Two ACEO's, Lion and Cat.

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To bid click here.

I've had another busy day printing so I finished two ACEO's.

The lion is on Fisher 400 pastel paper, the cat is on Uart 800 premium sanded paper.

I have ordered a floor standing card stand so that I can display my cards to better effect at the shows I plan to attend. It is a collapsible, rotating model, keep your fingers crossed it is easy to put together. Cody's in season and Rio and Clinton have become singing dogs so my brain is frazzled and will not be able to cope with anything complicated.

I'll post a photograph once it's all set up.

Graphite Zebra

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This is another ACEO from one of my photographs, watercolour and graphite on Mellotex paper.
I put an indigo watercolour wash down first then worked over it in graphite. Mellotex paper is totally smooth and very white and was a pleasure to work on.
I'm thinking of doing a bigger pece featuring one or more zebras.

Graphite Lion

Every now and then I get a longing to use graphite, today was one of those days. I'm spending time printing various items in preparation for Patchings Art Festival in June and it's easier to start and stop with graphite while I change paper, refil inks, laminate etc.
I'm using one of my own photographs as a reference, the image size is about 12 x 10 on Fabriano Artistico Extra white.

Lemur continued

I'm making progress with the lemur although the right side of the face isn't quite right yet.

Lemur on Black Paper

Over the years I've taken many photographs of Lemurs. This is one of my favourites, the lemur was above me in a tree watching what I was doing and chewing a stick.
Coloured pencil and acrylic on Black Stonehenge paper, 10 x 8.
His face reminds me of a little gremlin.

Shades of Black

'Shades of Black'

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You might remember I created an ACEO using this image a few months ago. I always had the intention of doing it larger.
This is coloured pencil on black Stonehenge paper, 10 x 8.
I enjoyed working an black as I work much faster, less layering and a much looser finish. The scan doesn't really show it but I used several blues, pinks and purple to create the black.

Burmese Finished and graphite tiger.

After working hard to meet the deadline for the kitten I wanted to do a small piece before starting on the next cat.

This is an ACEO done in graphite.

Instead of using my usual technique I worked from 2H to HB, or 2B in the darkest areas, using tiny circles and only adding fur definition at the end.

To bid click here.

Brown Burmese Kitten

This is a larger than life piece, 20 x 16 on Fabriano Artistico Extra White. The photograph isn't good colour wise as the paper is white.
I'm using coloured pencil and watercolour and there won't be any background as I don't want to distract from the kitten itself.

Do Not Disturb

Coloured pencil on Arches Watercolour paper, approx 12 x 10 inches.
The colour is a little more subtle in real life, the scan has made everything too dark. I'll do a more accurate image when I post the finished version.

Dalmatian Dog in graphite

'Spotted'

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This is my latest ACEO, graphite on mellotex paper, 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

The garden pond has been claimed by a pair of Mallard ducks. Unfortunately they tend to return from their roost about 5.00am in the morning, flying in right past the Conservatory windows. The dogs who sleep in the conservatory always spot them and make sure they bark to tell me that they've come back. If I pretend not to hear them they simply get louder until I give in and go downstairs, then they decide that as I'm up I might as well let them out to do what dogs need to do.

Shopping for a Conservatory blind might be on the 'to do' list for this weekend.

New Surface - UART Premium Sanded Pastel Paper

I've been taking a 'computer holiday' for the last few days. Once I finished work last week I felt that I needed a little space before moving forward with my art.
Anyway I'm back now with a new cat, this time on UART Premium sanded pastel paper. The one I'm using is the 800 grade which is the finest.
I got the paper from the SAA, it is available in 4 grades, 400, 500, 600 and 800. The 400 is the roughest surface, the 800 the smoothest.
This is the link:-
Society for all Artists art materials shop.
The colour is beige, not as yellow as it appears on my monitor.
It is quite expensive but I'm really enjoying using it, it suits my style better than either Pastelmat or Fisher paper.
The cat is approximately 7 x 5, all coloured pencil, mainly polychromos and I've tried both blending and drawing fine detail. I'm finding that the paper takes several layers and it's still possible to draw a fine line on top of the layers.

