Walker's Water Beard...

This is what I have been working on for the past couple of weeks - Walker, one of the bears living at Brooks Falls, Alaska.  This has been painted in watercolour and is about twice the size of my usual paintings - I thought he merited a larger canvas as it were!

I'm debating on whether or not to put him up for sale now or enter him into an art competition/exhibition first.  It's been years since I entered a competition as I have been mainly working to commission.

Next up - commissioned work!

A Horse Of Course...

 I've finally caught up with the commissions I received before Christmas - a bit of a slog, but worth it!  This horse will be going to Greece once we have figured out a way to get him there safely and without enormous customs/tax charges.

This is a larger than usual painting, covers my whole drawing board, and is mixed media - watercolour, Derwent Coloursoft/Drawing pencils, and a touch of acrylic - on watercolour paper.  It was quite an undertaking and I got a bit disheartened at one stage with the amount of face a horse has!  However, it went well and I am very pleased with the completed painting.

I'm now free for a while - next commission doesn't have to be done straight away, so time to do a bity of my own work.

I've also just seen the rough layout for the new Nudinits pattern book - looks very good and some very cheeky designs in there for humans, not puppets!  Watch this space for further updates.

Forest & Reuben - Cutting It Fine...

 Meet Forest and Reuben - this is a commission that is for a Christmas present.  I finished it yesterday!  Talk about a squeak!  I am just hoping the post office can actually do a next day delivery so that it will arrive in time for Christmas - the people who commissioned it are very understanding that they didn't really give me enough time for this, but I would like to get it there if I can.

This was worked in Derwent Drawing & Coloursoft pencils on pastel paper.  I can have a brief rest over Christmas and then it is on to the next one, a horse this time.

747, A Magnificent Bear...

 I can finally reveal this painting as it has been delivered to its very surprised and delighted recipient!

This is bear 747 who lives in Katmai National Park, Alaska and is one of the biggest bears around.  He is fairly battered - you may notice that he has only one ear showing in the painting - his other ear was nearly torn off a few years ago, presumably in a fight with another bear, and is now just a loose furry nub.  It doesn't detract from his good looks however!  747 was one of the most dominant bears at Brooks Falls for many years, although he is aging now and not quite so aggressive - I wouldn't mess with him though!

I was asked to paint this bear, 747, by a photographer as a present for a mutual friend.  The photograph he supplied me with was in black and white and showed this amazing bear in all his glory.  I did not use black as such in my painting as I felt it would make the picture flat and a bit lifeless, so I used Payne's Grey for most of it which gives a slightly blue tinge, and black for the deeper shadows.

This is a fairly large painting, watercolour on paper.  I have left a large expanse of white paper at the top of the picture as I felt it added something to the over all effect.

I loved painting this, and was very sorry when it was finished - I did get myself a print made so that he wasn't completely gone!

Izzys...

Inbetween other work, I have been knitted these cute little dolls.  I'm quite capitivated by the simplicity of the basic pattern - no more than a tube of various colours, ending with a beanie hat type top.  The detail is made by gathering the tube at the neck, and then sewingt hrough the stuffing todelineate the arms and legs.  The skirts are knitted by picking up stitches all round before the doll is stuffed.

I have enjoyed choosing different colourways and 'outfits', adding little accessories at the end.

Not sure what to do with them - probably just give them away.  The fun for me is in the making, I don't need to keep them afterwards.

Curently on the easel - a Christmas commission double dog portrait - will I finish it in time? That's the burning question!
 

Tontu...

Here is the second toy for my granddaughter, Tontu, the other sidekick of Hilda.  It's not quite right colourwise & I would have preferred to use a fluffier fleece fabric for the head, but time was of the essence.  It is annoying buying fabric off the internet, you never quite get what you had hoped for, photos can be deceiving.

On the easel - still the rather large bear. I won't be able to show this one for a while as it is a gift for someone.
 

Twig The Deer Fox...

My granddaughter's current favourite books are the Hilda graphic novels.  Hilda has a couple of cute sidekicks, one of which is a deer fox called Twig.  There are very few toys available of this character, and what there are are hideously expensive (Etsy vendors...)

So I made one!  I used some soft fleece fabric, adapted a pattern I found for a deer, and used blak felt for the feet etc.   It took about 3 evenings to complete and will go away now until Christmas.  The other sidekick is a weird gnome sort of thing - hopefully it will be as easy to make as this one!

Currently on the easel - a very large bear!