Maine Coon Cat in Mixed Media

'Black and Gold'
9 x 7 inches, mixed media on black pastel paper
To bid click here.

The birds have slowly been returning to the garden feeders since we arrived back from holiday. There are more coal tits about than usual and they are one of my favourite birds so I'm spending a lot of time looking out of the patio doors.

This little hedgehog has also been a regular visitor over the last few days. I just hope it will have enough fat reserves to hibernate, it is really small for this time of year.

Blue Point Siamese

This is a blue point siamese. coloured pencil on a buff coloured stonehenge paper.
I need to darken the ear quite a lot yet to contrast with the body fur.

Portrait of a Tabby Cat and Kitten in Coloured Pencil

'Sleep Over'

Mixed Media on watercolour paper 4.5 x 6 inches
To purchase click here

Publication in a Magazine and a Book

The first place my work has appeared in print this month is in Talking Point the magazine issued by the UK Coloured Pencil Society.

This is an exerpt from the current issue of Talking Point it was written by the editor Malcolm Cudmore and forms part of an article on Fur and Feathers.
The UKCPS website is well worth a visit if you are interested in using coloured pencil in your artwork.

The second place it will appear is in the soon to be published book ' The Secret Ingredient' which has been compiled by my friend Dot Tadman.
The book has been put together to raise funds for the Friends of Anchor Charity.
Anchor is the Aberdeen and North Centre for Haematology, Oncology and Radiotherapy and supports patients with different forms of cancer.
The book itself itself features favourite recipes beautifully illustrated by Local and International artists.
You can now visit the website for the book to find out more and view sample pages:-
The Secret Ingredient.

Graphite Jaguar

I'm back home but still jet lagged so have spent time this week on a graphite portrait of a jaguar from my own photograph.
I understand that Black on Black had sold before the private view of the SOFA exhibition which was good news.

Contrasts from the Grand Canyon

The beauty of the scenery contrasted with one of the ugliest birds I have photographed, the turkey vulture.

I incorrectly identified this bird,k Rodri has pointed out that it is in fact a Californian Condor not a Turkey Buzzard which makes it very special, but still ugly!

However these birds were quite majestic when soaring above the canyon.

Apologies that some of the photographs are the wrong orientation the program is doing it's own thing.
Flying home from Phoenix tomorrow and back to sharing artwork.

Zion and Red Canyons

Moved on from Las Vegas to Bryce Canyon.
We travelled through Zion and Red Canyons which were quite spectacular, actually started to see animals and birds again.

Death Valley

Very, very hot driving across Death Valley it was 125 degrees in the afternoon and we had to turn the car air conditioning off to make sure the car didn't overheat.
Great experience but I won't be coming back for a return visit.

Yosemite

The hotel is very close to a huge fire and we had to make a hundred mile detour as the road was closed but Yosemite itself is beautiful, scenery and residents. Moving on to Death Valley tomorrow.

Alcatraz in the Fog

Holiday Break

Canada 2010 (you might be able to see two elk crossing the lake)

I leave tomorrow for three weeks in the US. I'm visiting some of the national parks in the southwest and hoping to get some good reference material.
My friend Katherine Tyrrell posted a photograph a day when she went painting in Provence and I'm hoping to do the same from my travels, at least when I have internet access.

I hope you are all enjoying your summer (or winter) and I'll be back mid September with new artwork to share.
I leave you with a photograph from my holiday last year to start the photographic journey, tomorrow it should be from San Francisco.

A Robin in Watercolour

A few months ago I painted a robin in watercolour but was never happy with the crop. I got the original out today and tightened it up, it looks better now, to me anyway.

Basic Income Tax and the Artist - Part I -Deadlines

Having been involved with both Income and Corporation Tax for almost all of my working life I thought it might be useful to share some things you need to consider once you begin earning money from your art.

As I am only familiar with the UK tax system this post will be less useful to my international readers with regard to dates etc, but information regarding record keeping applies to all.

I do plan on going into more depth in future posts.

If you're self-employed then you are responsible for keeping records of your income and expenses and paying your tax and NIC (National Insurance Contributions) You might use the services of a Financial Advisor/Accountant but even then the ultimate responsibility rests with you as the individual to ensure that you provide them with complete business records.

1. Important Deadlines

Once you start making money from your art you need to advise HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) within three months of the start date.

(However if you are only receiving small occasional amounts of money it could be classed as a hobby, in that case you would not need to inform HMRC)

If the intent is there to make a profit or you feel your hobby has turned into a business make sure to get in touch with HMRC.

