'The Right Side' now available as a Limited Edition Print

'The Right Side'

My latest 'up close and personal' cat is now available from my website
It is limited to 350 copies worldwide and has been printed on Hahnemuhle German Etching Fine Art Paper using archival ink.
It is the same size as the other 'up close and personal' cats, 'Eye Spy', 'Look Left' and 'Eyes Down' although in a landscape rather than portrait format.

I am in the process of painting 'The Left Side' so that there will be a pair available in a landscape format.

I'll post progress on the blog.

First though I have a cheetah to complete.

Adapting Technique- Working on Drafting Film

I have been asked several times how I work on drafting film, and is it different to working on paper/board. So I thought it might be useful to do a blog post on the subject.

This Cheetah is approximately 10 x 8 inches, coloured pencil and acrylic on drafting film.

Right from the first marks I work differently on drafting film because it doesn't take many layers. This makes colour selection much more important than when I work on paper. Because I work in very light layers on paper I can correct colours as I go. On drafting film every layer has to count.
I also work on both the front and the back of drafting film, punching up highlights, and darkening lowlights. This gives extra scope for modifying the final colour.
My strokes are also different in some ways as I tend to work quickly establishing a base and then add the detail in acrylic. You can see the acrylic strokes on the cheetah, particularly round the eye. On paper all the layers are worked in small strokes to allow for the optical mixing of the colours.
On this image the background is all coloured pencil applied to both the back and the front. I have not applied solvent just layered the pencil with a very heavy hand, in real life there is a subtle change from black to brown. I will try to get a more accurate scan to show the true colours.
Sometimes I airbrush acrylic if I want either a more subtle or detailed background.

Macro Cat Finished

One down, two to go.
This is the first of a pair of macro cats for the 2010 Society of Feline Artists Exhibition in London.
It,s coloured pencil with acrylic washes to soften the pencil marks and the actual image is approximately 10 x 8 inches.

Endings and a Macro Cat

One of the things I want to do before my last day at work is to finish off all my work in progress. That way when we get to the first of April I can have a new beginning.
Some of you might remember this cat from the NEC last November, I hadn't done any more with it until this week, now it's almost finished.
It's approximately 10 x 8 ins, coloured pencil with acrylic washes on Arches paper and will hopefully be going to the SOFA exhibition in September.
Now I'm going to work, my very last Friday!

2010 Christmas Card

I promised one of the Cat Rescue Charities that I would create an image for them to use on one of their 2010 Christmas Cards.

This is the image I'm working on. It's coloured pencil and acrylic on drafting film, approximately 9 x 6.

I have quite a lot to do in the left corner to tie everything together.

We had a great day at Crufts last week with Roxie being placed third in her class.

Orange Cat Finished

'Who Me'

To bid click here

I finished the orange cat and like him much better on drafting film.

Dogs rather than cats tomorrow, it's Working and Pastoral Group day at Crufts. I'm showing Roxie so it's another very early start.
Hopefully I'll get some nice photographs for future paintings of dogs.

Changing Direction

As I begin the transition from a career I've had for almost 30 years to being at home and able to pursue my art full time (or as full time as the Collies allow) I've found myself disorientated.

It was actually my close friend Katherine (Making a Mark) that came up with 'disorientated' to describe my feelings. I can best describe it as skipping from one thing to another until I get 'brain freeze' as my son would say.

Now that something I've wanted for a long time is in sight I suddenly have mixed feelings about it. Over the last month or two I've spent a lot of time looking back over the years I've spent at work, thinking about decisions I made, thinking about 'what if', wondering if I'm now making the right choice. Going from a fairly successful career with a monthly salary to staying at home and creating art is suddenly scary.

Deep down this is what I want and I know I'm moving on to a path long desired, but it's still not an easy transition.

So the point of telling you this is that my feelings have affected my artwork recently. Other than one or two small pieces I haven't been really happy with anything I've created over the last few weeks.

The latest casualty is the ginger cat I started in watercolour, when I had a good look at him he was far to orange so I started again, this time coloured pencil on drafting film. In the daylight he is a far better colour so for the moment I'm happy with him.

With several deadlines fast approaching I'd better get my act together and actually finish something.

Tomorrow as they say is another day, actually it's British Collie Club Championship Show and I'm showing my crazy puppy as well as Roxie, so that will be a totally different challenge. If I can coax Cody to keep all 4 feet on the ground for five minutes I will have had a successful day.