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!

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!

Otis...Again!

Yesterday I finally completed this one - it took much longer than usual, probably because there was a lot of detail to include, plus Otis has an awful lot of fur!

Watercolour on paper, a private commission.

My life seems to revolve around Otis at the moment - three more paintings of him to do, plus a couple of stuffed toys.  It's all good, who doesn't love Otis?
 

Grazer...

This is a painting of the bear 128, Grazer, and one of her yearling cubs.  Watching the Explore.org bear cams this year has been crazy, lots and lots of bears and Grazer on the defensive the whole time - she has a reputation for beating the snot out of any other bear that dares to even look at one of her cubs.  However, I caught this tender moment a couple of weeks ago, just after she had been nursing her two cubs in a quiet spot under some trees and thought it would make a sweet painting.  Painted in watercolour on paper and will be in my Etsy shop shortly.

Next up - I've been asked to be the prize in the American magazine Travel Guide's summer competition again this year.  First prize is a painting of the winner's favourite bear, second and third prizes are a painted trinket box & a stuffed Otis bear, so I had better get a move on with the box & toy!
 

Handsome 503...

I completed this watercolour painting of  Bear 503 a couple of days ago  - very pleased with how it has turned out.  I'm now dithering as I have a buyer for it already but was also thinking to enter it into a watercolour competition...

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...

Peanut!

 I had a sweet little commission this month - to design & make a replica of Bear 902 Peanut! 

 I have to admit that I had to think about this for quite a while before I knew how to go about it.  I bought some different fur fabric (called wolf hair for some reason) and hoped that it would be OK.

 Cutting the pattern was quite tricky as I had to ensure the fur lay smooth and in the right direction in all pieces. 

After I sewed the ears on, it all looked a bit weird, like a very hairy rat and I was a little panicky!  However, after taking Peanut out into the garden and giving her a very good haircut, suddenly she emerged looking pretty good.  A little bit of shaping with some stitching around the face, and she was ready.  Off she goes in the post tomorrow to surprise someone...

Bearfaced...

Whilst waiting to find out what my next commission will be (I know it will be another bear, but which one...) I dashed this one off to warm up.  Watercolour on paper.

Swimming Bear...

Completed this today - very happy with how it has turned out.  Watercolour on paper.  This will be for sale in my Etsy shop soon.

Yet Another Otis...

 Yes, here he is again, the most popular bear around!  This one is part of a commission of three items in total that have taken me an awfully long time to complete due to other commitments.  Now they can go on their way to Spain.

I enjoy making the stuffed Otis plushies - just as well as I have seven more to make for some very patient people. I spent half of yesterday cutting out the pattern pieces and the kitchen was covered in fluff, as was I.  Thankfully this time I had the presence of mind to lay down some plastic sheeting and wear an apron but I think I still inhaled an awful lot of fluff!

Christmas Catch Up...

So that is Christmas and the New Year over - I can't say I am sorry, it seemed like an awfully long break.  I did get a little time to paint over the holiday - had to, otherwise I'd have gone mad! The above is a relatively quick watercolour done in small bursts whenever I had a spare half hour or more.

This is a last minute commission I had to do before Christmas - I finished it with about a week to spare.  Merlin, watercolour on paper.

And now it's back to normality and a lot of work ahead of me, mainly knitting/sewing.  I guess playing with the Christmas presents will have to wait...

Christmas Chaos & An Oasis of Calm...

I always have the best intentions when it comes to planning for Christmas, but somehow it all goes out of the window each and every year.  Suddenly it is December and while I have some things done - cake is made, a few presents sent - the rest of it is incomplete and I am panicking.  I  have had a lot of work this year, not had a break since January, which means everything else has had to be either put on the back burner or ends up being a last minute dash. 

However, as I was in credit with my time last week, I decided to take a couple of days away from painting other people's pets and do a little bear painting - just for my own sanity!  Here is Otis at the falls, patiently waiting for fish.  I feel a bit better now - on to the next and final pet portrait for this year...

Little Bear On A Rock...

I had a little spare time this week whilst waiting for confirmation of my next commission, so painted this little bear.  I used a snapshot taken in the summer from the Explore.org web cams as reference.

This has been painted in watercolours over an ink drawing.  I think I spent more time on the underwater rocks than on the bear, they were quite a challenge!

This is now in my Etsy shop.

Otis, Soft & Fuzzy...

 Watching the bear cams on Explore.org and seeing Otis sat there looking cuddly, I had an urge to make a soft toy based on him.  I rarely make my own plush toys, least of all with fur fabric so this was unknown territory.

