Saturday 29 September 2018

Hitting The Ground Running...

I've been on holiday for a week but that already seems like a lifetime ago.  Came back to not only the mountain of washing we accumulated while away but a lot of jobs and appointments that all seemed to fall during the same week.  I should have stayed away!

However, I have found the time to do more to this painting - I'm working on the dog on the right now and it won't take long to complete.  This is a private commission, and a slight detraction from my usual dog portraits in that it is in watercolour rather than pencils.  I felt the subject matter called for a lighter touch.  It has been very enjoyable.

This year has been very different to previous years - I have not had any time without commissioned work at all and it looks like that will continue right up until Christmas.  I am fully booked and cannot take on any more work for the time being.  How nice!

Wednesday 12 September 2018

Jeffy...

This has to be one of the ugliest things I have ever been asked to make!  However, it is for a small boy, so if it makes him happy then I'm happy.  The pattern I was given was awful, full of errors and very unclear instructions, what there were of them. Half way through I had to give up on the pattern and wing it for a while - goodness knows what a novice would have done.

Needless to say, I am NOT making any more of these!

Monday 10 September 2018

Dogs & Bears...

 This is my latest commission, a pair of golden retrievers in watercolour.  I'm enjoying a bit of a change of pace as usually my dog portraits are in pencil - this may yet have pencil in it, who knows, I'm just going with the flow!
Made a darker bear this week, based on a bear known as 151 Walker.  Shame the camera cannot cope with dark objects and electric light - hopefully I can get some better photos when the sun comes up.  This bear will be for sale in my Etsy shop later.

Thursday 6 September 2018

Another One Gone...

This Otis is off to sunny California...

Sunday 2 September 2018

Brooks Falls...

I completed this on Friday - a larger watercolour than usual but it had to be in order to fit everything in.  This is a view from the Explore.org web cam at Brooks Falls, Katmai National Park and was a private commission.  The photo sent to me was pretty fuzzy, but as I have spent hours watching this view myself plus I have painted Otis, the bear on the left, many, many times, it was easy enough to use a bit of initiative.  The bear on the right was very blurred but looked pretty much like one known as Beadnose, so I used another reference photo in a similar pose to get a better idea of how to paint her.  There is an awful lot of greenery in this painting whcih I was not sure would work, but it did in the end I think.

Next on the easel, a pair of retrievers!