'The Right Side' now available as a Limited Edition Print

'The Right Side'

My latest 'up close and personal' cat is now available from my website
It is limited to 350 copies worldwide and has been printed on Hahnemuhle German Etching Fine Art Paper using archival ink.
It is the same size as the other 'up close and personal' cats, 'Eye Spy', 'Look Left' and 'Eyes Down' although in a landscape rather than portrait format.

I am in the process of painting 'The Left Side' so that there will be a pair available in a landscape format.

I'll post progress on the blog.

First though I have a cheetah to complete.

Adapting Technique- Working on Drafting Film

I have been asked several times how I work on drafting film, and is it different to working on paper/board. So I thought it might be useful to do a blog post on the subject.

This Cheetah is approximately 10 x 8 inches, coloured pencil and acrylic on drafting film.

Right from the first marks I work differently on drafting film because it doesn't take many layers. This makes colour selection much more important than when I work on paper. Because I work in very light layers on paper I can correct colours as I go. On drafting film every layer has to count.
I also work on both the front and the back of drafting film, punching up highlights, and darkening lowlights. This gives extra scope for modifying the final colour.
My strokes are also different in some ways as I tend to work quickly establishing a base and then add the detail in acrylic. You can see the acrylic strokes on the cheetah, particularly round the eye. On paper all the layers are worked in small strokes to allow for the optical mixing of the colours.
On this image the background is all coloured pencil applied to both the back and the front. I have not applied solvent just layered the pencil with a very heavy hand, in real life there is a subtle change from black to brown. I will try to get a more accurate scan to show the true colours.
Sometimes I airbrush acrylic if I want either a more subtle or detailed background.

Macro Cat Finished

One down, two to go.
This is the first of a pair of macro cats for the 2010 Society of Feline Artists Exhibition in London.
It,s coloured pencil with acrylic washes to soften the pencil marks and the actual image is approximately 10 x 8 inches.

Endings and a Macro Cat

One of the things I want to do before my last day at work is to finish off all my work in progress. That way when we get to the first of April I can have a new beginning.
Some of you might remember this cat from the NEC last November, I hadn't done any more with it until this week, now it's almost finished.
It's approximately 10 x 8 ins, coloured pencil with acrylic washes on Arches paper and will hopefully be going to the SOFA exhibition in September.
Now I'm going to work, my very last Friday!

2010 Christmas Card

I promised one of the Cat Rescue Charities that I would create an image for them to use on one of their 2010 Christmas Cards.

This is the image I'm working on. It's coloured pencil and acrylic on drafting film, approximately 9 x 6.

I have quite a lot to do in the left corner to tie everything together.

We had a great day at Crufts last week with Roxie being placed third in her class.

Orange Cat Finished

'Who Me'

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I finished the orange cat and like him much better on drafting film.

Dogs rather than cats tomorrow, it's Working and Pastoral Group day at Crufts. I'm showing Roxie so it's another very early start.
Hopefully I'll get some nice photographs for future paintings of dogs.

Changing Direction

As I begin the transition from a career I've had for almost 30 years to being at home and able to pursue my art full time (or as full time as the Collies allow) I've found myself disorientated.

It was actually my close friend Katherine (Making a Mark) that came up with 'disorientated' to describe my feelings. I can best describe it as skipping from one thing to another until I get 'brain freeze' as my son would say.

Now that something I've wanted for a long time is in sight I suddenly have mixed feelings about it. Over the last month or two I've spent a lot of time looking back over the years I've spent at work, thinking about decisions I made, thinking about 'what if', wondering if I'm now making the right choice. Going from a fairly successful career with a monthly salary to staying at home and creating art is suddenly scary.

Deep down this is what I want and I know I'm moving on to a path long desired, but it's still not an easy transition.

So the point of telling you this is that my feelings have affected my artwork recently. Other than one or two small pieces I haven't been really happy with anything I've created over the last few weeks.

