The White Wolf

The White Wolf 

I have been working on a few commissions recently.....which are intended as Christmas presents for loved ones of the clients. As a result of this, I'm not yet able to display them here....as I dont want to spoil the surprise, should they happen to stumble upon them online. So for now, here is a mixed-media drawing I recently completed - it is worked in graphite and charcoal and depicts a beautiful White Timber Wolf at a water hole. It has been drawn from a photograph, and by kind permission of the photographer Carla Coulthard of
Carla Coulthard Photography. 

It is for sale online via the Affordable British Art gallery

Black Arab Stallion drawing......

Well, today I have been mostly finishing off a drawing of a black Arab Stallion. 

I'm doing a number of equestrian-related drawings to build up a stock for an Exhibition I am hoping to be granted in a new venue....so you might get a bit fed up of seeing horsey stuff for he next wee while. For me, though.....it is like going back to my first love....as a girl I was horse-mad...and when I wasn't mucking about in the stables and with the horses, I was often to be found drawing them.
Hope you like this one....I've put it in a double mount for now, and will get it framed nearer to exhibition time. Think I may just have some prints made of this one too.
Next up.....another drawing of Watch Out Jose.....a full head pose this time, rather than just his eye (see the previous post regarding the drawing of a close up of his eye). 

....and now for something completely different

 ...for me, anyway. I recently did a printmaking workshop with Sheila McFarlane in St.Cyrus. It was great fun. Here are the results:

                   

Back to (near) normal....

Oh dear.....what a hopeless Blogger I've been.....must (will) try harder (Hangs head in shame). In my defence....I have been incredibly busy getting ready for the North East Open Studios event. This is an annual event in which Artists from all over the North east of Scotland open the doors of their studios and workshops to the public. I've taken part in NEOS for several years, however, last year I had to withdraw due to experiencing a flood in my studio which meant  lost a lot of my work. So this year, I looked forward to getting back on the bandwagon.
I invited a fellow artist friend, Angela Arnold, to share my "venue" as she was having trouble finding somewhere to show her work....her own home studio being unsuitable.
In total, we had almost 70 original paintings and drawings on show, with repro-prints and cards also available for sale. 

Here are some photos of the artworks on display:

                                                                  

We had some fantastic feedback from the visitors, and both Angela and I made sales and received some commissions.....so I'll be busy painting and drawing in the coming weeks.....I'll post some photos of my work as and when it is ready.

Portrait of Rebecca....finished

I've been a bit quiet recently.....due to a family illness and bereavement....but I'm getting back on track now.

I've now finished the oil portrait of Rebecca......and here it is:

Her mum has seen it an loves it.....and as for Rebecca herself, well she just gave a coy little smile when we showed it to her.

I've also been working on a pencil portrait of a beautiful semi-long haired German Sheppard dog. Unfortunately he is no longer with us and his owner was heartbroken when he died. She only had an old, poor quality photo of him, so her husband commissioned me to draw him from the photo.... I do hope she likes it.

Here he is:

Portrait of Rebecca

Well, after an enforced break from the current portrait commission I'm working on to draw the Stallion below, I find my oil painting has dried enough to let me continue with the next layer.......unfortunately, this painting pre-dates this blog, and so I didn't start off doing it as a work in progress, so have no photos to show you of it yet. As it's almost finished, and is a commission, I'll wait till it is done and the client has seen and approved it before posting a photo here. However in the mean time, here is a photo of an oil painting of a yellow Labrador dog I painted a couple of years ago. Although alive at the time I painted it, Sebastion is sadly no longer with us.....but what a beautiful boy he was.....and very well known in the village where I live....everyone knew Seb, moreso than his owner Mandy, who walked him every day in the village.....he was such a friendly boy and without exception, when he was out with his owner for a walk, everyone used to stop and say hello to him. I miss seeing him around the village now.....but the good news is that Mandy now has a lovely chocolate labrador pup...and he is starting to become as well known as Seb was.

Work In Progress...........completed....I think

Stage 5

Well, it's now just short of 2am and I've finished.....I think!!

I've spent another 7 hours, in two sessions throughout the day and a third late this evening. I'm a little tired now, so I'm going to leave it for now and put it away for the next couple of days and then I'll have another look at it with fresh eyes. I find this helps to me to see anything I'm missing at the moment because I'm "too far in".....unable to see the wood for the trees...that sort of thing.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed this little insight into the evolution of a drawing. I've enjoyed doing this work in progress.....might think about doing another one soon.....just have to find a subject.

