Continuing My Norwegian Forest Kittens

Here are the next stages in the development of my painting.
Once I started working on the second kitten I decided it needed more impact so I added flicks of white acrylic straight from the tube. I found I could retain the very soft fur effect whilst making the highlights in the fur 'pop' a little more.

I also decided that the sky wasn't quite right and removed all the coloured pencil. I then airbrushed a mix of white and cobalt blue acrylic which created a much smoother effect.

















In the last photo you can see I have altered the treeline so that it brings the focus back to the larger kitten's eyes. I have also added a small blue butterfly which fit in with the colours I've been using.
I might need to slightly alter the direction of the smaller kitten's gaze as it is looking fractionally too high to be focusing on the butterfly.

cat
pet portrait
drafting film
acrylic

Continuing My Norwegian Forest Kittens

Here are the next stages in the development of my painting.
Once I started working on the second kitten I decided it needed more impact so I added flicks of white acrylic straight from the tube. I found I could retain the very soft fur effect whilst making the highlights in the fur 'pop' a little more.

I also decided that the sky wasn't quite right and removed all the coloured pencil. I then airbrushed a mix of white and cobalt blue acrylic which created a much smoother effect.

















In the last photo you can see I have altered the treeline so that it brings the focus back to the larger kitten's eyes. I have also added a small blue butterfly which fit in with the colours I've been using.
I might need to slightly alter the direction of the smaller kitten's gaze as it is looking fractionally too high to be focusing on the butterfly.

cat
pet portrait
drafting film
acrylic

Continuing My Norwegian Forest Kittens

Here are the next stages in the development of my painting.
Once I started working on the second kitten I decided it needed more impact so I added flicks of white acrylic straight from the tube. I found I could retain the very soft fur effect whilst making the highlights in the fur 'pop' a little more.

I also decided that the sky wasn't quite right and removed all the coloured pencil. I then airbrushed a mix of white and cobalt blue acrylic which created a much smoother effect.

















In the last photo you can see I have altered the treeline so that it brings the focus back to the larger kitten's eyes. I have also added a small blue butterfly which fit in with the colours I've been using.
I might need to slightly alter the direction of the smaller kitten's gaze as it is looking fractionally too high to be focusing on the butterfly.

cat
pet portrait
drafting film
acrylic

Continuing My Norwegian Forest Kittens

Here are the next stages in the development of my painting.
Once I started working on the second kitten I decided it needed more impact so I added flicks of white acrylic straight from the tube. I found I could retain the very soft fur effect whilst making the highlights in the fur 'pop' a little more.

I also decided that the sky wasn't quite right and removed all the coloured pencil. I then airbrushed a mix of white and cobalt blue acrylic which created a much smoother effect.

















In the last photo you can see I have altered the treeline so that it brings the focus back to the larger kitten's eyes. I have also added a small blue butterfly which fit in with the colours I've been using.
I might need to slightly alter the direction of the smaller kitten's gaze as it is looking fractionally too high to be focusing on the butterfly.

cat
pet portrait
drafting film
acrylic

Spring Fever

Before I carry on with my kittens demo I thought I would share the Collies enjoying the first nice evening when they were playing in the garden.
The first photo shows Saska proving that even at nine years old and with arthritis in her back legs she can run with the rest of them. She did lie down to watch a couple of minutes later. The second photo shows Jorja and Juno chasing one another, they use the bird bath at one end of the garden to turn and the pond at the other.
dog
Rough Collie

The third photo shows Roma taking off in a final jump to reach the winning post first.

You will notice there are no photographs of Clinton taking part in the races, he was indulging in his favourite hobby of watching the sunbeams on the grass. If one dares to land on his paw he can't move until it goes away. The last photo shows him studying his paw with his usual worried look.

Two Norwegian Forest Kittens on Drafting Film

After finishing my last NFC, I have decided to do a series of at least 4, so this is the next one. For these two kittens I decided to choose an outdoor setting to stretch my skill at doing backgrounds.
I have made myself a practice book to try out individual background elements. A normal sketchbook would not be much use to me as I am mainly working on drafting film, so I cut up sheets of drafting film, bristol board and Arches Hot Press Watercolour paper and made my own. These are the surfaces I mainly use, depending on whether I am working in acrylic, graphite or coloured pencil.
My artist friend Katherine Tyrell (have a look at her blog, Making A Mark, link at the left) came for a visit and gave me loads of good advice which I hope I'm putting into practice in this piece.