Once you are registered as self-employed you will receive a tax return each year to complete and submit to HMRC, the deadlines for submitting the return are:-

Midnight on 31/10 each year for paper returns

Midnight on 31/01 each year if submitting on-line (or 3 months from the date of the letter advising you to complete a return if you received it after the 31/10)

31/10 if you want HMRC to calculate the amount of tax you owe

The other important deadlines are the dates for paying your income tax:-

All tax must be paid by the 31/01 following the end of the tax year, for example any tax due for the tax year 2010/11 (ends on 05/04/2011) must be paid by 31/01/2012
Any payment on account that HMRC tells you to pay is due on 31/07 (only applies if your liability to income tax is over £1000)

Example

Year Ended 05/04 2011
Liability £1200
31/01/2012 Due £1200 plus £600 (half of the £1200) on account for 2011/12 = £1800
31/07/2012 2nd payment on account £600 (the other half of the £1200)

HMRC estimate the following year to be the same as the current year until they review your tax return or you tell them otherwise.

If anyone wants me to carry this on with what happens in January 2013 if the liability has increased just ask, otherwise I'll leave it relatively straight forward.

The HMRC website is useful if you want any additional information


My next post will be on record keeping, what you need to keep to ensure you pay the right amount of tax.

Coloured Pencil Techniques - Drawing Animals

One of Chester Zoo's six week old cheetah cubs.

The subtitle for this post could be 'New Beginnings' and what better image could I use to illustrate that thought than one of the four six week old Cheetah cubs born at Chester Zoo.
I had the chance to photograph the mother and cubs last week. I spent several hours in front of the glass window watching them and filled an 8GB camera card. A lot of the shots aren't very good but can be used for reference of paws, fur, size etc but there are one or two really nice compositions.
Cheetah cubs are rarely seen in the wild because their mothers keep them well hidden. They have an exceedingly high mortality rate and are rarely born in Zoos so I feel very privileged to have been able to watch them interact with one another and their environment.
I'm sure I'll go back to see them later this year.

The other new beginnings are :-

I've been asked about having a solo exhibition next spring
I'm going to start the third in my series of coloured pencil technique guides
I'm going to offer online/postal tuition starting in the autumn.

My intention is to offer two options for tuition, students will be able to choose from a 'full' package or a 'guidance only' package.
If you choose the full package I will send you all the paper and pencils you need to complete the animal.
For people who already have supplies the lessons will be the same and you will still receive the printed lesson plan/booklet but you can use your own materials.
At this stage I'm planning on the drawing being either a Snow Leopard or a Wolf and there being six lessons in the course but I'm still finalising the details.
You will be able to either work online, or if you prefer post your work to me for comments.

As a first step would anyone interested please email me letting me know:-
Which animal you would prefer to draw
If you want the complete package or not
If you prefer to work online or use 'snail mail'

My intention is to restrict this first course to six students which I aim to start at the beginning of October.

My email is gayle.mason@gmail.com

Ready for the Society of Feline Artists 2011 Exhibition

In the next couple of hours the courier will arrive to pick up my paintings which will be included in the 2011 Society of Feline Artists Exhibition.

The exhibition takes place in September at the Llewellyn Alexander Gallery in London, UK and if you like feline art is well worth a visit. I'll be doing another post later this month about the exhibition.

Wolf - Part 4

The second of our bitches is now in season so the chaos deepens. At least it sets the scene for painting the wolf when Rio and Clinton are both howling in the background.

Wolf - Part 3

I've done some more on the wolf, the next stage is adding some background with pan pastels. I'd been hoping to do that today but real life got in the way. Roma is coming into season so Rio and Clinton have decided that killing one another is the way to win her heart. This does not create a happy and relaxed atmosphere, quite the opposite.

National Exhibition of Wildlife Art - NEWA

I will be exhibiting at NEWA, the National Exhibition of Wildlife Art from the 15th - 31st July 2011.
The exhibition takes place at the Gordale Garden Centre Chester High Road, Burton, Wirral CH64 8TF.
I entered two pieces, 'Stolen Moment' the Amur leopard in graphite and 'Bad Fur Day' the pastel of the Amur tiger. I don't know which one, or if both of them got in.
The private view is on Thursday and I'm looking forward to meeting up with several friends who have also had work accepted.

Wolf in Coloured Pencil

I can only work on my horse in daylight while I'm sat at my drawing table so I've started a coloured pencil wolf.
I find it easier to work with coloured pencil in the evenings.
This is approximately 12 x 9 on a stone coloured pastel paper.
I'm wishing I'd done it as a step by step because I think a wolf might be popular.

Horse in Watercolour

I decided to have a complete change of subject.
For the last two years I have visited Bramham 3 day event and taken lots of photographs of horses in action.
This horse was just jumping out of the water which you will be able to see when I paint his legs.
I'm also having a change of medium, this is watercolour on a hot press watercolour paper.