane Hannah11 Comments on :: Paroles de Migwetch ::

Si la vie était dure je jure
que je ne l’ai jamais su
Je n’ai de regret que celui de mon âge
et ce jeune cœur de moi est intact
Le mal qu’on m’a fait est écrit dans le sable
et le bien est gravé dans le roc
Souffle ce vent de haine
ma peau est feuille de chêne
Je suis si seule parfois
parfois si souvent
souvent toujours
Je ne serai plus l’architecte des nuages
ni de vos existences
Vos beaux yeux noirs déposés sur mon visage
comme une récompense
J’irai rejoindre sous la feuille
mon bien-aimé
si doux celui
qu’un jour m’a dit
Pour toute la vie
— Richard Desjardins, partie de la chanson Paroles de Migwetch

I went to visit my 92 year old Mom today and as usual she was in very good spirits. She seems to have adjusted very well to her new residence on Dufferin Street in Valleyfield and enjoys the company of her girlfriends. She keeps telling me that she has a 19-year old boyfriend — always laughing out loud as she tells me… and I almost faint every time that she says so! Of course this is a joke! This painting is on the backstreet to where I lived for 9 years with my young husband… very good memories of those days gone by…

When I scan my paintings it (Epson) seems to dull the colours a bit and I always want to have the scan look as much as possible to the real painting. So the steps that I take in Photoshop are the following.
a) I scan at 300 dpi for my high resolution image;
b) I then do –> auto tone –>auto contrast –> auto color” which gives me good results, even though the colours become too vibrant
c) I then open –> Layer –> New adjustment layer –> Levels and then I move the mid-adjustment gamma to 1.15 instead of the mid value of 1.0
d) I also open –> Layer –> Color Balance- -> where I put the yellow slider to +0.15 and the red slider to +0.15. This combination seems to work well for most paintings that I do, except for the black and white ones of course.
d) I save my image –>international date.paint subject.myname.jpg
e) I flatten the image and then resize the resolution to 100 dpi;
f) I save again adding –>loRes add the end of the filename and this is the one that I post.

I am listening to the music of Rectify on Spotify, a TV show that still resonates with me!

20171210-behind-Maden-Valleyfield-jane-hannah-loRes

Paper: Travelogue Sketchbook 8″x8″ #22
Watercolours: DS Q. Gold, DS Pyrrol Crimson, MG Ultramarine, DS Raw Sienna, WN Burnt Sienna
Fountain Pen: Platinum Carbon Desk
Ink: Noodlers Lexington Grey
Reference photograph taken in Valleyfield

 

Sketches / Drawings / Paintings

Growth & Learning :: Croissance & apprentissage

by Jane Hannah4 Comments on Growth & Learning :: Croissance & apprentissage

“I think that one’s art is a growth inside one. I do not think one can explain growth. It is silent and subtle. One does not keep digging up a plant to see how it grows.” 
― Emily Carr

As I was painting this house, I suddenly realized that my brush was almost dry! And when you are painting in water colour, your brush is supposed to be wet? So this house was totally ruined by “dry-brushing” instead of water brushing (if that term exists). So looking down at my painting, I decided to put big blobs of water colour, invigorating the house as the water colours did their own thing -) So to me this is learning… the problem is that I often forget what I have learnt! I also wanted to mention that I have just received the Platinum Desk Pen EF DP1000AB which is the finest pen that I have ever owned… it is really nice and the ink flows freely.

Comme je peignais cette maison, je me suis soudain rendue compte que mon pinceau était presque à sec! Et quand vous peignez avec de l’aquarelle votre pinceau ne doit pas être sec, comme le mien était (le terme aqua est très clair? De l’eau?)! Il doit être chargé d’eau et de peinture. Donc, en regardant ma peinture, j’ai décidé de charger au maximum mon pinceau d’aquarelle, et de risquer de ruiner la maison — et j’ai laissé la peinture faire ce qu’elle doit faire. Avec de l’aquarelle, on doit laisser aller, pas essayer de contrôler le tout. Je suis fort contente d’avoir appris de quoi  — le problème est que j’oublie souvent ce que j’apprends!!! Je voulais aussi mentionner que je viens de recevoir plume fontaine Platinum Pen EF DP1000AB qui est le stylo le plus fin que j’ai jamais possédé … il est vraiment sympa et l’encre coule à flot.

