Still Life -Commemorative Painting

Work on our soldier portraits carries on and in the meantime we've taken photographs of of some of the gear that the soldiers carry. The photos will be used for a number of commemorative paintings that we'll be doing, a few of which will be still life. One of the first steps in preparing to do a still life is to set up the objects you plan to paint. Ordinarily I like to paint directly from life whenever possible but since the equipment had to be returned the next day the only opportunity to paint it would be from photos. I took many pictures of the gear in different positions and will choose the ones that I like best, eventually one or more of them will become a painting.



When I started to set up the first items my cat Spike came along to supervise. An hour or so later Pete my nosy, little mutt had to investigate too.



- Cindy

Personal Time With A War Hero

This pencil drawing was done with the photos of Cpl. Shane Keating at hand. I wanted to explore his face and get to know his structure before starting the portrait painting.
Drawing out these heroes before I start painting them gives me personal time to get to know them.
I can imagine their strength, their love of Canada, and their dedication to their cause.
It's important to me to attempt to capture not only their physical self, but their spiritual self as well.
- Shairl

Project Heroes Thanks Its Sponsors

Another Canadian soldier has recently died and it makes us nervous to see a soldier friend leaving for Afghanistan. Thank you for the courage and generosity of spirit that takes you across the world to make life better for the people of Afghanistan.

We also want to recognize the friends who have sponsored this project so far. Your financial help is a wonderful way to say thank you to the soldiers. It's also your support that will help us see this project to the end. When the paintings are done and the exhibition is up it will be an incredibly touching way for Canadians to show their gratitude to Canadian soldiers.

Painting Portraits on Canada Day

Today we Canadians celebrate our country's 142 birthday. We're a quietly patriotic nation with a deep love of this huge land with it's many wild places and just like our anthem says we are indeed strong and free. Giving others the strength and the means to become free is what our soldiers are working toward in Afghanistan. As we paint our soldier portraits today we'll be thinking of those young men and women who gave their lives so that others could have freedom.

Happy Birthday Canada.