Coloured Pencil Kitten - Part 2

A little more work.

Dipper

The bird for the day is a Dipper which I photographed on the river near home yesterday.

Hopefully back later to share some artwork.

Pheasant and Phantom Pregnancy

It was a nice sunny afternoon so I decided to have a quick tour of the local lanes to see if I could get some photographs of Curlews. I can hear them from the garden, I love their long bubbling song as they glide above the fields.

On my way up to the moor I spotted a Pheasant standing on a wall in the sunlight. He allowed me to get near enough to rest my camera on a wall and we enjoyed a ten minute photo shoot.

I will definitely be painting this one.

Back home Roma is having a phantom pregnancy, she has adopted a burst football which emits a horrible squeal when she picks it up. Trouble is she picks it up, drops it in horror when it squeaks, looks horrified that it rolls away, so picks it up again. This has been repeated all day except for the few minutes when she hides it and forgets where it's been hidden. Then we all have to rush round finding it because she stands there crying, very, very loudly. Roxie asked for earplugs, Clinton has retired upstairs, Juno is sharing childcare and Rio is going to kill her.

Kitten in Coloured Pencil

I've started another of the 2009 cat series, this time a tabby kitten.

I'm going to add a feather or butterfly at the end to give the kitten something to be reaching for.

This is all coloured pencil on Arches hot press watercolour paper.

Burmese Cat - Finished

I just need to make a few small alterations and then he's finished. The title is 'Moody Blue'

I will post a demo of the eyes, but I don't have time today.

Burmese Cat part 2

More work on the Burmese, hopefully I'll post the eye demo tomorrow.

We have two ponds in the garden, the smaller one is about 5 x 3 feet. Imagine my surprise when I looked out of the window to see a pair of mallard enjoying themselves splashing about. I'm not sure the fish appreciated them quite as much as I did. Fortunately by the time my husband came home the water had cleared, he would have had the same impression as the fish. If they come back I'll take a photograph of their antics.

Burmese Cat in Coloured Pencil

I've started another in the 2009 cat series.
I took the photograph of this beautiful male Burmese in quite strong sunshine so the light on him is nice.

It is quite large, around 16 x 12 on Arches hot press. This time I'm burnishing between layers as he has such a dense plush coat.

I haven't started the eyes because I intend to do a mini demonstration showing how I complete them.

We visited Martin Mere again yesterday because I was hoping to see the Kingfishers. Sure enough they were visible round the hole they are hopefully going to nest in. I couldn't take any good photographs as the windows in the hide have been nailed shut to minimise disturbance. Once the birds have settled the windows should be opened again.

It was still a wonderful experience to watch these birds starting to excavate their nest hole.

I did take some nice photographs of a Heron in the sun.

Redpolls, Siskins and Wildlife Artist of the Year

The Treecreeper and Long Tail Tits have been replaced by a small flock of Redpolls and Siskins feeding in the garden. Usually moving about high in the Birch trees they have been feeding on the niger seed I put out. We've planted a small tree under the feeder in the hope of getting some more natural looking photographs.

Today the female Siskins were the most obliging, the males of both species kept hiding behind branches.

My other news is that the shortlist for Wildlife Artist of the Year 2009 is available to view on line.

There are some really excellent pieces and I am honoured that 'Hot Spot' is included in the short list.

All the paintings will be on display at the Mall Galleries from the 2nd to the 6th of June. I am hoping to be there at the private reception on the 1st.

Links - Wildlife Artist of the Year 2009

Cat on Pastelmat continued (again!)

I'm almost finished, just a little more on the right side then I need to decide how I want to crop him.

I've been experimenting with Claybord, watercolour, coloured pencil and then scraping the fur in. I'll share when I've a little more to show you.

Cat on Pastelmat continued

Todays bird is a Pied Wagtail which was having a drink in the river, for once the sun was quite bright on the water so I lost some detail.

More on the Tabby on white pastelmat, I still like the appearance of the fur on this surface,