Painting Cats

Just before Christmas I received a commission to paint this pet cat portrait.  I enjoy the challenge of capturing animals on paper and it’s lovely to be able to make something special for someone.

When I paint a portrait I work from several different photos to create a unique piece – so I can change the background or combine  different images to get the right pose.  Once the rough sketch has been approved I can start work on the final painting.  I work with pencil and watercolours, gradually building up layers of paint.  I also used masking fluid in this portrait to keep highlights such as the whiskers.

I recently updated the ‘animal art’ page on my website which has a little bit more information on how my pet portrait commissions work.

Ginger

I felt like drawing a guinea pig today... so painted this little ACEO :)

This original pencil and watercolour painting of Ginger the Guinea Pig is available to buy from my Etsy shop.

Treasury feature

If you're a dog lover then you'll like this Etsy treasury! It features dog art chosen by funretro and includes my golden retriever ACEO :) You can see the treasury here until 18th April.

Manningtree Easter Art Exhibition

This is the second year I have entered the Manningtree Easter Art Exhibition. The paintings were all delivered on Saturday - very exciting! Here are some photos of the work which will be on show:

'At the Auction' - pen and watercolour, based on several sketchs and a couple of photographs taken on my visits to the auction in Colchester. I've even put myself in the painting - sitting drawing at the back!

'Hexley Pier' - a new Hexley painting in pencil, watercolours and acrylics. The pier at Hexley is the perfect place for a walk on a nice sunny day - and if you are lucky you might spot one of the research vessels like D.O.R.A. in the distance! (Prints of this painting are now available in my Etsy shop.)
'The Zoo' - this group of small paintings in pencil, watercolours and acrylics was based on my photos taken at Colchester zoo.

The exhibition starts tomorrow at the Methodist Church, South Street, Manningtree. Opening times are:

Wednesday 31st March 2-6pm

Thursday 1st April 2-5pm

Friday 2nd April 2-5pm

Saturday 3rd April 10am-5pm

Sunday 4th April 2-5pm

Monday 5th April 10am-4pm

(There will be hundreds are pictures on all subjects and all works are for sale)

So if you are in the area please do go along!

New ACEOs - No.26-31

It's been a while since I posted an update on my ACEOs so there are several new ones to add!

No.26 Rabbits

No.27 Ring tailed lemur

The next few were made after my trip to Colchester zoo and were based on the photos I took there.

No.28 Giraffe

No.29 Lion (I don't think his face is quite right - he reminds me of the stuffed animals at the Zoology museum more than a live lion!)
No.30 Tiger (I commented that when we go to the zoo the tiger is always hiding up so you can't see him, but soon after that he started walking all around the enclosure so I was able to get lots of photos - they might not be good enough to frame but I can still use them to draw from.)
No.31 Wolf

These original ACEOs are all for sale in my Etsy shop. :)

ACEO 365 - No.5,6,7

Three new ACEOs, all drawn in pencil and painted in watercolours :)
No.5 (meercat)

No.6 (rabbit)

No.7 (bird)

If they are not in my Etsy shop already they will be very soon!

Hexley update

It's been a while since I have made any new Hexley paintings but I have a new sketchbook and lots of ideas so you can expect more to be appearing soon! With Christmas being a busy time I don't expect to be doing much Hexley work over the next couple of weeks but will definately be working on it in the new year.

For now here is an unfinished, practise piece I have been working on. It started as a pencil drawing which I used to practise my digital painting.

Crows!

My last fayre at Aldham on Saturday went well. There was a good range of stalls and it was nice to get to talk to customers and other stall holders rather than only selling online :D

Now that the fayres are over I am getting back to painting. Yay! I'm working my way up to Hexley again, but have started with some crow paintings. There are two new ACEO crows, painted in Quink and watercolours. I also have a larger Quink crow painting, which I will be selling 5x7 prints of and making into bookmarks. So keep an eye out for those in my Etsy shop very soon!

Clockwork Robin...

I have a new Hexley illustration for Christmas! :D It's a Clockwork Robin - what else would you expect to see on a Hexley Christmas painting?!

I was really pleased with how this turned out - it's now my new favourite Hexley piece :) I enjoyed doing the border too - all the holly and cogs took quite a while to do but it was worth it. It reminded me of a few years ago when I spent hours drawing a William Morris style border - time consuming but actually quite fun! I'll have to do some more things like this again soon.

When Edwin Cracknell was asked to make a clockwork animal for Christmas his first thought was a robin. His clockwork birds were held in such high regard that the Clockwork Robin soon became a much sought after item in Hexley.This illustration was drawn in dip pen and ink then painted in watercolours. A print of this illustration will soon be available in my Etsy shop.

Animal ACEOs...

I've just been relisting some of my animal ACEO prints on Etsy and thought I'd share them here... These were all drawn in artist pen and painted in watercolours.

I've not made any new ACEOs or animal paintings for a while - hopefully I'll have a go at some new ones next week. I'm looking forward to doing a painting of my new guinea pig (he's called Basil) -I've had him for about a month now so it's about time he was painted!!