Initially I tried to design my own but after struggling for a whole afternoon and getting nowhere, I found a free download of a bear pattern that I could use as a base to work from.

 I'd found the perfect fabric on Etsy...

 already had the eyes and black felt...

 bought some beanie-baby plastic granules which I used to stuff the legs...

this way he can either stand or sit without keeling over.

This is very much a prototype - there are things I would do slightly differently next time - but I am very please with how he has turned out for a first attempt.  Otis will be for sale in my Etsy shop shortly.

Work In Progress - Rascal

Nearly finished this one - a bear nick-named Rascal, seen in Katmai, Alaska. Watercolour on paper, private commission.

A Sad Tale With A Happy Ending...

Finished this today - this is a painting of a bear known as 451 who lives at Katmai National Park, Alaska. She has quite a story:

Back in 2015 when I started to watch the bears on Explore.org, there was a sow with two cubs. One day in the autumn after the visitors' camp had shut down for the season, one of the cubs staggered and collapsed by the side of the road right in front of one of the cameras. All of us who watched the cams were transfixed, waiting to see what would happen. Over three days the poor cub got weaker and weaker and finally died. The mother bear (451) sat next to him with the other cub the whole time, only leaving for a short breaks to catch a fish or two. When the cub was dead, she sat vigil over him for a whole night.

The next day the rangers came in a boat to remove the body for autopsy - they too had seen events over the cams and it was a golden opportunity for scientific investigation. When they arrived, 451 and her remaining cub walked slowly down the road, far enough away for the rangers to safely take the cub. After they had gone, she sat there where her cub had lain for the rest of the day. The whole thing was heartbreaking - I've always believed animals feel emotions and bereavement and this just proved it as far as I was concerned. 451 and her cub eventually slowly walked away and that was the last we saw of her that year.

The following year we hoped to see her return from hibernation with her cub. Sadly there was only one sighting of her limping past one of the cams...on her own. Again, desperately sad.

However, last year at the start of the season 451 showed up at Katmai with three tiny cubs! I was overjoyed to see this! I had watched her with her dying cub every waking minute I could, even taking the kindle to bed with me to check throughout the night as I was so emotionally involved and moved by her plight, so to see her with three healthy cubs and healthy herself was wonderful.

This painting was completed in watercolours using as reference a photograph taken by someone who was actually at Brooks Camp in the autumn, and who kindly gave me permission to use it.

Little Bear At The Falls...

Whilst waiting for photos for the next dog portrait, it seemed a gold opportunity to paint a picture I've had in mind since last summer when I took a snapshot from the webcam of Explore.org at Brooks Falls.  Most of my snapshots from the webcams are pretty rubbish as far as artisitic composition is concerned, but this one came out nicely.  It was fun to paint as well - the bear itself did not take very long at all, but the water was quite an undertaking.

I've used watercolour on a piece of sample Arches paper - out of the six samples in the pack that I bought, I think this is my favourite to use as it holds the colour but also remains moist for quite a while so that you can work wet in wet for longer.

Next experiment, drawing on brown cartridge paper...

It's Not A Polar Bear!

Sainsburys are selling these cute little Christmas ornaments ostensibly as polar bears.  As I stood in the supermarket aisle banging on to Mr. B about how it wasn't a polar bear as the bone structure of the skull was all wrong, it was definitely a brown/grizzly bear, he put it in the trolley to buy for me.  So I can paint it the right colours....

Velcro & Barney...

 Well, I'm still into painting on wooden discs although I can't find the nice smooth domed ones similar to the few I had squirrelled away on my desk.  This is a flat disc, about 8 cm across and is my first trial run.  I discovered half way through that putting paint on these discs causes the grain of the wood to stand up and makes for a very rough painting surface.  Next time I will have to sand it down before actually painting a picture.  This is a young bear called Velcro, from Katmai National Park.

 I've been knitting another replica pet, this time a lurcher called Barney.  He turned out rather cute!

 He comes with the usual bed, blanket and coat.

I'm available if you would like your pet knitted - just enough time to get one done before Christmas!

Otis...Again!

I thought I might go Christmas shopping today, but then when I got to the station there were no parking spaces so I came home again and did this instead. Otis the bear in a rare moment of activity at Brooks Falls, Katmai - I used a snap I took on the Explore.org web cam as reference.  Watercolour on Arches NOT paper - the paper is a sample and I love it, must try and get hold of some more.