Visit to Marwell

Last week we made the 500 mile round trip to Marwell Zoo near Southampton. Although I love that Zoo, the main purpose of the visit was to0 see if I could photograph Kiska, the female Amur Leopard cub who was born last November.

The weather was fine but really cold, that was an advantage as there were not that many visitors at any one enclosure. There were several parties of local school children though, who all looked to be having a marvelous time.

There was no sign of Kiska or her mum in the morning, although the male leopard was pacing around his adjoining enclosure.

We carried on walking round the Zoo for another couple of hours and then went back to the Leopards. There she was sitting among the rocks, one of fewer than 100 remaining Amur Leopards. She was briefly joined by her mum, and I got some lovely photographs for future paintings.

I really wish I lived closer to Marwell so that i could watch her growing up.

I have been working on a cat in French Grey coloured pencils with acrylic washed over the top in some places. He's now almost finished, and maybe I'll move onto an Amur Leopard next.

Obtaining Wildlife Reference Photographs-Part 2

Once I'm at my chosen Zoo or Wildlife Park the first thing I will do is find out when the feeding time of my chosen animal(s) is. If I've gone to photograph one of the big cats then they are usually fed 6 days of the week and on the 7th they fast. So check that out, you can give the facility a ring, they will usually be happy to give you that sort of information.

If the feeding time is advertised then you need to be in place at least half an hour before, because:-

• The animals tend to be moving about in anticipation


• It will get really busy around the enclosure and you need to have selected your place.


• After feeding the animals usually retire for a sleep

You do need to have a look at the position of the sun (I know to see it is a rare occurence) and try to have it behind or to the side of you for the best lighting.
If the cage has a glass viewing panel as well as mesh then I sometimes choose to shoot through the glass if the mesh is double or triple and quite small.


If it is a fairly large mesh I will shoot so that the links do not obscure an important part of the animal such as the eye or ear setting. I will also kneel or bend so that I shoot on eye level with the animal to reduce distortion.
I shot this cheetah through mesh, it isn't a good photograph but plenty good enough for me to use as a reference. His face was at a slightly odd angle which I have straightened a little.

If I choose to photograph through the glass, the first thing is to pick a spot which is reasonably clean, I usually use a tissue to give it a quick rub.Then put the lens right up against the glass, this will reduce glare and reflection. Again try and take the photograph at eye level for the animal unless you want to paint a different viewpoint.

Wherever you choose to stand, you will have to be patient and take an awful lot of photographs. Most of them will not be that useful, but patience usually pays off if you watch the animal to see which area of its enclosure it prefers. You can sometimes see a path worn in the grass where the animal often walks.

If you are photographing an animal which is either allowed to roam free or has no mesh then patience is the only requisite.

I sat and watched the Meerkats at Edinburgh Zoo for an hour before this one came and sat right in front of me.

I live reasonably near the Wildlife Park in the Lake District which has several species of free roaming lemurs, wallabies, ostrich, etc. The photographs can be taken with any size of camera, my son takes excellent photographs with a small digital that cost less than £100. Do not be put off by thinking your camera is not good enough.

In the last post I will consider what to do with the photographs once you get home.

Just to show that you can take good underwater shots putting the lens against the glass. I took this photograph in the Aquarium in Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada.

Obtaining Wildlife Reference Photographs for Artists: Part 1

After all the discussion that have taken place following the announcement by the UKCPS on their conditions of entry to their Annual Exhibition, I thought it might be useful to offer some advice on obtaining your own wildlife photographs.

At this point I would like to stess that I am only an amateur photographer and I am only offering advice about things I have found useful.

Over the last few years I have built up a nice collection of lenses, but I started with a point and shoot Fuji digital camera and was still able to obtain useful photographs.

I now use a Canon EOS 30D SLR camera, and the following lenses: a Canon EF 28-300mm L IS USM (which is my pride and joy), a Canon 28-135mm IS USM and a huge Sigma 500mm zoom.

I also sometimes add a Kenco 2x teleconverter.

Most of the advice however applies equally to lower end equipment.

Both the following photographs are of wild animals, in both cases I got close enough to use a small camera.

The next time I see the mouse I have my sons small Fuji ready so that you can see there is really little difference as long as you are close to the animal. Always remember I am talking about using photographs as reference for your artwork, not producing a photograph which would win an award.

