Violet...

Now things have settled down a bit since last month's slew of terrible things, I have had more time to spend at the drawing board.  I am still trying to get a commission finished that I started far too long ago, but I took a break over the weekend to draw this one.

Violet is a very special little person to me,and I did this picture as a birthday present for her mother. I used Derwent Coloursoft and Drawing pencils on a blue-grey pastel paper.  I thoroughly enjoyed every second of this one - not just for the subject matter but it felt so good to be sat with pencils in my hand after so long!

Here's how it looked framed:

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....

Taking It Slow...

Well, the beginning of 2016 was so awful that I haven't felt very inspired of late.  However, as things slowly quiet down it has been possible to gently get back into the swing of things. I've had this picture of a turaco in mind for months, probably since the summer, and have finally got a spare week to get on with it.  I am using Derwent Coloursoft pencils - a huge set of 72 that I was given on my birthday.  They are indeed quite soft and took a while to get used to, but I am now getting the hang of them and realising they need to be built up with many layers to get the depth of colour I want, but it is worth the extra effort.  The slow pace has been great for de-stressing!

With the January sales going on in our town, I have found several knitting books going very cheap.  One had this fab hat pattern in it, which justified the whole £3 I spent on the book!  Quite complicated when you are not feeling 100%, but it turned out well - a present for my boy!

It's been a tad chilly this week -this was the edge of the pond yesterday where the fountain had gone off centre and sprayed the rocks.  Pretty!

Painting Giveaway!

It seems like a very long time since I held a giveaway - now I think there might be two in quick succession!

First up for grabs is this experimental piece I have been working on using Yupo synthetic paper and the new Derwent Graphiks paint pens.  It's a bit of a far cry from my usual work - all quite different, a very shiny surface to work on which could be literally scrubbed clean even when the paint is dry, and some bright paint pens that can be used either as pens or the pigment spread and diluted with a brush and water.  The finished painting is also quite shiny and the paper is ridiculously thin and flimsy but so strong.  The whole thing is A4 size (8 x 11 inches).

If you'd like this painting free, just leave a comment here and I will pick a winner in a week's time (11th October).  Doesn't matter where in the world you are, this paper is so thin it would probably float all the way!

On the easel: a double pet portrait
On the needles: still knitting that octopus...three legs to go...sigh....it will be worth it I hope!

I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside...

...so as I can't be there, I'll just paint and knit sea-related things!  This is a bit of an experimental piece, new paper, new paint, so I am not sure where it is going to be honest.  The paper is Japanese synthetic Yupo paper - very different, very thin and almost shiny and you don't feel it would take watercolours but it does. The amazing thing is that you can scrub off anything you don't want and leave the pristine white once again. The paints I am using are Derwent Graphiks paint pens - quite vibrant colours, but I am loving them.  I don;t think this will replace traditional methods for me, but I will definitely use both paper and paints inthe future but perhaps not together.

With no animation work to do, it's a chance to catch up on patterns I've been wanting to try out.  This octopus is on the current Knitty issue.  It's going to look vey cool, but after knitting one leg I've already had enough!  But I will persevere, because he keeps looking at me reproachfully...

We picked the last of the grapes yesterday - more jelly to be made today.  The birds are welcome to the remainder, but I do wish they wouldn't make such a purple mess on our patio!

Give Me Just A Little More Time......

It is very hard trying to combine running a house and family, a part-time job, painting, and knitting work.  Usually it is the painting that suffers from being left until another day, which is so frustrating as painting is my favourite thing to do in the world.  Despite trying very hard, I still end up only spending and hour or two per day (and not every day either!) on this - there is always someone needing something from me!  But I have to make a concerted effort to finish this picture by the end of the week as next week is half term (no day job!) and really want to spend as much time as I can on a commission. 

I also need to finish this - not due to any time constraints but because it is driving me crazy! I could not believe that after nearly three hours last night I had sewn so many tiny triangles together and still did not have enough.  This is why I do not do patchwork, it would send me barking mad.  Hopefully, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and the next batch of triangles will be the last.

This is for the animation - next on the needles, a plane!?

Some of my problems are self-inflicted - last week I put ny name down to have a stall at the annual local dog show in July....then thought I had better actually have something to sell while I am there.  So amongst everything else, I am trying to make as many little dog sets as I can - I found some wonderful Rowan fine boucle yarn on sale at Black Sheep wools, ideal for small furries.

And then of course there is the garden, which calls me like a siren when the sun shines.  Sunday was spent potting out tomatoes and clearing out the greenhouse - another time consuming pastime.  I love this time of year, when everything in the garden is full of potential and there is the excitement of finding out what made it through the winter - plenty this year, survivors include geraniums, agapanthus, canna lily, and Vietnamese coriander.

Of course, I must also learn not to get distracted by things like this - a leopard with three babies on webcam. I have been watching them grow for a couple of weeks now - absolutely fascinating!

Greyhounds Are Beautiful!

This was finished today too - see what happens when the festivities are over?  I can get down to work with no distractions and get things done so much quicker.

