Millie...

Here my latest commission, which was an absolute joy to paint.  I was given several photos to work from, but this pose stood out from all the others.  Those ears....

Millie has been painted on canvas with acrylic paints.

If you would like your dog - or any other pet or human - immortalised in paint, feel free to get in touch!

  

Handsome Fellow...

I completed this yesterday - a very handsome German Shepherd dog that is sadly no longer with us - which is a private commission.  I have painted this in acrylics on Dalerboard - I have not painted in acrylics for quite a while and thoroughly enjoyed this one.  The subject was great, and the painting seemed to just flow right from the start - I love it when that happens!  In fact, I am quite sorry this one is over!

So now I am free to paint anything I want until the next commission rolls along.

I have also been knitting - this is a lace shawl/scarf knitted in a fine kid mohair mix yarn, pale cream coloured with a hint of sparkle.  It is light as air and very pretty - it will be in my Etsy shop in the next few days.

I am just finishing off another couple of baby hats, and after that I have no more work for the time being.  Perhaps I could get on with some Spring cleaning?

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.
 

Reedus...

 This is what I have been working on for the past few weeks.  The client wanted the lemon trees from the background of the reference photo added, but they were a bit sparse so I ended up making up the background which possibly took longer than painting the actual dog!  The dog was quite a challenge, all that curly fur and only part of one eye visible, but I am very happy with how it turned out.  Watercoluor on paper.

I now have no painting commissions at all, which is unusual for this time of year. I do, however, have a few knitting and sewing projects to be getting on with and just hope that no-pne shows up at the end of November wanting a painting done in time for Christmas!

Pugs...

 I finally completed this one yesterday - thoroughly enjoyed drawing these cute little pugs.  Derweent Coloursoft pencils on pastel paper, private comission. That is the end of the dog portraits for now - my next commission is a people portrait and I am very excited about it!

Lucky...

Thankfully this year I do not have a slew of Christmas commissions - Mr.B is going in for his second knee replacement surgery next week and if it is anything like last time, I will not have the time to sit and paint.  I did get this lovely little commission though - it has been a long time since I painted a dog and I thoroughly enjoyed getting back in the swing of things with this little chap.  This has been painted in watercolour on paper and will be winging it's way to Boston very shortly.

My next commission will also be dogs - looking forward to it!  If you would like your pet painted, drop me a line, hopefully I shall be back to working as normal in the New Year.
 

First Of Four...

 I'm back to knitting replicas of peoples' pets - first labrador of a set of 4.

Not Been Resting On My Laurels...

Work has been a case of bits and pieces lately, but at least it has been work.  There has been another one of these painted trinket boxes - Otis of course!

Complete with tasty fish lining.

I've been sampling the free kits in another Let's Knit magazine - here's beagle pup.

From another angle...

Hello!

And a tiny squirrel finger puppet - I jusdt cannot get a decent photo of small things no matter what I use when there is no daylight!

The best bit - the fluffy tail!

Ont the easel - just finishing off a bear - and then will start another bear...
 

Little Fluffy Dog...

Knitted this yesterday for an up and coming project.

He turned out rather cute!
 

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....

Tale Of A Small Dog...

I finally finished this yesterday - took much longer to 'colour in' than I thought it would.  This is a private commission, not for use in anything further I don't think.

Drawn in pen and ink, then coloured with Japanese watercolours which are very like gouache except they can be lifted and/or re-wet & worked on the paper once they have dried.

And Now For Something Completely Different...

This is something that has been on the back burner for far too long - a little story board that I've been asked to draw.  It made a bit of a welcome change as I am stumped for inspiration otherwise - the rotten weather outside doesn't help!

Little White Dog...

 Amongst the ton of knitted stuff I can't show (there's going to be a book!) I have knitted this little dog.  She's part of a commission - thankfully the lady I'm making things for is being very patient with me!

As this is kind of a replica of the lady's own dog, I had to find the right yarn combination for the fur - this is some alpaca boucle, which is quite fine, mixed with white baby yarn.  I brushed the ears to get the fuzziness required.

Once the book work is out of the way, I shall be free to knit other mini dogs - if you'd like your pet replicated in wool, just let me know!

Sasha

Finally completed this large canvas - that was a lot of grass!  It's very annoying that acrylics are so hard to photograph without the light reflecting on it - the painting has more saturated colour than this photo*.
Acrylics on board - private commission.

*Took a better photo in the morning light - the above is now a true representation of the painting.

Three more painting commissions to be done before Christmas...

Work In Progress - It's Big...

Currently on the easel, a large acrylic dog portrait.  It's been a long time since I did one of these and the size of this one is a little intimidating!  It's going well though, I only started it a few days ago and the head is almost complete.  I'm not looking forward to all that grass though...

Hitting The Ground Running...

I've been on holiday for a week but that already seems like a lifetime ago.  Came back to not only the mountain of washing we accumulated while away but a lot of jobs and appointments that all seemed to fall during the same week.  I should have stayed away!

However, I have found the time to do more to this painting - I'm working on the dog on the right now and it won't take long to complete.  This is a private commission, and a slight detraction from my usual dog portraits in that it is in watercolour rather than pencils.  I felt the subject matter called for a lighter touch.  It has been very enjoyable.

This year has been very different to previous years - I have not had any time without commissioned work at all and it looks like that will continue right up until Christmas.  I am fully booked and cannot take on any more work for the time being.  How nice!

Beagle...

I completed this yesterday - Derwent Drawing Pencils & Coloursoft pencils on pastel paper.  Yet another commission - this year has been my busiest so far since quitting the day job and going solo.  I have four more commissions waiting in the wings, two of dogs and two of bears so at least I can ring the changes and not get bored!

In other news, somehow I have to make a bus out of bits and pieces and fabric.  Could be a bit of a challenge...

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby....

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

Little Dogs...

Here is the completed double dog portrait - the Shi Tzu was a delight to draw, the Papillon a nightmare, only because the reference photos for him were so bad.  However, with a little computer jiggerypokery enhancing the contrast, I managed to make out what was going on with his ears and was able to make a decent drawing of him.  The clients are happy, which is the main thing.  Derwent Drawing Pencils on pastel paper.

Next up, bears...followed by numerous dog portraits.  I'm booked solid for the next month or so!

Meanwhile, Spring has sprung and everything is sprouting and blooming - this is the view from my bedroom window at the moment and is usually populated with bluetits.  I have done all the gardening I can for the time being, now I just have to sit back and wait for it all to grow.

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.