Female Mallard

Back to the Mallard, just the bottom right to finish and a little tweaking.

Fox Finally Finished

Apart from a few tweaks that is.

Now I need to finish the Mallard, I have three days and I'm working two of them.

Red Fox continued

Just a quick update.

Red Fox - Take 2

I have been getting more and more disatisfied with my fox. I'm not sure if it was the ear, the muzzle, the colour, I just don't know what it was I didn't like about him. He looked more like a Corgi than a fox to me.

After spending several more hours on him I did what I should have done when the doubts set in, I started again. I know paintings go through an ugly stage but I'm usually right when I decide it's not the ugly stage, it's the terminal stage. So he was terminated and I started on Arches paper rather than board, same size, same reference. I'm much happier with him, I will add the dark background, probably after I do the eyes. The fur this time looks more like my work and he is already looking more 3D.

By the way you aren't seeing things, I'm still having trouble with his ear, I'm thinking of making hiom a battle scarred fox :)

Rather than doing another post I thought I'd just add the update. You can't really see the colours in the background, but they are there, honestly.

Fox and Kingfisher

I'm starting to build some depth in the coat with layers of acrylic, still a long way to go. I'll add some glazes next.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to capture a pair of Kingfishers with my camera. I've never before been close enough to get usable photographs, yesterday I got around 100. Some are a little blurred but all are usable. Here are a couple.

Red Fox continued

I've had very little time this week but am managing to put in a little time on the Red Fox.
Some of it is looking a little flat bgut that should start to improve with the next layers.

Further Foxy Fun

After struggling with the ear I've now struggled with the muzzle. It looks a simple shape, it is a simple shape, could I draw it, no.

I resorted to blue as have so many half removed white lines, no wonder he looks miserable.

Notice how I'm avoiding the ear.

Fox part 2

I thought I'd better do the background next. I put a layer of Neocolour ll down then started working in coloured pencil. So far I've done the left hand side, you can see the line where I've got to.

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.

Another Miniature Cat on Hahnemuhle Paper

To bid on this cat click here.

I've finished another ACEO size cat.

This time I used Hahnemuhle Hot Pressed watercolour paper, I'm not sure if I will use it again or not.

The advantages were:-

It is a white paper, whiter than Arches which I usually usually use

The acrylic went on smoothly

The disadvantages for my technique were:

I found it to be quite textured for a hot press paper, this affected how I drew my fur

If I had a sharp point on my pencil it lifted the fibres in the paper meaning I couldn't achieve a smooth finish

I adapted how I worked, using more acrylic and less pencil which helped. I also used a slightly blunt pencil and blended my layers using a very light touch.

I'm pleased with the final result but it was a lot more work to achieve the finish I wanted

Crowned Crane

I went in search of some young Tawny Owls today, I didn't see them but I did see this beautiful Crowned Crane. I couldn't resist photographing it for future reference, I can't wait to paint that hairstyle.

I also took some nice photographs of Black Tailed Godwits, the males look really showy in their Summer plumage, they're one of my favourite birds.

Little Owl Continued

I've been asked a lot of questions about how I combine acrylic and coloured pencil on drafting film. All will be revealed, but it will have to be later I'm off to catch a train now as I'm not in a driving into city centre mood.

Little Owl on Drafting Film

A different subject and a surface I haven't used for a long time, drafting film. I'm working mainly in coloured pencil with touches of acrylic.
This is just part of the whole image, it will be around 20 x 16 when finished and include the whole of the owl.

Another Watercolour Cat finished

Worked on this one last night and finished him. I'm moving on to a different subject now, will it be a fox or an owl? it really should be the mallard.

All my dogs have decided to shed their coats which means an extremely hairy house and no shows, unless I enter them in the Smooth rather than Rough Collie classes. This is rather disappointing because I enjoy the summer shows. We could still go without the dogs but I always feel wrong without at least one dog.

Another Watercolour Cat

I'm getting ready to do a larger work in watercolour but decided to do another small one first.

Again this is 2.5 x 3.5 inches. I have to say that the more I use the watercolour the less I'm reaching to add something else to the mix.

Tabby Cat in Watercolour - Finished

Click here to bid on this painting.
I've completed the little cat in watercolour. This time I added very little coloured pencil and really enjoyed the painting.

Tabby Cat in Watercolour

This is another small one, a tabby cat in watercolour.

We bought a new desk today which my eldest son assembled, this meant that the computer had to be disconnected and moved. It was touch and go whether the Internet ever worked again when the nest of cables was revealed for the first time in years. He put sticky labels on each cable as he undid it, unfortunately one of his helpers didn't realise the significance and followed behind removing them.

Ginger and White Cat ACEO

Click here to bid.
For the last couple of days I've been working on a ginger and white cat, it is 2.5 x 3.5 inches on pastelmat. I find it easier to concentrate on a small piece when I'm tired so the poor Mallard is still waiting for my pencil, maybe tomorrow.
On my screen it's a little larger than life size.

