Aaaaaaah, getting out today was great. Cloudy in the morning but then the sun came out in the afternoon and really warmed everything up.

In the morning I went to Port Moody and painted the boardwalk over a marsh, but ended up forgetting the camera. :(

Next outing took me down the road to Minnekada Park. I was able to find two areas to pull over and paint a couple great scenes. Let me know what you think in the comments.

I was able to get away in the morning to a location in Minnekada Park just in town. Great view of distant mountains with the sun shining down on me.

The aerial perspective got the better of me today, but to learn from it I will correct the values after it dries. All pressure is off with these painting when you think of them as a learning tool instead of finished paintings.

The Kunamokst mural was unveiled last Saturday, the 13th, at the West Vancouver Spirit Square in West Vancouver.

I was unable to attend the event, but I heard it went over really well. I look forward to visiting it when it moves to Galiano Island.

The mural was a collaboration of 180 artists painting individual panels that measured 12×12" each. In total the mural is 21 x 11 feet. It must be spectacular to see in person.

I have had the domain name, michaelking.ca, for about a year now and I moved my site yesterday. Everything when smoothly with only a little hiccup here and there.

Good news is that the RSS feed will stay the same so there is no need to resubscribe if you already have. If you haven't, just click the feed button on the top right of the page.

The site at artbymichaelking.com is now being forwarded to michaelking.ca but it would be best to change your bookmarks if you have them.

I have wanted to be able to draw/paint portraits for a long time. Whenever I try, the likeness and structure doesn't really come out right.

I saw a reference to the above "Planes of the Head" model in a post on WetCanvas.com. Google revealed to me the artist, John Asaro, that developed the bust. Easily enough, his site is PlanesoftheHead.com.

What makes this most interesting is that both sides of the head are different. The right side has a more chiseled cheekbone and an open eye, while the left side has a smoother cheek with a closed eye. Very versatile, IMO.

The true test will be how well it improves my understanding of the head structure and the outcome of any new portraits I try. Updates to come….

I have finished the panel for the Kunamokst Mural that will be installed on Galiano Island. It is not representational like many of the panels will most likely be. I went for the more abstract route. To me it represents three things that are west coast.

1) Ocean waves from a birds eye view with the purple representing the land

2) A salmon run up the coast with the purple representing the land

3) The scales of a sockeye salmon with the purple representing the gill plate

Here is your chance to add a Robert Genn painting to your collection. The Federation of Canadian Artists (FCA) is raffling off a painting of his titled "Copse Yoho".

Tickets are $25 each or three for $50 and can be purchased by calling 604.681.8534. The draw happens on September 24th, 2009.

Good luck everyone!!

Stage one of the panel is in complete. I mixed some molding paste and black gesso together and piled it on thick to give the painting a nice base texture. Next will be laying out the design.

I received the panel I had down as my first choice, number 201. I’ll be planning out the painting over the next week and hope to get started on it in early September.

To give more interest to the finished painting I am contemplating adding moulding paste to build up the surface and shape it like the object it is going to represent. Intrigued? More to come….

I took the plunge and am participating in a Mural Mosaic project call Kunamokst (meaning "together" in Chinook) that involves painting a 12×12" wooden panel that will be used to make up a much larger mural. When finished the mural can be seen online or in person on Galiano Island after it gets installed.

I’ve selected the three panels that I would prefer to work on and they will send me one out of my choices. I have a strong preference to what panel I want to paint as the painting came together as soon as I saw it. The other choices intrigued me but nothing has come to mind for a painting. Keep those fingers crossed.

I’ll update my blog when I get the panel and also on the progression of the painting.