Here are some progress shots.

I might need to fade out the background trees at the end but I have discovered another drafting film plus, blue tac easily lifts the colour.

The Final stages of the Norwegian Forest Cat

Poppy the Labrador is now finished and hanging on her owners wall, I didn't get chance to take a final photograph but her owners were pleased with the portrait.

Here are the final stages in the Norwegian Forest Cat on drafting film.
I am very impressed with the drafting film as a surface to use coloured pencils on, so far it has done everything I wanted.





































The final shot is the finished print.

Step by Step Cat on Drafting Film

For people who have never used drafting film, it is an exciting surface to try with coloured pencils.
This is how I am working with it to produce a painting of a Ch. Norwegion Forest Cat belonging to our friends John and Caroline Tipper. John and Caroline own and breed the Tiganlea Norwegian Forest Cats and Rough Collies

I am using double matt Polydraw, which means I can work on both sides, a variety of coloured pencils including Polychromos, Lyra, Derwent and Prismacolor and possibly some acrylic.
After selecting the photograph I wanted to use, (out of a couple of hundred I took on my visit) I drew out an outline on rough paper, I then traced this onto the drafting film using a sharp white Polychromos pencil with heavy pressure. One of the advantages of drafting film is that you can erase coloured pencil completely without damaging the surface so the pressure doesn't matter, I simply press on hard so that I can see the lines at a later stage.
I want to completely change the background to put the cat in a more interesting setting and to give him something to look at, so I am going to introduce a Bee into one of the 'sweet spots' in the painting.

My artist friend Katherine Tyrrell provided me with a wonderful photograph of pink flowers growing against a lovely warm wall. So I am going to take elements of that to complete my background.
The next photographs show the development of the painting.

Because drafting film is semi transparent I put a mid toned piece of mount/matte board behind it while I work so that I can see the colours I'm using clearly.

I have started with the cat's head, really to give me a starting point, and as I've previously mentioned I like to do the eye first, because even at this early stage it brings the painting to life. I also put one flower in to see if the colours worked together.

On the next scan, I have started to put the wall in to ensure that the colour, tone etc compliment the cat. For the wall, I am working on the back of the film to start with, which means it gives a softer effect and I can overlap the edges of the fur without damaging my work on the front. I can then adjust or darken on the front of the film at a later stage. I will continue working the painting as a whole now and will scan when there is a little more to see.

cat
cat painting
colored pencil
coloured pencil
drafting film

Where do you draw the Line?

Where do I draw the line?, preferably I don't, at least not on the final surface for my drawing/painting.
I'm defining a line here, as a mark that divides and separates two areas, and in a painting how does that sit with the unified whole.
I had a 'lightbulb' moment while I was drawing Poppy and thinking about her bone structure, I finally realised I should be thinking about masses of colour, tone etc rather than drawing a line and working away from it. Now, if you're shaking your head at my late understanding of a rather basic concept, I perhaps need to add, I did know that there are no lines in nature, I just wasn't applying it.
I am not suggesting I could draw a pet portrait without guide lines because I couldn't, but once my rough drawing is transferred to my final surface then I am going to try to erase the lines to faint suggestions and work in masses. As an example from my own work, I have always defined an animal eye with a hard, black,blue, or brown line. In future I will try to use tiny strokes following the curve of the eyeball to create mass rather than a defined line.
This will become even more important as I continue to move away from pure portraits towards my long term aim of painting animals in scenes. I hope this small step will help my paintings to become much more unified.

Poppy is moving on nicely, I am still working mainly undercoat with pastel pencils and hard pastel sticks. The best bit will be when I add the really soft pastels to hopefully make the painting sparkle.

pet portrait
pastel

When is a Commission not a Commission?

