Dear 503...

 When lockdown began, I thought I would have so much extra time for painting - how wrong I was!  I forgot that with the rest of the family home, my time would be very much in demand elsewhere.  Even now, with restrictions easing up, I still struggle to find the time to sit at the easel.

At the moment I am waiting for photos for the next dog portrait - unfortunately, people forget that being an artist is also a job that brings in an income and that being told you have a commission and actually getting the reference photo at the same time would be nice.  So while I wait, I am painting a picture that I have wanted to do for months - yes, it's another bear and yes, it is my favourite Mr.503.  The water was quite time consuming but had to be done right - I don;t mind, I enjoy painting water.  It's not quite finished but I need to complete the bear before putting the final touches on the water.  Watercoloour on paper.

The other crafts are not doing so well - I just do not feel inspired to make anything new and find myself very weary by the time the evening comes around.  Part of the current world situation I think.  Instead I have been sewing masks - they are easy to do, I can vary the fabric to keep it interesting and I feel I am making a small contribution to help in the fight against Covid19.  Who would have thought a year ago that this would be where we are at...

Dotty...

 I finally completed this this week - 'Dotty', Derwent Drawing and Coloursoft pencils on smooth watercolour paper.  It was a bit of a tricky one as the client wanted it done on a white paper - a white dog on white paper, involves a fair bit of jiggery-pokery! Thankfully there was a lovely watery green scene behind in the reference photo that I was able to utilise.

It's been tough getting time to paint during lockdown - everyone is home, they all need to have a piece of me apparently, and everything such as shopping takes twice as long what with the queueing, the washing, etc.  It's a shame, as painting is my way of escaping the daily trials and tribulations and what keeps me sane....

Chunky Chunk...

I got a commission to make another Chunk - he's a big bear, with a very large behind.  Took quite a bit of stuffing!  This one is off to California to surprise someone.

Coo...

There's not been much to show on here the past couple of weeks - masks, masks and more masks.  I have been painting though, but that's not finished yet, and I have made this tiny pigeon out of felt.  He's to be used in a future animation.