So first things first, you have decided you need some reference photographs to help with painting an animal(s), what do you need to think about.

• What species of animal do you want to paint
• How far are you able to travel
• How much time and money do you want to spend.

So I decide I want to photograph a tiger. I'll then use the internet to come up with a list of Zoo's or Wildlife Parks within the area I am willing to visit. I will look at the list of animals each facility keeps and make a short list of which ones have tigers. At this point I might look at which subspecies are kept or how far away each place is.

I might find that the best choice is a photographic day which several facilities offer, these are obviously much more expensive than a visit to the Zoo or Wildlife Park.

So now I know where I'm going I need to decide when I'm going. I would avoid:-

• School Holidays/Weekends if possible
• The middle of the day as I find the animals are most active early morning or late afternoon.
• Very cold or very warm weather (this depends on the species to some extent)

I'm now ready for my trip, packed the camera and put on some comfortable shoes, and clothing suitable for standing still for long periods of time.

In the next part I will discuss what to do when faced with your model, especially if it is a speck on the horizon.

Changes to the Conditions of Entry for the 2008 UKCPS Exhibition

I received my entry form for the Annual Coloured Pencil Society Open International Exhibition 2008 yesterday.

There have been two changes which have caused much discussion amongst prospective entrants.
The first is that the artist must have taken any photographs used for source material. Now obviously copyright laws must be respected, but this means that even if you have permission to use someone else's photograph, your entry would be ineligible. I have no problem with this being a condition of entry, but it has caused some artists serious problems with work already partly completed.


I have used photographs taken by other people, always with permission, but have been working hard at taking my own. Meet my latest film star, Harry Mouse. I'm wanting to paint some cat and mouse pieces and spotted a little mouse living under the waterfall in my garden.So I've been feeding him in orders that I can obtain my own refernece material. Please all keep your fingers crossed that my neighbours cats don't spot him.


The second condition which is more concerning to me, is that, work is excluded which has been displayed as a 'step by step' exercise over the internet, on forums where other artists comment and make suggestions.

This may well stop a lot of artists putting work on art forums, or at the very least asking that no one make suggestions. This will then have a detrimental effect on the usefulness of such posts for people wanting to learn from them. I find this to be hugely different from making work ineligible which has been completed in a learning environment and I cannot see how it can be enforced. Even if it is not displayed on the internet, would a comment from family or friends which is acted on render it ineligible?

I rgreatly espect the UKCPS Executive, but I think they will have to resolve the huge confusion that has been created in some way.

For a much more thorough discussion see Katherine Tyrrell's blog and for a slightly different perspective see the post by Nicole Caulfield.

How to Draw and Paint Cats:My Squidoo Lens

As I seem to have mainly worked on feline art over the last few months, I decided it would be useful to have all my related links together and share them with other artists.

So I have set up a squidoo lens 'How to Draw and Paint Cats'. I will be adding to my lens on a regular basis as I find links of interest to feline artists.

It is Roxie's big day next Saturday, Crufts dog show, which is the biggest show in the UK dog show calendar. I'm sure she is aware she is being prepared for something special because she is already acting like a prima donna. She has decided it is her right to have the prime spot in the lounge when we sit down in the evening. Her right to own all the toys and have all the petting, and share everybody's meals. The other dogs are not quite so willing to go along with her and today Juno sat on her, Roma her mum nipped her and Rio hid her toys. All I can say is roll on next Sunday.

I'm experimenting at the moment with various media, pure graphite, French Grey Coloured pencils and acrylic and Sepia coloured pencils. I'm not sure which I prefer, possibly for my work the coloured pencils have more impact.

The cat is the French Grey and acrylic, the Cheetah is Sepia and Nougat coloured pencil.

Reference Material and Acrylic Tiger

I am still painting a tiger in acrylic, but I have changed tigers and am now working on drafting film rather than gessobord.
I airbrushed the background using several layers of liquid acrylic.

I have had several questions recently on how to find reference material to paint or draw wildlife. Obviously the ideal is to use your own photographs. I have been steadily building up a large portfolio of animal photographs from visits to various zoo's and wildlife parks throughout the UK. I also took almost 2000 photographs whilst on holiday in Canada and the US last year. The problem with captive animals is that they are often fatter than their wild counterparts and can show untypical behaviour due to being caged.

