Showing posts with label Cavalier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cavalier. Show all posts

Friday, 23 August 2013

Freya


I just love painting dogs, in whatever medium.  This is Freya, a cheeky cavalier that belongs to Midge over at Soggibottom blog.  It was an absolute joy to paint this pretty little dog this week - I have used pure watercolours for this one, kept it simple.  I enjoyed it so much that I had to stop myself from overworking it at the end - the tricky part of painting is always knowing when to stop!

However, I have another dog portrait to get on with, in acrylics this time.  I had a photo session with him last night, a very squirmy staffie who is totally devoted to his owner and just would not look at me, no matter how many biscuits I waved under his nose!  I did manage to get one perfect shot though, so I am ready to start.  Had to have a bit of a wash when I got home....very licky dog!

My daughter has been painting up a storm this summer too.  She is quietly working her way through a book I have called Painting Great Masterpieces By Numbers.  Some come out a bit askew, others are lovely.  I like her take on Modigliani here - she has a good eye for colour.  She is now attempting Klimt's The Kiss, and seems to have a good grasp of it so far. 
I'm not great at photography, but could not resist the light shining through the grapes on my patio.  Beautful rich colours,  We are going to have a bumper crop this year - looks like we will have enough grape jelly to feed the whole street if I use them all!
These are just a few...



Monday, 19 August 2013

The Eyes Have It...

I'm not the only animal artist who believes that if you don't get the eyes right first when painting a portrait, you might as well bin it there and then.  Happily, I am pretty confident that with this one I have got them down well - it helps that I have met the little dog in question.

For now this is all I am prepared to show of this one - the owners know it is being painted but as they are friends of mine, I don't want to reveal too much just yet as half the fun is the surprise of showing a finished painting.  I'm painting this in watercolour, very simple and back to basics with no mixed media party tricks involved and it's going very well.  It feels good to stretch my brain with the strategies involved in a pure watercolour.