The latest casualty is the ginger cat I started in watercolour, when I had a good look at him he was far to orange so I started again, this time coloured pencil on drafting film. In the daylight he is a far better colour so for the moment I'm happy with him.

With several deadlines fast approaching I'd better get my act together and actually finish something.

Tomorrow as they say is another day, actually it's British Collie Club Championship Show and I'm showing my crazy puppy as well as Roxie, so that will be a totally different challenge. If I can coax Cody to keep all 4 feet on the ground for five minutes I will have had a successful day.

Oh No, Not More Snow - Tabby Cat

'Oh No Not More Snow'

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My face looked like that when I saw yet more snow falling. The dogs however love it, apart from when it makes those little snow balls in their paws.
This is my latest ACEO, acrylic and coloured pencil on drafting film.

Background Change on Maine Coon

While I had the oil pastels out I painted a Maine Coon cat using both oil pastels and acrylics. I used a grey mountboard to work on and didn't add a background.


However after revisiting the image I decided the colour of the background didn't add anything at all, in fact I decided it was detracting from the cat. So gave it a blended oil pastel background.


Here are the before and after versions, I've also changed the crop on the final version although I'm still undecided on that.

Tiger in Coloured Pencil

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I stopped work on the cat to draw this tiger cub. It's coloured pencil and acrylic on Ingres paper, approximately 6 x 4.

I'm having a stand at a cat show next weekend and I thought it would be nice to offer a tiger print.

Hopefully in the near future I will be able to do more demonstrations for my blog and write some more interesting posts because I'm hopefully going to be leaving my day job at the end of March. Watch this space.

Red Tabby Cat

Another cat I'm working on.

This is mainly watercolour on Arches Hot Press paper, approximately 7 x 5 inches. I've left the fur on the back undefined so that I can put all the detail in the face. I'm thinking that I might do a bigger version of this one as I like the pose.

Scratchboard Cat

This is 5 x 7, I'm using an Ampersand Scratchbord and then tinting it with watercolour before scratching another layer. I keep repeating to get the depth in the fur.

Cat and Kitten in Coloured Pencil

'Tender Moment'

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Last year I took some photographs of a mother cat interacting with her kittens. I thought the look on her face as she washed this kitten was worth capturing.

This is coloured pencil approx 5 x 6 on Arches watercolour paper.

Missed the Deadline

I've missed my first goal for the year, I didn't make the dealine for Wildlife Artist of the Year.

A couple of unexpected things happened last week which gave me less time for art but I should have started earlier, after all I have known the closing date for entries for the last twelve months.

This is the start of my Snow Leopard, it's mixed media on Arches paper approx 20 x 18 ins. The photograph isn't very good I'll take a better one in daylight tomorrow.I used my own photograph taken at Marwell Zoo a couple of years ago.

I'm sure I'll find something else to enter it in later in the year.

The Dark Side - Black Cat AEO

'The Dark Side'

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This is another ACEO, mixed media on Arches Watercolour Paper.

I'm trying to sort out an entry for 'Wildlife Artist of the Year, which is why I've been quiet for the last few days. Hopefully I will have something to show soon.

' I Wish it was Spring'

'I Wish it was Spring'

Mixed Media, 2.5 x 3.5 on Saunders Waterford paper.

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That's the title of my newest ACEO and it is exactly how I feel.
In common with an awful lot of other people we haven't seen any sign of gritting since this 'cold snap' began. As we live at the top of a steep cul de sac with a steep drive and my car doesn't do snow or ice it has remained motionless for the past four weeks.
Today my eldest son decided it would be alright if we went an errand in my car (note he didn't want to move his own car) so off we went. I got three feet before the ABS kicked in and cut the power as the back wheels had decided to do things totally unconnected with what the front wheels were doing.
So we switched off the ABS and slid the rest of the way down the road, no brakes, no steering, lots of muttering, but as it's very quiet with no through traffic we simply slid to a halt at the bottom.
No problem doing the errand but no way was my car going back up our road, it performed a few pirouettes, lost an inch of rubber off its very expensive new tyres but didn't move an inch forward.
So I carefully reversed back onto the flat and left it in disgust.
Later this afternoon together with eldest son we mounted a rescue operation and returned it to the drive were it will remain until Spring.

