15/08: KILLING TWO BIRDS .......

Sorry couldn't think of a better title.

OK .... I heard back from my client this morning and she loved the little terrier portrait 'as is' ... no changes required.    Spookily, she lives just 5 minutes drive from the Big Cat Sanctuary I was visiting this afternoon, having bought tickets for a rare 'Fund Raising Open Day' months ago.   So I was able to deliver the drawing en route to the sanctuary.

David wanted to stop and check the map/sat-nav - which is a very rare occurrence as, like most men, he normally hates to stop and/or ask directions!   When he pulled over to the side of the road I spotted a beautiful pheasant on the grass so grabbed my camera and set off in pursuit.      I took a couple of quick snaps before he legged it into the bushes.      In England 'Glorious 12th' marks the start of the hunting season for Grouse.   Its normally 12th August but the start date can't fall on a Sunday (as it would have done this month) so in 2012 the start date was 13th.         The Woodcock and Pheasant hunting season doesn't start till 1 October but this canny bird obviously wasn't taking any chances ...... he saw a human pointing something at him and ran for his life .... don't blame him at all!!

A 'famous' local artist once advised me to 'draw pheasants' in recession/hard times.   His reasoning was that the sort of people who buy pictures of pheasants aren't normally too hard-hit when recession hits as they are likely to be land-owning wealthy folk (not sure how true that is but he reckons it works for him)!

My pheasant photo ...

Fantastic colours

and here is the little terrier dog - the portrait is meant as a surprise birthday present so I won't mention the breed or the dog's name (never know if these things would come up in  a Google Search)!!

She's completed in pastel on Fisher 400 sanded paper.   A much loved family member who reached the grand old age of 17 years!   I had two reference photos to work from - both photographed from above which isn't the best way to portray a dog or cat, but my client was very happy with the result, thankfully!

and despite the grim weather forecast which predicted heavy rain all day, we spent a couple of hours at the Big Cat Sanctuary without getting wet.     More tomorrow ...