Sometimes though you want to paint an animal you haven't got a suitable photograph of, or a pose you haven't got, or you want to make sure you set it in its natural habitat. What do you do then?

You can try websites which offer high quality photographs for a fee. Two good websites that I have used are;-

Fotolia and

Dreamstime

Do however make sure that you purchase the correct licence for the intended use. If you want to use in any derivative work, which includes art, then you need to purchase the extended licence.

If you see a photograph you like while browsing the web you can email the photographer and ask for permission to use it. You need to specify exactly what you intend to use the photograph for and ask what compensation they require if they agree to let you use it. If you think that in the future you would like to sell the finished artwork, or have prints made, then again you need to detail that in your initial query.

If you intend to paint a background with the animal in a natural setting, then what works best for me is to watch as many DVD's or television programmes about the animal as possible. If I see some foliage etc that I think I could use, I freeze the picture and sketch the background. I also use books and magazine to research the animals natural habitat.

Painting a tiger in acrylic

I haven't been around lately because I've been spending all my time painting. I had this foolish notion that it would be like drawing with a brush and I would just be able to transfer my drawing skills to painting. How wrong I was.

I am on version number 4, having settled on acrylic rather than oil for the time being. With having the dogs, especially Clinton who lies under my drawing table, I was worried about the potential toxic effects of the solvent.

This is the first time I have been happy with my progress, although an earlier version did have furry fur, but it looked muddy.

It is all acrylic, 8 x 10 on Ampersand gessobord, i transferred my line drawing using graphite paper. There is more tiger but nothing to see yet.

Tiger ACEO

This is my latest ACEO, acrylic and coloured pencil on drafting film.

SOLD

Comparison of Oil and Acrylic

A little while ago you might remember I painted a Chipmunk on Ivorine, I decided to list him on eBay although I'm not worried if he doesn't sell as I'm very fond of him.

I've almost got another Tiger ACEO to list, hopefully later tonight.

However I've been working on two small paintings, one in acrylic, one in oil. I want to see which process I enjoy more, and which turns out the best.

Both are 5 x 7 inches, the oil is on canvas board, the acrylic on heavyweight Arches Hot Press Watercolour paper.

With both of them I am trying to paint a mid toned under painting. This was more successful on the acrylic as I put my small brushes away and made a real effort not to paint any detail. The hardest thing I'm finding with painting rather than drawing is 'unlearning' how I work. With a drawing I work with tiny strokes and detail from the first mark, that is not how I want to paint. I want to establish form and build up from there.

This is the acrylic, a Snow Leopard from my own reference photograph.

Remember this is at the ugly stage and I need to do something with the sky it is totally wrong in tone.

The oil is a Cheetah, also from my own reference photograph.

It has a strange glare because the paint was still wet, again this is at the ugly stage.

Hopefully when I post again they will be looking very much better.

More ACEO's

It has actually been dry today, the dogs were amazed when they queued up on the mat to have their paws wiped and they were sent straight inside. They have developed a paw wiping routine, they let Saska go first as she complains her old feet will drop off if they stay wet any longer, then Roxie pushes in because she can't bear not knowing what's going on. The others push and shove like naughty children and Clinton objects to coming in because he wants to watch the squirrels.

Two more ACEO's, I am however working on a Cheetah in oil, a Snow Leopard in acrylic and several felines for the SOFA exhibition later in the year.

SOLD

You can bid for the cat here.

Meerkat in acrylic, Finished

We took Juno to his first show in four months today (I know I thought I was going last weekend, but I got it wrong)

We were really pleased when he won his class and then got Reserve Best Rough Collie Dog in Show.



When I came home I finished painting my meerkat. I enjoyed the acrylic although I have a canvas drawn out to give oils another go.
I do intend to do a larger painting of meerkats, I find their funny little faces very appealing.
And yes, it is still raining.

A Meerkat in Acrylic

I've been totally absorbed in painting ACEO's during this last week.

The following two are on drafting film, using coloured pencil and acrylic.

Both these are available on eBay, the cat is now SOLDSOLD

This last one is on Arches Hot press watercolour paper using acrylic. I loved the way the meerkat was studying the sky, he/she stayed like that for quite a long time so I managed to take plenty of photographs.