Wildlife Artist of the Year

I have made very little progress, in fact my art has suffered over the last few days, due in part to the hot weather and in part due to work commitments.

Yesterday we went to the Private View of Wildlife Artist of the Year. The event was in the evening at the Mall Galleries. It was really well attended and the 'red spots' indicating sales were appearing all over.
The Wildlife Artist of the Year award went to Pamela Conder for her mixed media work of Chimpanzees 'Reflections on Ageing'
I thought all the work was of a very high standard but my personal favourite had to be the work of Darryn Eggleton, Achromatic and In Motion. All the short listed paintings can be seen on line.
The exhibition runs until the 06/06 and is well worth a visit if you like wildlife.
For a much more comprehensive version of the evening see Katherine Tyrrell's post over on her blog 'Making a Mark'

Mallard in Mixed Media

I've got back to the Mallard at last. This is a terrible photograph as the light is poor but it gives you an idea of how she's progressing. There is definitely no orange tinge to the sky in real life and the eye is darker, the touch of charcoal reflected the flash.

Red Kites in Yorkshire

I went to a Game Fair at Harewood House today. Harewood is about 30 minutes from where I live and I always enjoy a visit because Red Kites are usually visible gliding overhead.

The Yorkshire Red Kite project began in 1999 and has been highly successful. Many chicks have been successfully reared and the Kite is now a common sight in the area. Today was no exception, in fact we got spectacular views of a couple of birds. This one will be appearing in a painting in the future.

Comparison of Pastelmat, Pastelbord and Fisher 400 paper

I have recently read several discussions among artists about using supports other than paper, so here are my experiences with the above.

'Eye to Eye'

cat on Pastelmat, for the 2009 SOFA exhibition in September

Pastelmat

Made by Clairefontaine, acid free, 360 g/m2, available in various colours as single sheets or in pads.

Two sizes of sheet available: 50 x 70cms or 70 x 100cm's.

Can be purchased in the UK from Great Art or Tim Fisher.

I have used both the black and the white.

I found the surface mid way between colourfix and velour, certainly much softer than either the Pastelbord or Fisher 400. It took several layers, you could get a nice sharp line and on the black it was possible to get a really white, white. I have found this difficult on some black surfaces.

I could not get as many layers as on the Arches paper I often use, but this didn't matter to me as the colour saturation was good.

Katherine Tyrrell has done a review of Pastelmat on her Making a Mark Reviews Blog.

'Aristocrat'

Cat on Pastelbord

Sold by the Llewellyn Alexander Gallery, London, SOFA 2008

Pastelbord

Made by Ampersand in the USA.
Ampersand Pastelbord is described as "a clay and gesso hardboard panel with a granular marble dust finish" The pastelbord is available in four colours, sand, grey, green and white.
I have not found a supplier in the UK, I have had to use mail order from America which makes it expensive.
I ordered samples of all four colours although up to now I have only worked on the sand one. The Ampersand website shows the four colours and gives much more information on the product, including the diversity of media you can use on it.
So far I have used acrylic, coloured pencil and neocolorII.;
This is the hardest of the three surfaces and can be framed without glass.
Again it takes several layers but I found it harder to get the fine lines for my fur than on either of the softer surfaces, it is possible, just harder to do. It is again possible to get white, whites and paint highlights in acrylic if you don't mind mixed media.
The benefit to me of the Pastelbord was framing without glass.

Fisher 400

I wrote about this in my last post.

Developed by UK artist Tim Fisher it is a sanded pastel paper.

Supplied by Tim Fisher in the UK, International customers are welcome.

I probably enjoyed working on this surface the best, it almost 'grabbed' the colour, was easy to blend and burnish yet retained sharp edges where I wanted them.

You can read an in depth review of the paper here by super talented artist Nicole Caulfield. Nicole also uses Pastelbord for her work, her portraits are stunning, especially the one she did of my son., 'Rob'

Links

The Ampersand website

Tim Fisher's Website

Great Art website

Nicole's blog

Making a Mark Reviews - the introduction

ACEO Cat on Fisher 400 Paper

I wanted to try my new Fisher 400 sanded pastel paper so decided to do a small work.

This is a small work, ACEO size (2.5 x 3.5 inches) using coloured pencils.

The paper was created by Tim Fisher, it is pale buff in colour and the surface is lightfast.

I found it took several layers of pencil but could burnish areas I wanted to.

I will definitely be doing a larger 'furry' piece on the paper.

The image is just about life size on my screen.

The original is now sold.

Kitten Finished!

I managed to finish my kitten, add the feather and make it to the printer.

This is the final scan for the prints.

You can purchase the giclee print from my website or by emailing me

Still More Kitten

I've been really busy with my 'day job' so painting has had to be left untouched.

I did complete a bit more fur today, I do want to finish him over the weekend because I'm taking it to the printer on Tuesday.

I've been throwing feathers in the air today to see how they float to the ground, I knew the ducks would come in useful for something.