Work in progress......the next installment

STAGE 4

Here is where I'm up to now...... (9 hours in total....so far.)

As you can see, I have laid down a lot of the face shading....I'm still thinking I need to go darker, but needed some kind of reference point other than the eye, so I've left the shading and started on the halter. Actually I was glad to stop the shading of the face....was starting to become tedious and my hand was starting to ache.
From the last stage to this took approximately 4 hours (not in one sitting I might add). You just can't go too quickly with the shading or you end up with marks you may want to erase, but can't. I do a layer, sit back and have a good long look at it again compared to the photo, then start again. However, I am starting to feel that we're getting there. I think the next posting might be the completed drawing...we'll see.

Work In Progress continued......

STAGE 3

Well, here is the result of today's efforts. As you can see, I have been working on the area around the eye, working outwards from the eye. Working in layers, I lay down soft light strokes - following the contours of the face and direction of hair growth. For this I use the 9B pencil - it is very soft and leaves soft strokes that are easily blended using the paper stump or my finger. I haven't used the putty rubber on the hair yet, the variation in tone/depth is achieved by applying the various layers of graphite strokes and blending. I think it is bringing out the eye nicely....and what a kindly eye he has. The stallion is black, so as you can imagine, there will need to be many, many more layers applied to darken down the overall tone, but I think you can see already how the shading brings the face to life.
This has been another couple of hours work, so 5 hours in total so far. Not sure how much I will be able to get done over the weekend, but I'll post updates as and when I have them. Be back soon with the next instalment.......

Work In Progress...........

Well, I've done some work in progress articles before, but this is the first time for this blog....and another first.....I will be doing a 10 minute (or so) recording of various stages in the process. My son Dominic is keen on making short films, machinemas etc and I have finally caved to the pressure and agreed to let him film me. Strange.....I never gave in to "pester-power" when he was a child, but now he is almost 16yrs old and a young man.....well, maybe it was the thought of all those cups of tea I can "persuade" him to make me while I'm drawing.

Anyhow, The subject matter for this work-in-progress project is an absolutely stunning Tennessee Walking Stallion, called Watch Out Jose and owned by Delaine Freeman Smith.

On the right is the photo I'm working from:

I'm using artists drawing cartridge paper and a technical pencil, 2B, 6B and 9B graphite pencils. I'm also using a putty rubber to lift out some of the highlights and a combination of paper stump and latex pastel colour shaper to help blend and soften some of the graphite marks.

STAGE 1

I usually print out a copy of the photo, on grayscale for pencil work, to use as a point of reference.

I use a technical pencil to do a quick and rough layout of the main points in the drawing.

I draw this freehand - I personally don't like using projectors or tracing paper, although I know a lot of artists find them invaluable. I just think that I'm too much of a traditionalist .....or is that masochist??!!

On the left is a photo of the outline sketch.... hope you can see it, it's drawn very lightly so that I can rub out any bits I need to, later on.

STAGE 2

With the rough outline done, I now set to work on the eye. They say the eye is the window to the soul, and it certainly says a lot about us. It's the most important aspect of a portrait. Generally speaking, if you get a good likeness in the eye/s then you have captured the essence of the person/animal.

Here's the result.....about 3 hours work to this point, and enough for tonight, I think.........

Will be back with the next instalment/s in the next few days.

Click HERE to see my drawings on Affordable British Art

Just Lion Around....

"Just Lion Around" is one of my recent drawings......it was drawn in graphite (pencil) on Bristol board and was exhibited in a recent exhibition. It was drawn as a companion piece for another Lion drawing of mine "Old Timer"

(Below)

These are the first big cats I've attempted....my drawings tend to be commissions so are usually cats, dogs, horses, children etc.

However, I have enjoyed drawing them immensely and am learning as I go along. In fact, I am working on a series of drawings which will be available for preview at my Open Studios week in September....so if you are in the Aberdeenshire area, why not come along an see my work....it'll be a 2for1 event this year, as I will also be exhibiting with a talented Artist friend of mine, Angela Arnold. You can see some of her work on Affordable British Art -click HERE.

There will be lots and lots of different and varied work to see.....and I will be running some drawing and painting demos at various times.

Anyway, back to the Lion drawing.....Just Lion Around was intended as a companion piece for another Lion drawing: "The Old Timer" (shown here). They are available for sale individually for £185, or if you buy both together there is a 10% discount.