One of the definitions of 'commission' is 'a task given to a person to perform' and for me, that simple statement is what puts me off doing pet portrait commissions.
To me, I see the task as giving the owner a portrait that is a permanent reminder of their pet, not just its physical appearance but something that encompases its personality, and that is where my difficulty lies. If I have never met the animal then how can I 'know' it well enough to include personality. I can get the physical appearance right from a good quality photograph and I can ask the owner about personality, but I still do not feel I am able to include that certain something that defines each individual animal. I have five sable and white Rough Collies that all look similar to strangers, but when I look at them, I see their personality in their eyes, in their movement, in the way they react to each other, and so on. An artist once painted one of my own dogs and while it was a very good study of a Rough Collie it was not my 'Saska'
So, I very rarely accept commissions, and for the ones I do, I like to meet the animal if at all possible. I take my own photographs watching the animal in its own surroundings reacting to the people it loves. When that happens I am confident I can embody the animal on canvas or paper and the commission is no longer a commission but becomes a journey of discovery for me as the portrait takes life.
Even when the above conditions are met I still only take on certain commissions as I am becoming increasingly busy producing my Limited edition prints.
However I have agreed to produce a head study of a delightful Black Labrador called 'Poppy', who I met and photographed.
The portrait is in pastel on a cream coloured ingres mountboard and so far I have transferred my drawing and started working on the undercoat. I have put one eye in as is usual with my work.
I will block in all the ear and then bring it to completion next.
dog
pastel
pet portrait

More About Drafting Film

The more I work with drafting film, the more I like it. So far it has done everything I've asked it to do with littl;e resistance.
One of the nice things I've found is that because it is semi-transparent you can put different colours of mountboard behind it to influence the colour temperature of the whole piece.
As an example I photographed Hallie with a piece of yellow mountboard underneath, then a piece of grey and a finally a piece of white. The white stage is slightly further on than the other two.
This is the white one.

This is the grey














And this is the yellow.

I'm not sure which I like best, and might even decide to go with nothing behind when it is scanned for the prints, which will give a softer out of focus feel to the distant background.

I am going to do a step by step approach to my next painting, so that anybody who is interested can see exactly how it works.





Juno is at another show tomorrow, this time it is Scottish Breeds Championship show at Ingleston near Edinburgh, so an early start is required. Juno is preparing for that by neglecting his squirrel watching and sleeping peacefully. However no self respecting squirrel would be out and about today as it is absolutely pouring with rain, so he isn't missing much. The house has that pleasant aroma that five long coated, damp dogs give off, I'm hoping that I don't have visitors for a while, as all the dogs are out of sight in the Conservatory, leaving me in possession of the pong.
dog
painting

Lazy Sunday?

Sunday started off with a phone call at 6.55 am from our eldest son wanting collecting from his friends house. He had wanted to stay over after a party last night but then decided that he needed his own bed. Now that wouldn't be so bad as we're already up and about sorting the dogs out at that time, but usually the first car journey of the day is to take the dogs for a walk on the moor. They were not happy that they were left behind and proceeded to howl. As my neighbours are normal and do not rise at this hour on Sundays I had to go round giving treats for being quiet, which only worked until I reached the end of the line. Eventually they gave up and decided to sulk instead, at least that was quiet.
Yesterday the sun made a fleeting appearance so we put the dogs outside in their run for a while, they decided they really prefer being couch potatoes and pleaded to be allowed back in. You can see that Roma isn't quite tall enough to see, so she extends her ears like periscopes. Saska decided to let the other dogs do the pleading, her older back legs don't work quite so well now. Juno was quite happy in the run as he likes squirrel watching and there was one doing tricks to entertain him while hanging from the bird feeder.

I am continuing with my painting on the drafting film, I am very impressed with it. For anyone who works with coloured pencil it is well worth giving it a try. The pencil point lasts longer and there are no little flecks of colour flaking off and getting impressed into the picture. Even dog fur has nothing to cling to and floats away to await the vacuum.
If you want to see where I'm up to with Hallie the Dachshund. have a look at my website.
www.gaylemasonfineart.com
I am going to start a new piece either today or tomorrow and will include a work in progress.
dog

After Crufts

Well Crufts is over for another year, so we can all begin frantically trying to qualify for 2007.
Juno did really well, he came 5th out of a nice class of 16, so we went home happy. The light is pretty bad for taking photographs but here we are smiling at the camera.
The smile faded a little when it took us over 2 hours to exit the West Car Park at the NEC, but it's all part of a day in the life of a show dog.
When we finally arrived home, his sister Roma beat him up for being absent all day without her, so life soon returned to normal.