More Kitten

Continuing to work on the kitten, this is all that fits on the scanner.

I have been wanting to take some photographs of a male mallard for a painting. The local duck population must have heard so this morning a pair decided to audition for me. My husband was not impressed with finding the garden pond playing host to them. They did not leave the water in the same condition that they found it.

The Jay

My bird for today is the Jay. These birds are quite shy so I was pleased to get some nice photographs of a pair of them in a local wood.

I will have an update of my art tomorrow, I'm just too tired to photograph or scan it tonight.

Coloured Pencil Kitten - Part 3

I decided I needed to ground my kitten but I didn't want a complete background. I've decided to sit him in a patch of grass. The shape of the patch will probably change as there is lots of space all round and I might create a few longer blades behind him.

I've included a close up of the grass, keep in mind this is larger than life size. First I create a dark underlayer, then I erase light patches, fill them with different colours to represent blades then repeat until I've got the depth I want. The close up shows various stages.

Coloured Pencil Kitten - Part 2

A little more work.

Dipper

The bird for the day is a Dipper which I photographed on the river near home yesterday.

Hopefully back later to share some artwork.

Pheasant and Phantom Pregnancy

It was a nice sunny afternoon so I decided to have a quick tour of the local lanes to see if I could get some photographs of Curlews. I can hear them from the garden, I love their long bubbling song as they glide above the fields.

On my way up to the moor I spotted a Pheasant standing on a wall in the sunlight. He allowed me to get near enough to rest my camera on a wall and we enjoyed a ten minute photo shoot.

I will definitely be painting this one.

Back home Roma is having a phantom pregnancy, she has adopted a burst football which emits a horrible squeal when she picks it up. Trouble is she picks it up, drops it in horror when it squeaks, looks horrified that it rolls away, so picks it up again. This has been repeated all day except for the few minutes when she hides it and forgets where it's been hidden. Then we all have to rush round finding it because she stands there crying, very, very loudly. Roxie asked for earplugs, Clinton has retired upstairs, Juno is sharing childcare and Rio is going to kill her.

Kitten in Coloured Pencil

I've started another of the 2009 cat series, this time a tabby kitten.

I'm going to add a feather or butterfly at the end to give the kitten something to be reaching for.

This is all coloured pencil on Arches hot press watercolour paper.

Burmese Cat - Finished

I just need to make a few small alterations and then he's finished. The title is 'Moody Blue'

I will post a demo of the eyes, but I don't have time today.

Burmese Cat part 2

More work on the Burmese, hopefully I'll post the eye demo tomorrow.

We have two ponds in the garden, the smaller one is about 5 x 3 feet. Imagine my surprise when I looked out of the window to see a pair of mallard enjoying themselves splashing about. I'm not sure the fish appreciated them quite as much as I did. Fortunately by the time my husband came home the water had cleared, he would have had the same impression as the fish. If they come back I'll take a photograph of their antics.

Burmese Cat in Coloured Pencil

I've started another in the 2009 cat series.
I took the photograph of this beautiful male Burmese in quite strong sunshine so the light on him is nice.

It is quite large, around 16 x 12 on Arches hot press. This time I'm burnishing between layers as he has such a dense plush coat.

I haven't started the eyes because I intend to do a mini demonstration showing how I complete them.

We visited Martin Mere again yesterday because I was hoping to see the Kingfishers. Sure enough they were visible round the hole they are hopefully going to nest in. I couldn't take any good photographs as the windows in the hide have been nailed shut to minimise disturbance. Once the birds have settled the windows should be opened again.

It was still a wonderful experience to watch these birds starting to excavate their nest hole.

I did take some nice photographs of a Heron in the sun.

Redpolls, Siskins and Wildlife Artist of the Year

The Treecreeper and Long Tail Tits have been replaced by a small flock of Redpolls and Siskins feeding in the garden. Usually moving about high in the Birch trees they have been feeding on the niger seed I put out. We've planted a small tree under the feeder in the hope of getting some more natural looking photographs.

Today the female Siskins were the most obliging, the males of both species kept hiding behind branches.

My other news is that the shortlist for Wildlife Artist of the Year 2009 is available to view on line.

There are some really excellent pieces and I am honoured that 'Hot Spot' is included in the short list.

All the paintings will be on display at the Mall Galleries from the 2nd to the 6th of June. I am hoping to be there at the private reception on the 1st.

Links - Wildlife Artist of the Year 2009

Cat on Pastelmat continued (again!)

I'm almost finished, just a little more on the right side then I need to decide how I want to crop him.

I've been experimenting with Claybord, watercolour, coloured pencil and then scraping the fur in. I'll share when I've a little more to show you.

Cat on Pastelmat continued

Todays bird is a Pied Wagtail which was having a drink in the river, for once the sun was quite bright on the water so I lost some detail.

More on the Tabby on white pastelmat, I still like the appearance of the fur on this surface,