And still it rains here in Yorkshire. My favourite walk is the 'stoat walk' (I call it that, because I sometimes see stoats at various points on it) but there is a dip in the lane just before it crosses the canal. This morning there was a lake in the dip, I sent Clinton ahead, but when the water started to reach his chest I called him back and we returned home. Trying to keep Juno's whites white for his show tomorrow is a little difficult to put it mildly.

At least it is good painting weather.

A Cougar or Puma ACEO

This is todays effort, a cougar, puma or mountain lion ACEO, again on drafting film but this time I painted the background with acrylics.
This ACEO is listed on eBay , it is now SOLD

Last night we were burgled, how could that happen with the canine gang, well I asked the said gang the same question.

We heard Rio start to give little wuffs about 2.15am, husband shouted at him, Rio carried on, husband got up and looked out the back windows, saw nothing so shouted louder. Two minutes later Clinton who sleeps in our bedroom started to growl, I got up this time and looked out the front window in time to see a car pulling away down the road. Eldest son collided with me as he had also woken up and seen someone creeping down the drive.

The front door had been opened, Roxie who sleeps behind the door had obviously welcomed the intruder with plenty of tail wagging, but Clinton and Rio had frightened them off. Tonight the door will be locked and Roxie will change sleeping places with Juno, who will definitely not welcome univited guests. Unfortunately he had been sleeping in the conservatory and missed the excitement, the other dogs had obviously told him about it though because he has been practicing barking all day today.

The thieves took a case of wine, a case of lager and a brand new drill from the garage, all I can say is I hope they have a headache.

A Tiger ACEO

I'm trying to maintain productivity but not neglect my marketing. Today I've selected the four images I hope to submit to the 2008 SOFA exhibition later in the year and sorted out my Crufts entry so I'm feeling slightly pleased with myself.

I've also created another ACEO, a tiger but this time on drafting film.

SOLD

The rain is continuing, leading to web foot syndrome among the dogs again, even the squirrels need waders to get to the nuts. The circular stones which form a path across my garden have been transformed into miniature bird baths and the pond has overflowed into the surrounding borders. I was reminded of the Amazon when I noticed my fish could now swim among the plants, I expect if it rains for much longer they'll probably be able to make it to the Amazon.

My friend recently tried to contact me on my mobile, which was as usual switched off. If I leave it on then I forget about it, and it either rings in the middle of important meetings or the battery runs down in the middle of the night. I'm not sure why batteries always expire in the middle of the night, I think they must work to the same timetable as in whelp bitches!. Anyway Clinton is terrified of the bleeping noise expiring batteries make, as soon as the first bleep happens he comes to me to be saved. This involves him jumping on the bed and wrapping himself round my head. Even when I stagger out of bed, find the phone and turn it off, the damage is done for that night. He insists that if he doesn't remain wrapped round my head, something on the floor will get him and he wont make it through the night. After about half an hour of large, heavy, very hairy male Collie round my nose I wonder if I will make it till morning, so that is why my mobile is never turned on.

Paper Supports

I finished my wolf, I think I might try a graphite study before I start my large painting.
The main paper supports I use are Arches Hot Press watercolour paper for coloured pencil and Mellotex for graphite.

Arches - this is a lovely smooth paper which takes a lot of layers but is a creamy rather than white colour. The paper is acid and chlorine free and available in 3 finishes, not, hot pressed and rough. I only ever use the hot pressed as I need a smooth finish.

Mellotex - this is a printers paper, very smooth, available in several weights and three different whites. As with Arches it is an archival, acid free paper. I understand it is only available in the UK.
I use the heavier weights in the ultra white as I like to leave the white of the paper for the background in graphite pieces.

I sometimes use coloured paper like Ingres or Mi Tientes, these are not as heavy as they are primarily pastel papers, so will not take as many layers.

Happy New Year

I would like to wish all my readers a very happy and peaceful 2008, a little late but I've just returned from spending a few days in Scotland.

I managed to take some wonderful photographs of four male European wolves which live at the Highland Wildlife Park in Kingussie.

I might not paint this one, I can't imagine him making a popular print.

I do intend to paint a scene with several wolves later in the year and as preparation I've started a small study in watercolour pencils.

I'm going to try to produce at least one small work a week and at least 18 larger pieces over the year so at least I've made a start.