Apart from Juno, another thing I took home from Crufts was the idea of working on drafting film. I saw an artist that I greatly admire working on it and producing the most fantastic paintings. I already had some Polydraw, which is a double matt drafting film in the cupboard so I dragged it into the daylight and gave it a try.

I'm using a photograph showing my friends Dachshund standing in the Autumn leaves, it is a wonderful photograph so I hope I can do it justice.
I first airbrushed some acrylic to create a soft background, having diluted the acrylic using a mix of gloss medium and water so the airbrush nozzle didn't block up.
I then started working in coloured pencil which just glides onto the film, and even better, erases completely without damaging the film.
Here's the stage I've reached, so far, so good.

Next stage involves rather a lot of detailed leaves, never mind, five rough collies bring in plenty each day for me to choose from.

Preparation

It is Juno's big day at Crufts on Thursday and we are in the middle of preparing him to look his best. This is how Juno views the proceedings.

I have a methodical method of getting him ready. First he has his bath, then I trim his hocks, then starting at his tail I brush all his fur the wrong way, then again starting again at his tail I brush it all into place.



Thing about preparation, made me realise that I work my dog and cat portraits in the same methodical way.
I start with the eyes and work outwards till I come to an area I don't understand at that time. I then find an area I do understand and work outwards from that, and so on, until the whole thing fits together.
As an example here's where I'm up to with the graphite Elkhound I'm working on.
I started with the eyes, because if they aren't right I don't carry on, they are the most important part of an animal portrait to me. I then couldn't quite work out the fur direction on the muzzle, so I worked the nose and now I can see how it will all fit together.
I have also left finishing the ear until I can better judge the light tones.
I also bring each area more or less to completion before I move on to the next.
I would be interested to know how other artists deal with pet portraits.

And as for Juno, well I hope he looks a little bit more lively in the ring.

A Dog's Life

Time to introduce Zeus, father to Roma and Juno, reluctant mate to Jorja (more about that later). His pedigree name is Carostar Castaway at Glenspey, and sometimes we wish he had been cast a bit further away than here.
He now lives with my mum and has a wonderful life ruling everyone with a muddy paw.

Zeus is eight in April and was our second Rough Collie and first show dog, and from the start had a mind of his own. The little things we laughed at as a pup came back to haunt us later on.
For instance, he didn't like the shiny floor at the vets and would have to be dragged to the consulting room on the doormat, or carried. Everyone smiled at him being towed along, but what we didn't realise at the time, was that he had decided he was never, ever going to walk on a shiny floor. He used to move through the shiny floored conservatory by leaping on to the chair and jumping down to the mat by the door. Not being completely stupid we did make him walk on the floor if we caught him, but he would then slink along with his belly inches from the floor.

So he grew up and at six months was taken along to his first small show, and as is usual with open shows held in the winter in this country it was held in a sports hall. Of course the floor positively shone it was so shiny and Zeus decided point blank he would rather suffer the consequences than put his snow white paw on that floor. So we carried him in and explained to him that he would be able to move on mats, he just had to walk up and down it twice, so the judge could see how he moved.
With plenty of bribes we got him moving slowly along the floor, then it was time for his class. We went to the end of the line and he inched slowly up the mat till it was his turn to shine. He stood beautifully for the judge to go over him, then we set off down the mat, well actually I set off down the mat Zeus didn't move a muscle. I went back and tried bribes, no way his eyes said, and just to make sure I understood, he slowly fell to the floor. Thank you, said the judge as I picked him up and carried him back to the mat.
There was no rosette for Zeus that day and even now he doesn't like shiny floors, although he did go on to win several rosettes, usually at Summer shows, on grass.

What Makes an Impression?

