Back From Scotland

'The Right Side'

I've now returned from my short holiday in Scotland with some nice reference photos for future artwork including the buzzard shown above.

On my return I was absolutely delighted to find that 'The Right Side' won the Making a Mark Award for Best Picture of the Year (Natural World) on an Art Blog and was runner up for Best Picture of the Year on an Art Blog. Karen Jurick's wonderful painting 'Hands of Time' won the overall award, congratulations to Karen as this is the second year she has won the award.
This is the link to the awards on the Making a Mark blog

I'll be back tomorrow with my plans for 2011.

Racoons Continued

I'm making slow progress on the three racoons, I've covered about a third of the board and worked some of that up to about 90%
I'm enjoying working from my own photograph as it brings back memories of the day we spent in Stanley Park, Vancouver in the summer. It is far easier not to slavishly follow the photograph when I can remember other details about the scene from actually having been there.
I have used reference material from other sources (always with permission) and I will continue to do so but that obviously restricts what can be done with the resulting artwork.
Most juried exhibitions and competitions now have a ruling that states entries need to be based an the artists own reference material, which is why I now have thousands of my own photographs stored on backup drives.

Back in The UK

We had a fabulous time in Canada but all good things come to an end and we're now back home. It was nice to see the family, both human and canine and to sleep in my own bed.

I'm feeling jet lagged, although this holiday all the flights were on time and our luggage arrived at the same destination as us.


I got a lot of good reference material, bears, moose, elk etc, but this little ground squirrel holding his grass is one of my favourites.

It appeared a young animal as its attempts to get the stalks of grass were only successful about one in five times. It would leap in the air, grab at the grass and more often than not miss, but when it did succeed boy was it happy.

Back to the art tomorrow, although I'll be at the Cheshire game Fair next Saturday, Sunday and Monday, more details tomorrow.

Least Chipmunk Photograph

Todays photograph is a Least Chipmunk (if anyone thinks it is a different species please let me know as I am not 100% certain) that I photographed in South Dakota in the Summer. I'm torn between painting a miniature of him or doing a larger work with a background.

I'm almost finished with my Christmas Commissions and am longing to paint something for me.

Creating a Photographic Record

I've been thinking about a daily project for 2009. I am realistic enough to know that attempting a daily drawing or painting is not going to happen.

I have also been thinking about how little my photographs actually get looked at because they are files stored on a hard drive.


So each day until the end of 2009 I am going to try to print one of my photographs. I'm just going to do a small version, probably around 4 x6, each one will be a subject I intend to paint.


I've bought some blank 8 x 5 cards and I will stick the photograph to the card. I will then record details about the photograph and which folder it is stored in on my hard drive. The back of the card will be used for thumbnail's, tiny sketches etc. Once the card is full I will laminate it to help preserve the information.


As often as possible I will use a photograph taken on that day, so for today it is a Robin on the garden fence.


I will then be able to share my photographs with people who don't have access to a computer.

Obtaining Wildlife Reference Photographs-Part 2

Once I'm at my chosen Zoo or Wildlife Park the first thing I will do is find out when the feeding time of my chosen animal(s) is. If I've gone to photograph one of the big cats then they are usually fed 6 days of the week and on the 7th they fast. So check that out, you can give the facility a ring, they will usually be happy to give you that sort of information.

If the feeding time is advertised then you need to be in place at least half an hour before, because:-

• The animals tend to be moving about in anticipation


• It will get really busy around the enclosure and you need to have selected your place.


• After feeding the animals usually retire for a sleep

You do need to have a look at the position of the sun (I know to see it is a rare occurence) and try to have it behind or to the side of you for the best lighting.
If the cage has a glass viewing panel as well as mesh then I sometimes choose to shoot through the glass if the mesh is double or triple and quite small.


If it is a fairly large mesh I will shoot so that the links do not obscure an important part of the animal such as the eye or ear setting. I will also kneel or bend so that I shoot on eye level with the animal to reduce distortion.
I shot this cheetah through mesh, it isn't a good photograph but plenty good enough for me to use as a reference. His face was at a slightly odd angle which I have straightened a little.

If I choose to photograph through the glass, the first thing is to pick a spot which is reasonably clean, I usually use a tissue to give it a quick rub.Then put the lens right up against the glass, this will reduce glare and reflection. Again try and take the photograph at eye level for the animal unless you want to paint a different viewpoint.

Wherever you choose to stand, you will have to be patient and take an awful lot of photographs. Most of them will not be that useful, but patience usually pays off if you watch the animal to see which area of its enclosure it prefers. You can sometimes see a path worn in the grass where the animal often walks.

If you are photographing an animal which is either allowed to roam free or has no mesh then patience is the only requisite.

I sat and watched the Meerkats at Edinburgh Zoo for an hour before this one came and sat right in front of me.

I live reasonably near the Wildlife Park in the Lake District which has several species of free roaming lemurs, wallabies, ostrich, etc. The photographs can be taken with any size of camera, my son takes excellent photographs with a small digital that cost less than £100. Do not be put off by thinking your camera is not good enough.

In the last post I will consider what to do with the photographs once you get home.

Just to show that you can take good underwater shots putting the lens against the glass. I took this photograph in the Aquarium in Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada.

Reference Material and Acrylic Tiger

I am still painting a tiger in acrylic, but I have changed tigers and am now working on drafting film rather than gessobord.
I airbrushed the background using several layers of liquid acrylic.

I have had several questions recently on how to find reference material to paint or draw wildlife. Obviously the ideal is to use your own photographs. I have been steadily building up a large portfolio of animal photographs from visits to various zoo's and wildlife parks throughout the UK. I also took almost 2000 photographs whilst on holiday in Canada and the US last year. The problem with captive animals is that they are often fatter than their wild counterparts and can show untypical behaviour due to being caged.

Sometimes though you want to paint an animal you haven't got a suitable photograph of, or a pose you haven't got, or you want to make sure you set it in its natural habitat. What do you do then?

You can try websites which offer high quality photographs for a fee. Two good websites that I have used are;-

Fotolia and

Dreamstime

Do however make sure that you purchase the correct licence for the intended use. If you want to use in any derivative work, which includes art, then you need to purchase the extended licence.

If you see a photograph you like while browsing the web you can email the photographer and ask for permission to use it. You need to specify exactly what you intend to use the photograph for and ask what compensation they require if they agree to let you use it. If you think that in the future you would like to sell the finished artwork, or have prints made, then again you need to detail that in your initial query.

If you intend to paint a background with the animal in a natural setting, then what works best for me is to watch as many DVD's or television programmes about the animal as possible. If I see some foliage etc that I think I could use, I freeze the picture and sketch the background. I also use books and magazine to research the animals natural habitat.