I'm going to continue my art material series over the next couple of days before I return to the dreaded 'day job' on Monday.

Art Materials - Part 2

The other new surface I have been using this year is Pastelbord.

I use Ampersand Pastelbord which 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 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.

What I want to do, is let you know what my experience of working with it has been.

The first thing I tried was a cheetah on one of the smaller panels, I used coloured pencil and some acrylic. Although it is desribed as being similar to working on sanded paper, I found that initially it was harder to work with because of its inflexibility.

Once I had adapted my working method things became much easier.

I used more pressure with the pencil, certainly on the early layers a soft touch is not required, but you can continue to add layer after layer.

I was also not successful in adding acrylic staight onto the surface, it was too rough for me to get a fine line. I did however successfully add touches of acrylic on top of the pencil.

For the background I blended the colours using the solvent 'Zest it', this worked really well.

Once finished I had no need to frame under glass, I simply varnished it.

Around the time I was starting a new painting I saw a couple of artists using Neocolor ll combined with coloured pencil on pastelbord and liked the effect they were able to get.

The Neocolor ll are made by Caran D'Ache and are a watersoluble stick of pigment.

I added these to the background and the fur of 'Shred' and liked how easy they were to work with.

Shred was the painting I was working on whilst demonstrating at the NEC, and people were amazed at the effect you could get with coloured pencils.

Again I used touches of acrylic to bring out a few highlights.

I will continue to use Pastelbord, I like the finished effect and the fact that you can frame without glass. It is vastly different from working on drafting film and the end result is different, so I would look at what I wanted the final resultto be in order to decide which surface to use.

The one draw back is that I have to order the Pastelbord from America, I have yet to find a supplier based in Europe.

To be continued............

Art Materials - Part 1

I have found that people are curious about the supports I use for my work, in particular Drafting Film and Pastelbord. So I have decided to include a page on my website giving more information on the materials I use, but I thought I'd also do a blog post.

Although I have tried out many supports over the past few years I return to the same favourites:-

Arches Hot Press Watercolour paper or Mellotex for graphite

Polydraw Drafting Film for coloured pencil, or mixed media including acrylic

Ampersand Pastelbord for coloured pencil including Neocolor ll

Drafting Film, I use Polydraw double matt, 75 micron sheets. Polydraw is by West and is available as sheets or in rolls. It is described as a polyester drafting film with a high degree of dimensional stability.

I find its exceptionally smooth surface ideal for the detail I want to be able to produce. A sharp pencil point lasts for a long time on this surface. I can also easily airbrush acrylic backgrounds to produce a wonderful soft focus effect.

The one thing that you can't do on this surface is use a lot of layering, I've found 3 or 4 layers is about as many as I can manage.

If you make a mistake on Polydraw it is easy to correct, simply dampen the area and wipe off. I have even removed an airbrushed background, although that wasn't quite as easy.

I believe that an equivalent to Polydraw in the US and Canada is Mylar, and I know many artists use Mylar to great effect.

Here are a couple of examples of my work on drafting film. I have airbrushed all the background in the Rough Collie painting, in real life you can see how this pushes the subject forward.

In the Norwegian Forest Cat painting I have done the background entirely in coloured pencil, again a subtle effect but much more time consuming.

To be continued.....................

Things I'd like to find in my Christmas Stocking

1. Time, I never have enough of it to do everything I want.

2. Dog hair fixative, for the times when I do not want to wake up and find their fur coats on the floor.

3. Rose coloured glasses, to put on before opening the door to my eldest son's bedroom.

4. A treadmill for dogs, for the days when I would rather sit indoors with a glass of wine and watch them exercising themselves.

5. A ball that brings itself back to me, for the times when I've thrown it a huge distance and every dog runs in the opposite direction.

6. A towel that can dry 24 paws without any help from me.

I'm sure I can come up with a few more so please feel free to send me any of the above.

I have worked a bit more on my cat with the reflection.

A Christmas ACEO

I was planning this years Christmas card yesterday and liked the kitten I was drawing so much that I let him star in his own ACEO.

I added a mouse so he wouldn't feel lonely, and called it 'Waiting for Santa Paws'. It is coloured pencil and acrylic on drafting film.

My 2007 Christmas card is heading for 2008 if I keep getting distracted.