Black Spruce Gallery

10/09/2026

ART 101 | What Is Value in Art?

When we talk about the value of a painting, we don't always mean the number on the price tag. 😉

In art, value describes how light or dark a colour is—from the deepest shadows to the brightest highlights.

And here's the interesting part: two completely different colours can have a very similar value.

🎨 A bright yellow might be very light in value, while a deep blue might be very dark. Reds, greens, purples, and every colour in between can each range from light to dark depending on how they're used.

So why does value matter?

👁️ It helps create depth and form.
Changes between light and dark can make a flat shape appear three-dimensional, giving form to everything from a bear's face to rocks, trees, clouds, and buildings.

☀️ It creates light and atmosphere.
Highlights and shadows tell our eyes where light is coming from and help establish everything from bright sunshine to a dark, overcast afternoon.

🌲 It can create distance.
Strong differences between light and dark can bring areas forward, while softer value changes can help parts of a landscape recede into the distance.

🎯 It guides your eye.
Artists can use strong value contrast to draw attention to particular areas of a composition—even when the painting itself is filled with colour.

One of the easiest ways to see value is to take the colour away.

Swipe between the original painting and its black-and-white version. Without colour competing for your attention, the underlying pattern of lights, midtones, and darks suddenly becomes much easier to see.

Then swipe back to the colour version.

You might never look at it quite the same way again.

10/07/2026

New Arrival by Cheryl Tuck-Tallon!

Endless Summer
72 x 24, Acrylic on Canvas

Visit https://blacksprucegallery.ca/vendor/cheryl-tuck-tallon/ for more of Cheryl's work and more details.

10/06/2026

🎨 CURATED PICK OF THE WEEK | Such a Beautiful Day

A familiar Canadian scene, seen through a completely different lens.

This week’s Curated Pick is “Such a Beautiful Day” by Quebec artist Sylvain Leblanc.

Stretching an impressive 72 inches across, this mixed media painting places a brilliantly coloured canoe against a sweeping mountain landscape. Its unmistakable red and white form immediately draws the eye, while layers of colour, pattern and texture invite a much closer look.

Look beyond the canoe and the landscape begins to shift between the familiar and the abstract. Mountains are broken into overlapping shapes and unexpected flashes of colour, while their reflections stretch into the water below, blurring the boundary between landscape and imagination.

At 72" × 24", the panoramic format adds to that sense of distance and open space, while the bold canoe creates a striking focal point across the centre of the composition.

Bright, contemporary and unmistakably inspired by the Canadian outdoors, Such a Beautiful Day offers a wonderfully different interpretation of a classic day on the water.

“Such a Beautiful Day”
72" × 24"
Mixed Media on Canvas

Visit https://blacksprucegallery.ca/shop/painting/such-a-beautiful-day/ for more details.

10/05/2026

🐻 CANADA'S WILD SIDE

Canada's wildlife has inspired countless works of art—from powerful bears and wandering moose to curious foxes and some particularly expressive birds.

But every once in a while, a little extra personality finds its way onto the canvas. 👀

In honour of Get Funky Day, we're taking a look at some of the more colourful characters found throughout our collection of Canadian wildlife art.

Some are curious. Some are bold. Some seem to know they're being watched.

And apparently, some bears just want to dance.

From playful poses and expressive faces to unexpected splashes of colour, these works capture a side of Canadian wildlife that's full of character—while still celebrating the animals that make our country's wild places so memorable.

Which one has the most personality?

10/04/2026

🎨 ART TRIVIA | THE REVEAL

Did you guess correctly?

Yesterday's mystery artist was Penny Gabor!

The featured piece was "Life Intertwined," 12 x 12, alcohol ink on birch panel.

Congratulations to everyone who got it right—and if this one stumped you, there's always next Saturday. 👀

And yes — this piece is currently available at Black Spruce Gallery! Visit https://blacksprucegallery.ca/shop/painting/life-intertwined/ for more details.

10/03/2026

Test your art skills! 🎨

Our artists each have their own distinctive style—but how well do you know them?

Welcome to Art Trivia Saturdays, where we share a piece by one of our artists and challenge you to guess who painted it. 👀

Are you up to today's challenge?

Leave your guess in the comments, then visit our page on Sunday to see the answer!

P.S. Not to brag, but one of our regulars can recognize the work of all our artists on sight. Can you? 😉

10/02/2026

10/02/2026

ART 101 | Why Do Oil & Acrylic Paintings Look Different?

Oil and acrylic paint can depict the exact same subject—and still produce very different results.

But why?

It isn't simply a matter of one being oil and the other acrylic. The way each paint behaves influences how an artist can blend, layer, build texture, and develop a painting.

🖌️ Oil paint dries slowly.
That longer working time allows artists to blend colours directly on the surface, soften edges, create gradual transitions, and continue manipulating wet paint over an extended period. Oils can also be used in thin, translucent layers or built into rich, textured marks.

🎨 Acrylic paint dries much faster.
Rather than keeping an area workable for long periods, artists can quickly build one layer over another. Acrylics can be used in everything from thin washes to bold, opaque colour and heavy texture—and their quick drying time can encourage a very different rhythm of painting.

✨ Layers & Transparency
Both mediums can create transparent, translucent, and opaque effects, but artists achieve them differently. Oils are particularly well suited to slow blending and glazing, while acrylics allow artists to rapidly build successive layers without disturbing much of the paint underneath.

👀 Edges & Brushwork
A slowly blended oil painting may contain incredibly soft transitions, while fast-drying acrylic can make it easier to preserve crisp edges and individual marks. But these aren't rules! An acrylic painting can be soft and atmospheric, and an oil painting can be bold, sharp, and heavily textured.

And that's the important part: the medium gives the artist possibilities—not a predetermined style.

The next time you're in the gallery, try comparing an oil painting with an acrylic. Look closely at the edges, layers, brushstrokes, texture, and transitions between colours.

Can you tell which is which before reading the label?

10/01/2026

🎨 Can You Guess Our Artist of the Month?

Test your art skills! 👀

Our artists each have their own distinctive styles—but how well do you know them?

We've selected a few pieces by this month's Featured Artist, and we're putting you to the test. Take a look at the paintings and see if you can figure out who created them!

Think you know the answer? Leave your guess in the comments! ⬇️

We'll reveal our Featured Artist soon!

P.S. Not to brag, but one of our regulars can recognize the work of all our artists on sight. Can you? 😉🎨

09/30/2026

New Arrival by Crystal Rassi!

Serenity
10 x 10, Oil on Canvas

Visit https://blacksprucegallery.ca/shop/painting/serenity/ for more details.