To see more of my drawings click HERE

Serendipity.....

Serendipity. In general, this is the act of finding something valuable or delightful when you are not looking for it. The story of how this painting came to

be could definitely be classed as serendipitous.

It's not often I am commissioned to paint a seascape the size of Evening Reflections II (shown here)....and at a substantial 6ft wide x 3ft high, I had to have the canvas hand-made, to order.

Anyway, here's what happened....I received an enquiry commission from a lady who had previously seen my work in exhibition and wanted me to paint a seascape for her which was large enough, and had enough presence, to sit well in a large room. Where possible when undertaking a commission, if geography allows, I usually like to visit the room the painting is to hang in to get a feel for general ambiance and lighting conditions. Whilst there, I had a discussion with the lady about what she likes about my work, as I find this helps to give me a starting point when faced with the blank canvas.

The room itself was very large, with lots of natural light from several large windows on the wall opposite the painting's place. The room was decorated in a very neutral and relaxed style. We had a discussion about colour and tonal balance.
The only item in the room which didn't follow the neutral theme of the room was the most beautiful, and substantial, hand-blown Murano glass fruit bowl which the lady and her husband had purchased from an art gallery when on a trip to Italy/Venice. It was absolutely stunning and sat on a coffee table in front of the corner sofa unit.

I discussed using some of the colours and tonal values of the bowl in the painting and she liked this idea, but was happy to leave it up to me.

So, I ordered two canvases the same size and started the process of planning and thinking bout the painting. I usually use this waiting time to think about and try to start to "feel" the painting come to life - long before I ever put brush to canvas.

When the canvases arrived and I realised the weight of each canvas, I realised that I would have to think of some way of propping up the canvas as my large easel would struggle under the weight. In the end, I had to use two easels - one to support each lower corner of the canvas while it was propped up against the front of my workbench at an angle of about 45 degrees, leaning away from me at the top. This position allowed me to lean into the painting, so that I was able to complete the painting in just this one position.

Painting took the best part of 3 weeks. I started as usual, with the rough layout of the painting, which by now had come to life in my head and was bursting to get out.
Over the course of the next 2-3 weeks, I gradually built up the image in thin layers and glazes, giving a depth and richness you just cant get when painting "alla prima" (in one go).

When the painting was finished and I was happy with it, I contacted the lady to arrange to take it to her so she could see for the first time. She was away on holiday at that time, so it was another 3 weeks before we could arrange a mutually suitable date.

The day finally came, and I pitched up at her house with the painting (luckily I have an estate car, so managed to take it myself, with the seats down.)

The lady was delighted with the painting, but distraught as when she had been on holiday, her teenage son had thrown a party for his friends...and...yes....you've guessed it, the Murano glass bowl got smashed!! So the painting now was the only thing in the room which was red. She was in emotional turmoil and didn't now what to do as she really liked the painting, but wasn't sure she could replace the bowl with the right colours (as it was hand-crafted). She asked if I could build more of the neutral colours into the painting. I advised her that I didn't want to change the painting, I was happy with it and felt it was just the way it had been in my head....so offered to paint her a completely new work....using a neutral colour palate. Luckily I had ordered 2 canvases at the same time, so had another one at home. I'm not sure how other artists approach commissioned work, and I know a lot of artists steer clear of accepting commissions, but I paint what is in my heart/head, as influenced by the environment around me. Lucky then, I suppose, that I live on the coast.....as I love painting seascapes.

The lady totally understood and was happy to allow me to go ahead and paint something new for her.....and after hearing all about the arguments and "grounding" that had gone on after they had discovered the damage to the house/bowl..must have felt that a harmonious influence was what was required, as this is what I came up with:

Click HERE to see more of my paintings

Welcome to my world of art....

Welcome to my blog...and to my world of art. I hope to make this an almost-daily record of my art....showing works in progress and completed works, discussing what influences me and informs my work.....and just generally trying to keep my ramblings interesting.... so why not follow my blog - at least for a wee while, to see what transpires.....you never know...it might be interesting :-DMeanwhile, here's one of my paintings to be going on with:

Entitled "Soft Light on Dunes (St Cyrus)", it is painted on a box canvas, in artist quality acrylic paints. 
Hope you like it.....and check back tomorrow....I'll have some more stuff organised for you to look at. Please feel free to ask me any questions.