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.

Charlie...

This is what I have been struggling over for the past couple of weeks - it is a private commission but is a surprise for someone so I only had some very basic photos to work from.  Also, this little dog has the most unusual eyes - I had to get several extra photos showonig them in order to make sure I got the colouring correct.  This was done using Dersent Coloursoft pencils on pastel paper.
 

Cat...

Just completed this commission - it's a surprise for someone who has had a very rough year and I am hoping it will do the business and cheer them up.  Drawn using Derwent Drawing Pencils and Coloursoft Pencils on pastel paper.

I am now free for the first time in months to paint what I want to paint...now to find some inspiration!
 

Toby

 After a week of tearing my hair out over the really bad reference photos I was given, one of which is below, the portrait itself ended up being completed really quickly.  Not sure why that should be, I'm just grateful I managed to pull it off!  Derwent Coloursoft & Drawing Pencils on pastel paper.

Next up is a cat, also with pretty bad reference photos to work from but hopefully better than the above.  However, having finished Toby in record time, I have a couple of days free in whcih to play - I need to paint something bright & splashy!

Poppy & Katie

Just completed this lovely double portrait in coloured pencil & acrylic on pastel paper.  This one has been a joy to do but also very poignant.  Last year I did a portrait of Poppy, such a pretty little dog.

Unfortunately, since then poor Poppy got cancer and is no longer with us, so the portrait of her with her owner is extra special.  I have to admit I had a tear in my eye more than once while drawing this one.

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby....

Hot off the drawing board, Derwent Drawing Pencils & Derwent Coloursoft Pencils on pastel paper.  Private commission.

It's A Little Shi Tzu...

I'm having fun with this commission so far - Derwent Drawing Pencils & Coloursoft pencils on pastel paper.  The second dog might not be so easy as the reference photos are very poor indeed.

Poppy

Just completed this portrait of a Chinese Crested Powderpuff dog, one of the sweetest commissions I have ever had!  This was a painting that flowed, I enjoyed it so much.  Derwent drawing pencils and Coloursoft pencils, with acrylic highlights, on pastel paper.

Next up - a pair of flower watercolours.

Otis, Golden Bear

 I completed this yesterday - needs a quick check over today to make sure I haven't missed anything, then it is good to go as it was sold before it was even finished.  This is a portrait of Otis, one of the main bears that people want to view on the live cams from Brooks Falls, in Katmai Park, Alaska.  He's an old but wise bear, reaching his age by keeping out of trouble and concentrating on eating plenty of salmon before going into hibernation.  His floppy right ear gives him a cuddly air - but I wouldn't want to try it!

Derwent drawing pencils & Coloursoft pencils on pastel paper.

In the meantime, the garden is really going great guns this year - best crop of sweetpeas I've had for a few years, I'm picking them every day.  Also picking courgettes, a few tomatoes & lettuce, with more on the way.

Hot Off The Drawing Board...

Here is Otis, sadly no longer with us but at least immortalised on paper.  I enjoyed this one so much I now feel kind of sad that it's over.  Derwent Drawing Pencils & Coloursoft pencils on pastel paper, with acrylic white highlights.

Parrots, Pencils & Placemats...

 I completed this yesterday after a determined effort.  It has been painted using Derwent Inktense pencils and colour blocks.  Considering it was a spur of the moment choice of subject, not really thought out in any great detail, it has turned out well.  There are things I would have done differently if starting again, but I'm happy enough.

 I took part in the WHSmith Sketchoff last night - they give you a photo online and an hour in which to sketch it.  I thought it would be a doddle, seeing as I have drawn and painted tigers so often, but in actual fact it was very hard work.  Not because I couldn't draw it but because there just wasn't enough time!  I chose to use Derwent Coloursoft pencils, mainly because I was curled up on the sofa and too lazy to get paints out - it was a very satisfying exercise though.

I've knitted more fish.  I don't know what to do with them.  I had an idea that they could be used as placemats, but as I have used scraps of different coloured yarn, they don't really go together as a set.  Needs a bit more thought.  Anyone fancy the pattern for free?

Whippets - Complete

Just finished this double portrait on watercolour paper using Derwent Drawing Pencils & Derwent Coloursoft pencils, with watercolour wash for the background and white acrylic for the highlights.

Considering the photos supplied were not the best - for the beige dog anyway - I am very pleased with how this turned out.

Hard to photograph these pencils, the camera tends to leach out the colour, so here is one under daylight bulb which is slightly more true to the colours.

I have a short break in between commissions, so intend to get a painting done that I have had in my head for a couple of weeks, as well as having to frame five paintings for the Fleet Art Society exhibition at the beginning of June.

A Turaco & An Author...

I finally finished this coloured pencil drawing of a turaco - the bird was finished days ago, but the shrubbery took a long time!  I'm very pleased with this, especially as it is my first foray into using Derwent Coloursoft pencils.   I need to take a better photo in daylight...if we ever get any decent daylight...then this one will be up for sale.

Last night on Twitter I joined in the W.H. Smith Sketch Off - they gave us a photo and it was our job to sketch it by any means within an hour and a half.  The photo was of Roald Dahl and was a lovely subject, plenty going on in that face!  I managed to complete it in about an hour, despite having it on my lap and wrestling with the dog who also wanted to be on my lap.  I think with teaching children on a regular basis and having to sketch all kinds of things at speed in order to show them what I am talking about has improved my own sketching skills immensely.

I received the February Art &Parcel package yesterday and was thrilled to see some Chinese brushes, ink &paper inside - can't wait to have a go!

Currently on the needles - this little beauty.  LOVE this yarn!

Hello February!

I've never been so glad to see the back of a month as I am to wave goodbye to January 2016!  What a ghastly few weeks it has been - I am hoping that February will see an upturn in our luck as we could sure use it.

This little pencil drawing has gone some way to keeping me sane - I've put a considerable amount of hours into it, but it is very slow progress.  Nearing the finish line now, just the left-hand greenery to do.  I'm using Derwent Coloursoft pencils - lovely selection of colours, but do need a lot of repeated going over to get the depth of colour I am after.  Not a problem, in fact quite soothing!  I did discover that I can scrape back the applied colour with a sharp blade to reveal the first colour used - terrific for detail on the shiny feathers.

I've had this sumptious ball of laceweight yarn for months now, since my last trip to London.  Finally started a wide lace scarf with it and am loving the way the colours blend into each other.  The flash on the camera has made the purples a lot brighter than they actually are, but it is still a stunning colourway.

I've been having a small spring clean of various drawers in the house lately, the spice drawer being one of them.  I discovered I had caraway seeds (who knew??) and with the left over beetroot in the fridge, it all came together to make this interesting cake, recipe in this month's Simple Things magazine.  I wonder if it tastes as good as it looks...