While I'm waiting for Juno in oil to dry, and the real furry Juno is beginning his countdown to Crufts I thought I'd share this little story from my human family.
My young niece Holly is five, and likes to paint and draw. She had been naughty one day while my brother was looking after her, so he sent her to her room. There was silence for a few minutes then Holly came back in the room with a little card she'd made. On the front was a little drawing and inside it said 'sorry for being naughty Daddy', but what made my brother smile was when he turned it over and written in large letters on the back was 'Made in England'.
For Holly, the writing on the back of cards she had seen, had made as much impression as the pictures on the front...

Must remember to make sure Juno's tail is as smart as his head when he goes to Crufts.

Struggling with Juno in Oil.

I have decided that before I paint the Jorja family I would try an oil painting of Juno. I have never painted in oil before, although I have tried acrylic.
I'm using the photograph from the previous post and a 18 x 14 inch canvas panel.
The first step was to draw Juno on the panel using a HB mechanical pencil. I have drawn my own dogs so often, that this stage was fairly easy.

I then toned the canvas using a mix of raw and burnt sienna in acrylic. I chose the colours to achieve a mid tone into which I could work the lighter and darker tones and used acrylic because of its shorter drying time.

You can see here that I have slipped back into drawing rather than painting, I find it really difficult to give up the tight control I like.

A couple of friends whose opinions I greatly respect advised me that the first stage should be the blocking in of the main shapes so in the next stage I tried that.

The colours of the undercoat aren't yet right but I can correct in later layers.

As Juno has plenty of strands of fur round his head I decided that I should do the background next, in order to give it time to dry before I work the fur.

I used three colours, sap green, burnt umber and cadmium yellow medium.

I am using the Artisan water mixable oils, because the dogs are often in the room with me when I work and I didn't want them breathing in the fumes..

I was amazed at the ease with which I could create a background giving a suggestion of foliage. I found acrylics difficult to use because of their drying time, these oils were pure delight.

The Jorja Family take the Lead.

Actually, they all walk very nicely on the lead coming back from the fields, not so good when they're going.
That has nothing at all to do with this post though. My next work is going to be 'The Collie Club' and it stars the Jorja family, Roma as a puppy, Juno as an adolescent and Jorja as an adult.
After playing around with some of my photographs I came up with the following arrangement.

Please note the lighting is not consistant, and the proportions are wrong but it gives an idea what I am aiming for.

I am going to use a full sheet of Fabriano Artistico, Bright White, Hot Press Watercolour paper. I usually use Arches but wanted a paper that was white rather than cream as I will not be putting in a full background.
The size will end up approximately 20 x 16 inches.

I have not yet decided if this will be completed in graphite or colour but by the time I have done the drawing I will hopefully have made up my mind.

The photograph of Juno was taken last year at Windsor Championship Dog show, he had just won the minor puppy dog class and was looking pleased with himself.
Jorja was posing for a biscuit in the garden and Roma was sitting in her basket in the conservatory, no doubt also hoping for a biscuit for looking pretty.

New Prints

I managed to finish all my work on time and after a hectic day my three new prints are available
'Siberian Spirit' ,

'Persian Pride'

The printer had the most trouble in doing the set-up for the Persian. It was retaining the touch of colour in the eyes and the mid tones in the graphite that proved difficult. This is something for me to remember if I decide to use the same technique again.

'C'Attitude'

Panic Among the Pencils

I am taking a couple of my originals to the printers on Thursday to have giclee prints made and as usual I am at the last minute. Neither piece is completed, and the dogs are getting concerned that normal services have been interrupted. Clinton is asleep under my drafting table and Saska is asleep on my feet, but the younger three are eyeballing me from the kitchen waiting for a sign that I am putting the pencil down. Sorry dogs, not for a while yet.

This is one of the pieces I'm working on, a Siberian Husky drawn in graphite on Arches Hot Press Watercolour paper.

I am struggling to get the detail in the white areas of the fur without overworking it. The right ear (as you look at the dog) has also given me trouble, so I will return to it when I get everything else sorted out.

I started with the eyes as always, as I feel if they are not alive looking, then the drawing will fail, no matter how good the rest of it is.

One area I enjoyed working on is the mouth area as I have a great love of including detail, and I could indulge myself without fear of overworking.

I have now disturbed the dogs by moving across to the computer so it looks like the panic will have to be put on hold while I see to them.