Canadian Landscape Series - Painting 11 of 13: Grain Elevator, Saskatchewan

This is a post about Grain Elevator, Saskatchewan - 1 of 13 paintings in my 2024 Canadian Landscape series. If you would like to read about the series as a whole, you can find that post here. 

Grain Elevator, Saskatchewan

Grain Elevator, Saskatchewan (2024) - part of my Canadian Landscape series

Grain Elevator, Saskatchewan was the eleventh painting I completed from my Canadian Landscape series. It was completed in June 2024. 

My goal for this series was to capture the essence of each province and territory in a painting. I am wholeheartedly embracing provincial stereotypes and cliches! When I think of Saskatchewan, I think of the prairies - miles of flat land organized by fields and farms. 

​When I was researching Saskatchewan and trying to figure out what to paint, grain elevators caught my attention. I found these tall, barn-like structures intriguing and couldn't help but wonder what they looked like inside.

​I was also drawn to fields with hay bales. There is something very satisfying about the way farmers crop their fields into perfectly organized rows, leaving behind big bales of hay. I knew I wanted to incorporate both grain elevators and hay bales into my Saskatchewan painting. 

​The reference photo I used to draw the grain elevator was taken by Trudi Olfert from the Facebook group: Landscape Reference Photos for Artists.

Photo Credit: Trudi Olfert

I ran into a couple challenges with this painting. First, I took a long break in between starting it in June 2023 and finishing it in June 2024. It was challenging to find my flow again after this long break. 

When I came back to my semi-completed painting, I had to decide what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to change. I still liked the sky, but I wasn't happy with the hay bales. I really struggled with getting the scale and perspective right and had to re-draw them several times. 

​When the painting was almost finished, I ended up "erasing" two hay bales at the last minute. The scale was off and it really annoyed my eyes!  If you have the chance to see this painting in person, you will be able to see surface texture from where these ghost bales were located. 

Grain Elevator, Saskatchewan (2024)

​I have only two more paintings to complete from this series: Confederation Bridge, Prince Edward Island and Garibaldi Lake, British Columbia. Both are just sketches on canvases right now, so only time will tell which one is completed first... stay tuned ;)

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