Goals for 2010

'The Hypnotist'

oil pastel, 4 x 6 on Ingres Mountboard

I've taken my time thinking what I want to achieve this year in terms of my art, the start of the decade seems to be a good time to really look at what direction I want to go in.

So here are my goals for 2010:-

1. Continue to blog at least 3 times a week, realistically I know I will not become a daily poster but I will continue to be a regular poster.

2. Following on from the success of my first step-by-step I will produce at least two more, the second will be a dog's eye and nose, and is at the planning stage.

3. Continue to experiment with oil pastels and start working with oil paints.

4.Enter 'Wildlife Artist of the Year' and the BBC Wildlife Magazine Artist of the Year

5.Submit work to NEWA, SOFA and SWLA

6.Take a workshop with Terry Isaac in September

7. Produce 1 large work a month and at least one small work a week.

8. Produce a body of work with a more contemporary feel, a single animal, or group of animals on a plain white back ground with a hint of reflection. (I know what I want but the image isn't easily translated into words)

9. Have stands at 3 cat shows and Patchings Art, Craft and Design Festival

10. Continue to study and start to proce otanical work.

Silver Tabby Cat in Oil Pastel 2

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I really enjoyed working with oil pastels and the first cat proved to be a hit so I've painted a second one.

This is also 4 x 6 on Duck Egg Blue Ingres mountboard.

I've added some Caran 'Ache Neopastels to my set of Sennelier ones. These have a really nice range of grey and brown and are slightly harder than the Senneliers which are really soft. I found it easier to create a sharper line although the whole effect is softer than my usual coloured pencils or acrylic.

Review of 2009

2009 in Review'Hot Spot'

January 2009 saw 'Hot Spot' short listed for Wildlife Artist of the Year which meant that it was later displayed in the Mall Galleries, London. That achievement was undoubtedly my highlight of the year.

In July I had work displayed with NEWA on the Wirral and in September with the Society of Feline Artists at the Llewellyn Alexander Gallery in London. For the second year running I sold work before the SOFA exhibition officially opened. In 2008 it was 'Aristocrat', in 2009 it was 'Moody Blue'

'Moody Blue'

In November I had a stand at the Supreme Cat Show held at the NEC in Birmingham which I felt was very successful. Thank you to all my customers and to people who simply stopped to say hello.

Also in November I had an article about my work published in the local newsletter for the Cat Protection League.

Towards the end of the year I started painting ACEO's and offering them for sale on eBay as I had been asked if I could produce some smaller more affordable originals. I am delighted at the response I have had to these and I now have several International collectors of my work.

Sales from my website slowly increased over the year and in December I had my best month ever.

I produced a Step-by-Step demonstration of how to draw a cat's eye and sales of these have far exceeded my expectations, I mail one to somewhere in the world at least twice a week.

Looking back at my aims for 2009 I didn't achieve what I wanted around the production of new work.

I only manged to paint 4 pieces for SOFA and certainly didn't produce a new work each month. I did however update my blog on average 3 times a week and spend time in marketing. The marketing was based more around my online activities than getting my work into a bricks and mortar Gallery as I felt that was a better option in the financial climate.

That looks to be paying dividends as my sales from online sources have increased monthly.

I did tweak my squidoo lens on Drawing and Painting Cats and created a new one on 'Drawing and Painting Birds', plus I gave my website a overhaul.

I'm reasonably happy with what I achieved in 2009 and hope to continue to move forward in 2010.

My next post will be about my goals for 2010.

Happy New Year

I've just arrived home from a very snowy Scotland.

We've spent the last few days in the Highlands which was a very pleasant way to see in 2010. Unfortunately this year the snow was too deep to travel far, even in a 4WD, but I did get lots of nice photographs including some of Red Kites and plenty of Red deer.