This has been painted in Derwent Drawing pencils, black ink and acrylic body paint. If you saw the quality of the photos I had to work from (sneaked on a phone while the owner of the dog was out of the room I think!)  you'd give me a medal!

No Stopping...

I completed this dog portrait yesterday - spurred on by the fact that I received another comission which is a bit of a rush job.  This turned into a bit of a mixed media painting rather than just pure pencil, but when doing these portraits, none of them are the same and I have to follow what the image demands.  I'm very pleased with how this has turned out and am hoping the receipient will be too. This has been executed using Derwent Drawing pencils, watercolour, and acrylic white, on pastel paper.

My next commission is of a toucan - about as far removed from a pet portrait as you can get, lots of colour to be used although I am only allowed to use the 8 pencils Derwent are sending me.  This could go either way, be enormous fun or a complete nightmare!

Another rush job was a tiny knitted feather duster....luckily it was quite easy to manage.  I had an hour or so to spare after that to get on with this, my lovely woad cowl.  It's an interesting pattern, free with this month's The Knitter magazine, looks very lumpy in the early stages so I am hoping when I have progressed a bit further it will all come together.  The yarn is beautiful, and must be rich with lanolin as my fingers are so soft after knitting with it!

One Thousandth Post & A Giveaway

I cannot believe I have rambled on for 1000 posts over the years - thank you to those of you who have stayed to read it all!  To express my gratitude, I am giving away one of the boxes of Derwent Academy watercolour pencils.  This one has 12 pencils inside, my artwork on the box and if you really want me to, I'll sign it if you like.

Just leave me a comment below and after a week (on the 12th February or thereabouts) I will get the random number generator (my daughter and a bowl....) and pick a winner. If you are into art, drawing and watercolours, these are a nice little set to use, good quality and above all, free! This draw is open to anyone, anywhere.

Not free is this little dog set, which is about to go into my Etsy shop.  I've made a very girly set this time, with a soft fluffy white dog, pink collar and coat, pink & black check bed and a slightly lacy blanket.  If you fancy giving her a home, pop on over to my shop.  If you'd like a similar dog but with different colours, just get in touch.

I've been thoroughly enjoying painting this snowy scene - with a bit of luck it should be completed today.  Then it and the previous acrylic of snow will also go into my shop for sale.

Lots of work has come in this week - I have to design and make moorhens, rams' heads and make a start on that knitted car.....

More!

Just got notification that the new website for the Derwent Academy range is now up and running.  Check it out here.  My illustration is on the tin for the newly launched watercolour pencils, so hopefully will be in the shops at some point soon. On the website is another of my paintings in the 'wall art' section - mine is the-swan-on-the-lake watercolour.

In July, I will be on the website for the whole month as part of their 'Artist of the Month' feature -this means I will have to be available to give hints and tips to those interested and answer questions.  I've just been trying to sort out a photo of me that doesn't make me look twice my age or as if I've been dragged through a hedge backwards (which is the usual state of affairs when you are a dog walker/crafter/work with children!)

Now, all this exposure is lovely but it's time it brought me in some serious work! Come on people, I need to recoup the past three months' horrendous outlays and replenish my savings!

Coughs & Sneezes......

When you've spent the whole week feeling like this......

...it's good that it's been possible to get on with this...

This is a very small portion of a painting I've been commissioned to do for the Derwent website - you will have to wait until it's up and running to see the rest.  This has been drawn/painted using Academy watercolour pencils.

I've also been able to make this....

...a tiny replica lurcher.  Interesting to do, figuring out how to make the whiskery bits look natural!

Hopefully it looks like the real dog....

One down, three to go......

There have been other projects on the needles, but none I am at liberty to show!

Don't Quote Me....

Further to receiving my sample tins of the Inktense set I illustrated, it is now on the Derwent Website in their News section, together with a little 'soundbite' from me - they asked me to come up with a few sentences for the press release.  Hope I don't sound too gushing, but I really DO love these pencils and blocks!

Suddenly this week I have been flooded with commissions.  It's a bit overwhelming but really, really good, especially as most of them are - as usual - a little off the wall.  So be prepared to see sometime in the future a  fishy tie, a knitted rock pool, a knitted pet, and a painted hammock.  I'm sure other artists don't get these weird projects to do - or do they?  Tell me about your strangest commission.  One of mine was painting a portrait of a dog on the flower pot his ashes were going into......

It's Out At Last!

I am dreadful at keeping secrets, and whilst I was able to tell people that this set would have my illustrations on it, I wasn't able to show them.  The set is out this month and I received two sample tins in the post today - haven't they done a great job?

On the side of each tin is my name - how cool is that!

These were such fun to paint - the colours were so bright and I really enjoyed working with them.

Plus the subject matter was right up my street, especially....

...this one. 

Unlike other products I have been asked to illustrate for, this set is one that I use an awful lot - I just love the colours and the ease of use.  I'm painting myself a t-shirt with them this week funnily enough, as they are colourfast when painted on fabric.

This certainly brightened up what was a rather awful morning!

I Don't Know.....

