Poppy...

This is what I have been working on for the past few weeks.  Poppy, painted in acrylics on Dalerboard.  This is to be a wedding present next month for the couple that own the dog - glad I got it completed in time!

It's always difficult to paint a black dog, but even harder to get a decent photograph of the finished painting if it has been done in acrylics.  Mr. B and I have taken several photographs of this one, and it always came out peculiar with the camera picking up the white elements of the painting far more than it should.  We tried our phone cameras and a digital camera, and this is the best we could come up with and even this one has been tinkered with on Photoshop in order to calm it down a bit.  Very frustrating!

No commissions for the time being - I am spending this week doing a bit of much needed Spring cleaning, trying to get the garden sorted out before it becomes a jungle, and hopefully painting a bear on the garden fence...

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.

Wren...

It's been an eventful few weeks - about 10 days ago I was bitten in the stomach by a neighbour's dog...well, as the dog was very small, it was more a tear than a bite, but enough to cause a humungous bruise and a painful 3 cm wound.  I had to get a tetanus shot (and apparently I am now also vaccinated against diptheria and polio, which is nice...) and took antibiotics for 5 days.  Also reported it to the police as the whole situation was caused by one of the neighbour's other dogs being off lead and having a go at my dog whilst also running amok in the middle of the road.

So that put me out of action for a few days. Once I started to feel better I was able to get back to this lovely dog portrait, and once the sun finally came out and we got some decent daylight, finishing it off was much quicker.

This has been worked in Derwent Drawing & Coloursoft pencils on pastel paper, and is a private commission.  

After having once of the worst years ever for sales and commissions, I suddenly have more work that I can cope with in the run up to Christmas!  It feels very good to be back in business - it was starting to get very worrying.

Next on the easel - a bear!