Paper: Handbook Travelogue Series, grand portrait size
Colours: Aureolin Yellow, Burnt Sienna, Alizarin Crimson & Cobalt Blue
Fountain Pen: Platinum Desk Pen EF DP1000AB
Ink: Noodlers’ Lexington Grey
Location: My mother’s home on the waterfront of beautiful Lake St. Francis, Valleyfield, Québec, Canada

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Sketches / Drawings / Paintings

Numbered Memories :: Mémoires chiffrés

by Jane Hannah8 Comments on Numbered Memories :: Mémoires chiffrés

Créer, c’est vivre deux fois
— Albert Camus

Today is a memorable day for my husband and I. Thirty-two years of going out together, 30 years of living together and 16 years of marriage. Ten years of living in Rigaud, 323 painting posts, with an army of black flies waiting for us, just outside our door… life is good!

Aujourd’hui est une journée mémorable pour mon conjoint et moi. Il y a trente-deux ans nous avons commencé à sortir ensemble, 30 ans de vie commune et 16 ans de mariage. Dix ans de vie sur la belle montagne de Rigaud, 323 peintures publiés sur mon blogue et une armée de mouches noires qui nous attendent à notre porte… la vie est belle!

Paper: Travelogue Handbook Sketchbook
Colours: Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Mayan Blue and Burnt Umbar
Fountain Pen: Pilot Prera F
Ink: Noodlers’ Lexington Grey
Location: Besner Clock on Victoria Street in Valleyfield

20140503_30Years

 

Sketches / Drawings / Paintings

Intertwined :: Entrecroisés

by Jane Hannah2 Comments on Intertwined :: Entrecroisés

These two trees seem to have lived for a very long time, side by side, looking over the beautiful Lake St. Francis (now thawing) and perhaps having at one moment in time, only the wind, birds and a few human beings passing by them. Now there is a booming sailboat club right next to them, an asphalt road and many passersby. Times change but these type of friendships last. The snow is receding at a very good rate and we can start seeing water appearing on the still frozen lakes — finally!

Ces deux arbres semblent avoir vécu depuis bien longtemps, un à côté de l’autre, regardant le très beau lac St-François (qui est toujours gelé). Dans leur passé, ils étaient tout probablement accompagnés du vent, de la pluie, du soleil et quelques humains qui passaient. De nos jours, ils côtoient le club de voile de Valleyfield, avec une route en asphalte passant devant et beaucoup de personnes en balade. Les temps changent mais les amitiés, des fois, restent. Finalement la neige descend, oohhhh que lentement et sûrement, et l’eau commence à apparaître sur les lacs toujours glacés.

Paper: Handbook Travelogue Sketchbook
Colours: Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna & Cobalt Blue
Fountain Pen: Pilot Prera F
Ink: Noodlers’ Lexington Grey
Location: Parc Marcil in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Québec, Canada

20140412_IntertwinedTrees

Sketches / Drawings / Paintings

Shadows :: Ombres

by Jane HannahLeave a Comment on Shadows :: Ombres

“Art actually happens somewhere in the space between clarity and ambiguity, concept and intuition, thought and feeling.” 
― Bert Dodson, Keys to Drawing

I have been pondering on the quality of shadows and how to paint them and one of my Belgian WordPress friends came to the rescue. She did a bit of research and found that to have an acceptable colour for the shadows, in principle we mix three colours: the darkest shadow tone of the object with its complementary and some blue. I tried it today and she is right! Yeah! I am very happy as I have been struggling with my shadow colours. Merci Christine! This apartment building stands on the rue Champlain in front of Jamunik in Valleyfield and it was a beautiful spring day today — finally starting to get warmer.

Ça fait des lunes que j’ai de la misère à trouver la bonne couleur pour mes ombres et une de mes amies WordPress de la Belgique est venue à mon secours. Pour obtenir une couleur correcte de l’ombre on mélange en principe 3 couleurs : la tonalité la plus sombre de l’objet, sa complémentaire et du bleu. Et ça l’a fonctionné Christine — merci -) Ce bloc appartements est situé sur la rue Champlain, just en face de la Librairie Jamunik à Valleyfield. C’était une superbe journée de printemps aujourd’hui — finalement le temps se réchauffe -)

Paper: Handbook Travelogue Sketchbook
Colours: Q. Gold, Q. Deep Gold, Alizarin Crimson & Cobalt Blue
Fountain Pen: Pilot Prera F
Ink: Noodlers Lexington Grey

20140309_ChamplainStreet

Sketches / Drawings / Paintings

Corner of Du Marché Street :: Coin rue Du Marché

by Jane HannahLeave a Comment on Corner of Du Marché Street :: Coin rue Du Marché

When I was very very young, my mother had told me that I could not go further than this corner… I remember full well one day of setting foot on the “other” side of that corner — the forbidden one!

Je me rappelle, étant très très jeune, que ma mère m’avait dit que je ne pouvais pas dépasser ce coin! Le coin de la rue Du Marché et du Chemin Larocque… je me rappelle très bien de la journée que j’ai déposé le pied sur le territoire “interdit”.

