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

To bid click here

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

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.

Another Tabby ACEO

To bid click here.

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.

Long Haired Kitten ACEO

To bid click here.

I've gone back to Arches paper this time, mostly coloured pencils with a touch of acrylic.

Another Tabby Cat ACEO

I started another ACEO at the Supreme but due to work committments I've only just finished it.

To bid click here.
Thank you to all the people that made the Supreme Cat Show a really enjoyable experience.

Supreme Cat Show

To bid on my latest small print click here.
I'm not sure that I'm ready yet for the Supreme, but as it's tomorrow I've run out of time.
I created a new small work today out of the Great Spotted Woodpecker I drew a while ago.
At least it makes a change from cats.

Silver Tabby Cat ACEO

To bid click here.

Still getting ready for the Supreme, still creating ACEO's. This one is coloured pencil and acrylic on Arches hot press paper.

Small Works and another Tabby Cat on Fisher Paper

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Above is my latest tabby cat ACEO on Fisher paper. I spent most of my day doing marketing tasks or wiping hundreds of paws so I didn't have time to work on something larger.

Cody has decided to study plants judging by the amount of leaves she brings inside. She likes chewing them up and then spitting them out in little soggy piles, I'll leave you to imagine what the little soggy piles look like.

I added a page for small prints on my website today. The prints of ACEO's are proving very popular so you can now buy them direct from my website.
Small Works

Demonstration on How to Draw a Cat's Eye

I have adjusted my cat's eye demonstration.

The pack includes:-

A single laminated sheet with the instructions

Two 4 x 6 inch pieces of paper suitable for coloured pencils. On one sheet I have drawn the outline of the eye, the other is left blank.

I am planning to offer them for sale at £2.50 from my website.

The Supreme Cat Show

I've been busy printing and mounting/matting prints when I haven't been working this week. Next Saturday I will have a stand at the Supreme Cat Show at the NEC (National Exhibition Centre) This cat is on sand coloured Pastelbord.

Art Materials Live

I really enjoyed demonstrating for the UKCPS at the NEC, it is always a great social occasion meeting old friends and making new ones.
The art materials section had been moved this year and was surrounded by craft and food stands. I thought there were slightly less visitors to the art section although the craft section was really busy.
The format of the stand worked well as it was long and narrow enabling visitors to walk down the line of UKCPS demonstrators. As usual there were lots of comments about what could be achieved with coloured pencil and several new converts.
My eye demo seemed popular and sold out on the third day, I will be printing some more when get some time.

I'm at the NEC again next weekend this time it's the Supreme Cat show, more details to follow.

Art Materials Live

I will be demonstrating for the UKCPS at Art Materials Live at the NEC on Thursday 5th and Saturday 7th. Come and say hello if you're visiting.
I will do some more work on the cat above which is the one my eye demo is taken from.
The eye demo is going to launch at the NEC.