I'd like to wish you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year.

Silver Tabby Cat in Oil Pastel

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I've had a set of Sennelier Oil pastels for quite some time but hadn't tried them out.
I always felt that I wouldn't enjoy them as they didn't appear to be something I could get the detail I like due to their nature.
However I decided to have a go at a cat.
I used Duck Egg Blue Ingres mountboard and the size is about 4 x 6.
I used the pastels themselves to lay down the colour and then blended with my little finger. I then added small dots and lines of colour and again gently blended with my finger.
For the finer detail I used a small colour shaper to move the colour about.
At the end I painted the whiskers in white liquid acrylic.
Although the oil pastels will not replace coloured pencil or acrylic I will certainly use them again but next time I will try a smoother surface, the mountboard had too much tooth which made getting fine lines hard.
I did enjoy adding the flecks in the eyes, the pastels were ideal as I could add tiny dots of colour.

Sleepy Cat in Coloured Pencil

Working on the background so that I can see how I need to debvelop the colours in the cat and tie the whole thing together.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it, otherwise Happy Holiday.

I appreciate all the friends I have made through my blog, most of you are people I would never have met if not for the internet.

Thank you to the people who take time to comment I always value what you have to say.

PS. I still like this cat

Resting Cat in Coloured Pencil

I'm going through one of those periods when I get so far and then dislike the image I'm working on. I'm also going to have a change of emphasis in 2010 and move more on to animals doing something rather than portraits.

So I started this cat, coloured pencil on Arches Hot Press about 12 x 10. There is more of him but that was the bit that fit on the scanner.I'm blending each layer using a hard pressure and so far am liking the effect. Who knows perhaps I'll finish this one :)

Dogs in Snow and a Drafting Film Cat

I've just arrived home from a very long round trip to collect my youngest son from his University in London. There was an accident on the M1 so the journey home took around 6 hours.

It gave me plenty of time to think about where I want to go with my art in 2010, more about that later.

Yesterday the dogs enjoyed playing in the snow, Cody my mad puppy and Rio absolutely loved it.

I started an experiment on drafting film. I'm working on both the front and the back with coloured pencil and acrylic.

The background is airbrushed acrylic worked completely on the back so that I can now move onto the front to get the effect I'm looking for. I thought you might like to see the before, of course the after might be a disaster.

The piece is around 10 x 8.

Winter Tabby ACEO

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No snow here in Yorkshire but it's cold and frosty so I thought I'd try a seasonal ACEO.
This is mixed media on Arches paper.

Graphite Lion

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Went back to the graphite as I had some spare time today but no coloured pencils available.
ACEO size on Mellotex paper.

Ragdoll Cat in Watercolour

This is a bit bigger than my recent work, 8 x 10 in watercolour on Arches paper.

I took the photograph at last years Supreme Cat Show. It is a Ragdoll and I think it's coat colour is Tortie Tabby, please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Ring-Tailed Lemur in Watercolour

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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.

Another Tabby ACEO

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This is an ACEO version of my best selling print 'Eye Spy'.
Coloured pencil and acrylic on Arches watercolour paper.

I've been painting walls rather than pictures for the last week plus it's been raining for most of that time. What relation do those things have to each other?

Well rain means the dogs spend most of their time inside, with wet ocean spray coloured walls and lots of white gloss. Result, hairy paintwork and sable and ocean spray coloured collies.

Cody and Clinton have been the worst culprits. Cody because she hurtles round all the time bouncing off the walls, and Clinton because he wants to be with me so he gets between the brush and the thing I'm painting.

Perhaps furry walls will become fashionable at some point!

Maine Coon Cat on Drafting Film

I decided to do something a bit bigger than ACEO size and go back to drafting film.
This will be approx 10 x 8, coloured pencil and acrylic.
I've been invited to have a stand at the Shropshire Cat Club show at Bingley Hall Stafford in February so I'm going to try to draw some different breeds.