Paper: Travelogue Handbook Sketchbook
Colours: Alizarin Yellow, Q. Deep Gold, French Ultramarine & Alizarin Crimson
Fountain Pen: Pilot Penmanship EF
Ink: Noodlers’ Lexington Grey

20140308_DuMarche_ChLarocque

Sketches / Drawings / Paintings

Winter solstice :: Solstice d’hiver

by Jane HannahLeave a Comment on Winter solstice :: Solstice d’hiver

“Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish.” 
― Hermann Hesse

After our -25ºC temperatures, we received flurries, freezing rain, freezing pellets and a very slippery and grey day. It is the winter solstice… the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, and the longest one in the southern hemisphere. I always look forward to this day as it gives me hope! Hope that tomorrow the day will grow longer and that Spring is coming… slowly but surely.

Aujourd’hui nous avons reçu de la neige, du verglas, du grésille et c’était la plus courte journée de l’hiver — ceci me réjouit — à partir de demain, les journées rallongent et le printemps s’en vient, à petits pas, tout doucement… mais sûrement!

Paper: Larolan Sketchbook II
Colours: Cobalt Blue, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Orange and White Gouache
Pen: Pilot Penmanship EF
Ink: Noodlers Lexington Gray

20131221_Valleyfield

Sketches / Drawings / Paintings, Urban Sketching

Two for one :: Deux pour un

by Jane Hannah6 Comments on Two for one :: Deux pour un

Went to my parents house today and painted my bedroom that I had in my teens… any teen would love to have this type of room. Separate from the house, right on the waterfront! It was quite wonderful.

I really overworked the first painting today… I kept going back to it and adding and adding… so it created a huge mess even though the bones are good. It is not fresh as watercolours should be.

Colours: Cobalt Blue, New Gambodge, Raw Sienna, Burnt Umber, Alizarin Crimson
Paper:  Trav•e•logue series watercolor journals by Hand•book Journal Co.
Size: 8.25″ x 8.25″

20130717_Bedroom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second painting I did was from memory back home… I was not on the premises anymore and just painted it from memory. And the memories sent me to my teen years, the way that it looked way back then. Very intriguing to me. I used exactly the same colours for the two paintings, but they turned out quite differently. The only colours that I added to the previous colour combination was Serpentine Green. Let me know which one that you prefer?

Colours: Cobalt Blue, New Gambodge, Raw Sienna, Burnt Umber, Alizarin Crimson, Serpentine Green

20130717_Bedroom2

 

Sketches / Drawings / Paintings, Urban Sketching

Lake Breeze :: La brise de l’eau

by Jane HannahLeave a Comment on Lake Breeze :: La brise de l’eau

Today I spent some time at my parents’ house with my dog, chatting, giving each other philosophical points of view and painting at the same time–nice! There was a wonderful breeze on the waterfront and no “bibittes”… very different from where I live — as in the forest there is no wind and alot of “bibittes”. For those of you who do not know the québécois term, “bibittes” mean flying bugs that bite or harass you.

Aujourd’hui j’ai passé du temps avec mes parents… en jasant en prenant notre lunch, e philosophant un petit peu et en peignant. Il y avait une brise douce qui venait du lac et pas de “bibittes” qui est tout à fait différent de chez moi où il n’y a jamais de vent avec beaucoup de bibittes.

Colours: French Ultramarine, News Gambodge, Raw Sienna, Burnt Umber
Paper:  Trav•e•logue series watercolor journals by Hand•book Journal Co.
Size: 8.25″ x 8.25″
20130706_ParentsView

 

Sketches / Drawings / Paintings, Urban Sketching

Montreal Cotton Co. :: La coton

by Jane Hannah2 Comments on Montreal Cotton Co. :: La coton

This is how we named this company when I was young… “la coton” or the Montreal Cotton which transformed raw cotton into textile. This company came to Valleyfield in 1875 because of its hydroelectric power and Valleyfield was one of the first cities to receive electricity in the province of Quebec. It had 3000 employees and they also had a dairy and animal farm which they named “MoCo” (abbreviated for MOntreal COtton). On October 1st, 1900 employees went on strike in order to get better wages. If this story interests you, click on this LINK.

La “coton” ou la Montreal Cotton était une compagnie de textile qui s’implanta en 1875 à Valleyfield à cause de son pouvoir hydro-électrique. Il y avait 3000 employés. Le 1er octobre 1900 ils sont allés en grève pour avoir de meilleurs salaires. Si ce sujet vous intéresse voir ce LIEN.

Watercolours: Winsor & Newton and Daniel Smith
Couleurs: Cobalt Blue, Burnt Orange, Alizarin Crimson
Pen: Pilot FlexiGrip
Ink: Noodlers Lexington Grey

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