16/01: The Last Post .... For a Few Days

Going to be too busy to post here for a little while .... so just thought I'd show my final tweaks on the 4 entries I've submitted to the UKCPS judging panel.   Deadline is 11 February but we're not going to be around very much for a while so couldn't risk missing it.   Now they've been submitted I'll stop playing with them.

I finally decided on the title 'A taste of Summer'  focussing on his bottle of Minute Maid and the sunshine on his skin.    I found out the juice must be Mango rather than Orange based on the shape of the glass bottle sold in Spain.   I evened out some of the shadows/highlights on his face as they looked a bit harsh in the drawing even though they're in my ref. photo.

'The Flasher' hasn't had much done to him but I did blend lots of white pencil into the watery background to even out some of the distracting lines/colours.    I do wish I'd drawn him without a background .... but hindsight and all that  LOL

and 'The Hair-Braider's Daughter' - couldn't think of an appropriate title so here she is ... probably not the best advert for her Mother's occupation.  The braids look as though she's having a bit of a bad hair day

and the Blue Tit .... apologies if you're bored with seeing the same pics but they've been submitted and that's an end to them till after the judging.   Results will be known first week in March I believe

Now got to do a final clean/polish as have family 'house-sitting' next week whilst we are away on our favourite island - Fuerteventura.    The weather in the Canaries isn't brilliant just now but it will be around 15 degrees warmer there than in Kent so I'm certainly not complaining.

12/01: 'Golden Boy' nearly completed

I've done quite a lot more work on the portrait of this lad - going a bit goggle eyed with all that curly hair now.    I've deepened skintones and darkened his T-Shirt ... oh and filled his 'Minute Maid' bottle.

Probably just a couple of hours final tweaking needed now but that will have to wait till tomorrow.   We're off to watch 'The Imitation Game' at the cinema now and it will be too dark to draw/take photos once we get home.


For the moment I'm calling him Golden Boy because of the sunlight on his face/hair - and also to reflect the fact he really is a well known/loved little boy and gets a lot of fuss made of him by family and all the fishermen who frequent the restaurant his Mum manages on the island of Fuerteventura.

He's drawn on Derwent watercolour paper which is whiter than it appears here.  I've used mostly Prismacolor, Polycolor and Derwent Coloursoft pencils with a bit of help from Stabilo white pencils for highlights

Now its posted I can see areas that need more blending - particularly that red patch on his jawline which isn't that vivid in reality - my camera has accentuated it!   Need more work on the folds of his shirt and more work on his hair. 

09/01: FIRST POST OF 2015

Happy New Year to all my fellow Bloggers ...  Hope you enjoyed the festivities and are having a good start to 2015

Whilst waiting for more photo refs from the RAF I've been trying to get another coloured pencil work (or two) done as potential entries for the London UKCPS exhibition ...

I usually work better when adrenalin kicks in, and time is certainly short for me as I'll be away for the February submission deadline.  Therefore I need to email any entries at the end of next week.   S*d's Law, I'm finding I can't really settle to anything at the moment ....

I've done a couple of works on Pastelmat recently which I'm not overly happy with and am now halfway through a portrait on Derwent watercolour paper which seems to be going a little better - but why is it when I'm restricted on time, I select a subject with masses of curly hair??    Oh well, good to have a challenge sometimes isn't it?

This morning the gloomy weather lifted a bit so I tried re-photographing the Blue Tit picture and I think this is more true to life, assuming Blogger doesn't make the colours garish again

Being a 'glutton for punishment' I then went on to draw a cormorant using coloured pencils on pastelmat.

I photographed this character at Antwerp Zoo whilst he was 'drying out' .... I'm not sure if he was an exhibit or just flew in because there were lots of lovely lakes there - I'm calling him 'the flasher' as he looks as though he's being very naughty ..... but he isn't quite finished yet - I got bored and started a new drawing.   I'll be going back to this one early next week I think

I've decided I don't really like using coloured pencils with pastelmat for larger pictures - I end up spraying with fixative several times to get better definition  as earlier layers seem to 'soak' into the surface overnight ... but it is useful to know that its possible to easily smudge the pencil with kitchen towel/tissued to fill backgrounds quickly.   Once I use fixative the surface changes dramatically and becomes quite hard and almost like canvas ... interesting anyway!

and this is where I'm at with the curly haired subject ... he's the son of a lady who managed a fish/BBQ restaurant on Fuerteventura where we've enjoyed a few lunches.    He's a 'pretty' child but definitely a boy - always up to mischief and a great favourite with the locals and tourists alike.   I've tried to photograph him several times but he always evades the camera ... this time I caught him but did get a 'suspicious' look for my trouble

He's drawn on white Derwent watercolour paper but my camera picked up a grey/blue cast.  I'll worry about getting a better colour match once the picture is more advanced

there are some fairly harsh sunlight/shadows on his face which I may have to soften a bit once all the hair/clothes are finished