Amur Leopard in Graphite

'Striding Out'

Graphite on Mellotex, 17.5 x 11.75 inches

I'm alive and well but have been really busy with real life happenings.

I have a new pencil practice article in this months Leisure Painter magazine (May 2014) on drawing weathered wood in coloured pencil.

'Weathered Stump' the subject of my latest pencil practice article

The next article will be in the July issue and will be techniques for drawing water.

I've marked plenty of assignments for the London Art College diploma course on drawing and painting pet portraits.

I'm in the middle of painting two large commissions of a lovely old Airedale called Joe. I had the pleasure of meeting Joe and his owners at Wetherby service station on a bitterly cold winter day so that I could take my own photographs and meet Joe in person.

Show season is fast approaching, my first show of the year will be the Harrogate Spring Flower Show which takes place at the end of this month.

I do intend to get back into a regular blogging routine as it helps me to focus on getting things completed.

Red Fox - Part 2

I'm working slowly on the foxes in between starting my Christmas preparations. I alternate working on the leaves with the fox to hopefully keep both fresh. My aim is to finish the top left corner next.
I am impressed with how well the pastelmat is taking both paint and pastel.

I decorated my tree on Friday much to the delight of Cody who likes to investigate the bottom branches. We are always careful to put anything edible on the top branches, it's amazing how far collie necks can stretch to investigate chocolate.

Red Fox and Cub on Pastelmat

I don't think I've ever neglected my blog for so long but I'm back now. I had a few days away demonstrating and then caught a horrible cold which developed into a never ending cough. I'm still coughing but starting to feel slightly more human.

I'm giving the bear a rest due to having 'bear overload' painting for four long days while demonstrating at the NEC.

This is mixed media on brown pastelmat, probably one of the largest paintings I've attempted as it will end up about 28 x 20 inches.
The fox cub is a mixture of soft pastels and pastel pencils and the leaves are watercolour. I'll add the detail to the leaves in pastel later.

Snow Leopard in Graphite

As well as the graphite pheasants and the watercolour owl I'm working on a large drawing of a Snow Leopard.
The reference is my own photograph that I took several years ago at Marwell Zoo. The design of the cage meant I could stand directly in front of the leopard to capture the whole animal. The lighting is good which you will be able to see better once I get a little more drawing done.

Hare Continued

I've almost finished the hare. I need to make a few adjustments with the foreground but it's almost done.

Raccoon - Part 2

I haven't done a great deal more on the raccoon but I didn't want to wait to post any longer.
I'm busy with a couple of Christmas commissions and working on a large acrylic painting. I also don't seem to have had much to say recently but hopefully things will improve soon. I'll post my acrylic soon which is a little different from my usual work.

Raccoon in Graphite

I started this one a long, long time ago and have picked it up again.
I like to work on graphite in the evenings when there is no natural light so I don't have to worry about the colour changing with the artificial light.
I photographed this raccoon probably three years ago in Stanley Park, Vancouver, it was one of a family group who emerged one by one from the brambles.

Graphite Jaguar - Part 2

I'm busy with commissions and real life issues so I haven't much to show at the moment. I've done a little bit more on the jaguar but it's very slow progress.

The birds are returning to the feeders, I have a small flock of greenfinch that visit throughout the day and two or three goldfinches together with great, blue and coal tits. The coal tits are much more numerous than the others, sometimes I can see five or six moving from feeder to feeder.

Hare - Finished

I added a little background to my hare which puts it in a setting without distracting the viewer, in my opinion anyway.

I added the touch of blue, white and ochre using pan pastels and was pleased how well they worked to give a hint of colour on a smooth paper. The foliage is painted in watercolour, so all in all this is a real mixed media piece.

I'll let it sit a couple of days before deciding if I need to tweak.

Hare - Part 4

The hare itself is almost complete I'm now working on the background. I'm just going to add a few bits of grass and lightly tone the background with pan pastels so that it becomes more of a complete picture rather than a study.

Graphite Meerkats

I wanted to try a rougher surface and let the texture of the paper become part of the image so this is graphite on Fabriano cold pressed watercolour paper.
It is only small 5.5 x 3 inches and the reference is from one of my own photographs. I wanted a different take on the standard meerkat pose, I'm going to call it 'Off Duty' when it's finished.
I started fighting the texture as I tried to work in my usual way but adapted quite quickly to just touching my pencil to the paper and letting the point skim the surface. I built up several layers starting with a 4H pencil and working up to a2B, going back and blending with the harder lead.
I think the cold press paper is too textured for how I like to work although I do like how the rock is turning out. I'll probably try a vellum finish next.


Oh and I also went to London today to return son 2 to University. I think I'll finish the meerkats tomorrow.

Graphite Lion Continued

I've continued working on the lion. I decided to work some of the darker tones in the mane so that I could decide how light the blond fur should be.
My card stand arrived today and I'm very pleased with it. It was easy to assemble, freels strong, rotates smoothly and will hold at least 60 different designs.
It will look far more professional having my cards displayed in a stand rather than spread out on the table.

Ring-Tailed Lemur in Watercolour

To bid click here.

Another ACEO, but not a cat, this time it's a Ring-Tailed Lemur from a photograph I took at the South Lakes Wildlife Park

This time it's mostly watercolour with touches of coloured pencil, on Arches paper.

Fox on Ampersand Pastelbord

I sometimes take a drawing to work if I think I might have a lunch break. I try to take something that doesn't tear, or bend, or crease in my briefcase. Ampersand pastelbord is ideal, it survives the journey intact, of course getting coffee tipped on it is a whole different thing.

This fox is on the sand colour, it's 11 x 14 and up to now I've just used coloured pencils, that however could change any second I can feel the call of the acrylic.

I didn't get work on it at lunch by the way, I remembered had to pick some frames up from my local art shop.