This painting is not quite finished but I am unsure of what to do to it as I am not happy with it yet.  Sometimes it helps to put a picture of a WIP on here and look at it on the screen from time to time which seems to draw one's eye to mistakes, corrections needed, and changes to be made.  I feel the water is very busy and is detracting from the swan but that could be because I have stared at it too much this week.  A couple of days off should do the trick.

This has been painted using Derwent Inktenses pencils and blocks.

I Don't Want To Talk About It......

As I blundered towards the end of last week, counting the hours until school broke up for Easter and I could have an opportunity to do some Spring Cleaning and get some extra sleep, little did I know that instead I would be working every spare minute on two projects with deadlines that fall within the next ten days!

The first is a tin illustration for Derwent involving the above.  What I love about working for them is the free tin of pencils you get in order to demonstrate the product.  I'll never have to buy a water-soluble coloured pencil again!  No animals to paint this time, something a little different for me....I'm ashamed to admit that I am a mature woman of a certain age who had to look up a tutorial in order to find out how to make a paper boat. Origami is not my strong point...

I also have to design and make an accessory based round poultry - yup, you read that right.

As well as a scarf involving this combination of colours - urk, that wakes you up a bit, doesn't it!

As you can see, we're not snowed in although it is a bit chilly and damp.  We planted a damson tree this week to replace the poor diseased pear that we cut down a while ago.  My banana plant survived the winter and is putting out new leaves already - hooray!  Don't look at the bald spots on the grass - cold weather and dog wee will do that!  It's been re-seeded and hopefully will green up very soon.

Let Me Show You....

Here are the three paintings for Derwent that I have been working on for the past couple of weeks.  Generally I work in quite a leisurely fashion, quickly but at my own pace.  This time I had to really get a move on!

These are for exhibition in an educational supplier's to show just what Derwent Inktense pencils and blocks can do.  I have tried throughout all three paintings to use the colours in as many ways as I could - as pencils, as paint, with washes, dry brush technique and even splattering.

This last one was very tricky indeed - usually such a detailed and complicated animal would take me about a fortnight to complete, especially mapping out those spots.  I managed to do this in five days....my eyes are still aching!

I'm taking a couple of days break from drawing and painting, but still have plenty to be getting on with.  There are enough knitting commissions to keep me busy this week - I'm working on a very small telephone at the moment - watch this space!

Wide-Eyed & Legless.......

It took over THREE HOURS to put in all those spots - my eyes are aching even after a night's sleep. Thankfully neither the phone nor doorbell rang and apart from forays to the kitchen for tea and biscuits, I could work undisturbed.  Now it's time to put in all the deeper browns and shading in order to flesh this leopard out.

I was so tired at the end of the day, I only managed to knit the front legs of this little lady - usually it would have taken me an evening to finish her completely.  Never mind, tomorrow is another day....

Seeing Spots Before My Eyes.......

This is the final painting for Derwent and I have three days in which to fill in all the spots!  Am I panicking?  Just a little - it seems that the world and his wife want to talk to me on the phone or come round my house this week, so getting some uninterrupted work time has been tricky,  So perhaps it's time to take the receiver off the hook and hang a 'do not disturb' sign on the door.......

On the needles this week: currently knitting a mini replica dog for a little girl's birthday.  Next is a telephone which has to be only 2 inches wide - fun!  And I have just landed a very interesting knitting job for the coming months, my first professional design commission!

Hi Cutie!

When I was told by Derwent Pencils that one of my commissions was to be of a monkey, my heart sank a bit - I've not had much success drawing primates in the past to be honest.  But this little guy sems to have acquired a life of his own on the paper - I love it when that happens.  Everything just fell into place when I sketched it out and as for that face, so cute!  I just can't wait to get back to it - that's how work should be!

Starting Over......

Quite a few weeks ago, before the various pieces of commissioned work, I was in the middle of painting this using my lovely set of Derwent Inktense pencils and colour blocks.  It all seems a very long time ago and I feel that I have forgotten the method of working I was using as well as losing all momentum and enthusiasm.  Recently, several people have asked me if I have more than one painting on the go at the same time - the answer is 'no' and this is the reason why.  I find it very hard to go back to a picture once the initial excitement has died down.  While I am 'in the moment' there is a certain rhythm to the work - I get to know exactly which colours and brushes I need and how to obtain the effect I am after.  After a protracted break, especially one during which other paintings using other mediums have been completed, it's hard to get back into the mindset of the abandoned work.  I will give this one a go, if only for the fact I put an awful lot of effort into getting it this far, but my heart's really not in it.

My yarn stash has remained fairly static for a long time, new yarns being bought strictly for commissioned projects rather than just because they look pretty.  However, this week I have cracked and bought some scrummy raspberry pink Louisa Harding yarn from Stash Fine Yarns sale with a view to knitting myself a lacy shawl/scarf.  The tiger striped sock yarn was for a possible commission which fell through, but I couldn't resist it's rich oranges and have a germ of an idea for a new knitted creature.  For the time being however, I have a couple more things to knit for other people, after which I can hopefully get back to knitting for my own pleasure for a while!