09/03: PLAYTIME!!

David and I are about to fly off to our home in sunny Fuerteventura (Canaries) for some R&R!!     We have to get up at around 4.30am tomorrow morning but its worth it as we'll be in sunshine by lunchtime tomorrow!!

It has been a busy, but wonderful day today.   We met my stepdaughter (Caroline)  and her boyfriend, and David's Mum at a Kentish Pub for a lovely lunch to celebrate Caroline's **st birthday!!   We then went on to have coffee with our best friends who will  be house-sitting whilst we are away and whose beautiful and talented grand-daughter drew a portrait of the two of us .... I will be mounting and framing this when I get back after our break .. but what chance do we aspiring artists have when faced with talent like this ( the artist is 6 years old)!!

05/03: SNOWY FINISHED

Just a quick posting as this is one of the rare occasions that David is cooking Dinner - and I need to be ready when he presents the 'masterpiece' :o)

Snowy has been finished and approved so will be en route to Wales shortly where he will be professionally framed ready for presentation to my client's brother at his birthday party.

05/03: WARNING TO MY BLOGGER FRIENDS

Overnight my blog was infected with some malicious code that forwarded visitors away from my site. Scarily, it seemed to be multiplying rapidly so we needed to isolate/remove it urgently. No idea how it got through my firewall ....

David and I spent hours trawling through html and eventually found the code that had been added - repeated in two places - but it couldn't be edited out through the control panel, even using the html editor. The code had attached itself inside two widgets. Removing the widgets took the code away. In my case the 'clock' and the 'calendar' widgets were the carriers.

It looks like it wasn't an attack on my website; it was an attack on the widgets and everyone who uses them. I've had no response from the Help Teams/Forum at Google - despite sending them several emails. I can see from the forums that this has happened to a lot of Bloggers recently.

If anybody is on the receiving end of this nasty code - email me and hopefully I can save you hours of searching. I won't show the (very long) offending code here in case it 'bursts into life'. I'd hate to be responsible for perpetuating it

04/03: SNOWY - A LITTLE MORE PROGRESS

When my pencils didn't turn up this morning I did panic a little and decided to drive to my nearest art shop which is approx 10 miles away in Canterbury.   Although its a huge shop, they never seem to stock whatever it is I'm looking for - and today was no exception.  No pencil extenders and the only white pastel pencils sold individually were Derwents (old range).   I do use Derwents, but prefer the Conte white.   I bought a couple to 'tide me over' and, of course, when I got back home my SAA order had been delivered by courier!!!

So, not too much progress to show on Snowy - I have done more work since I photographed this stage but won't take more photos tonight as the colours will really look strange in artificial light:

Here I've added more colour to Snowy's nose and worked on his tongue and mouth.  I've extended the fur line and this is broadly where the fur will 'fade out' so it sits nicely in the mount.    Tomorrow will really be the day to reinforce the shadows and contours, re-define eyes and areas where the pastel dust has dulled colours a  little and draw in whiskers and 'finishing bits' then its over to my client to let me know what changes, if any, are required before I 'fix' the pastel.

03/03: SNOWY (WHITE GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG) WIP

Snowy has just 'eaten' all my white pastel pencils!!

Actually, that isn't quite true but, if you read my earlier post, you will know that today I discovered the last batch of white pastel pencils I bought are faulty and they can't be sharpened without crumbling. I have more on order and they'll be with me tomorrow. In the meantime I used all the whites I had - the sanded papers I favour really do use the pastels up at a great rate. I've never used pencil extenders (sounds slightly obscene I think)?? but maybe I need to re-think. Look at these poor little stubs!!

Here are some pictures I took throughout the day - as usual, apologies for the quality and the changes in colour as the photographs were taken in different light conditions. I'll work more on the colour adjustments when the portrait is closer to completion.

I've started to lay down some of the colours I can see under the white fur and which will help to define Snowy's facial structure

Once the white hair gets overlaid you can barely see the base colours but without them the white would just look flat and unrealistic

This is as far as I got today - I added some base colour to Snowy's nose and continued with the white fur. Tomorrow I'll concentrate on the mouth and tongue - hopefully the new white pencils I've ordered will arrive in time for me to do more work on the fur.

03/03: I NEED A PENCIL SHARPENER!

What I mean is, I need somebody on hand to keep my pencils sharp - I hate having to keep stopping work to sharpen them. Its even worse as I appear to have bought a 'duff' batch of white Faber Castell Pitt pastels. I can't remember where these came from but it seems they've been dropped or badly handled at some stage, as fast as I sharpen them they crumble and break .... I have enough white to see me through today but the sanded paper I'm working on does eat pastel pencils at a great rate. Thank goodness for the SAA (society for all artists) - I've just placed an urgent order online and it should be here tomorrow - phew!

I'm just having a coffee break and giving my eyes a rest but I've done more work on Snowy the white GSD and will post pics later.

Jo has confirmed its OK to show the graphite drawing - this photo isn't wonderful as my camera really dislikes black + white pictures. As I wasn't sure if I was actually going to send this to them, I didn't take many pictures - here it is pinned on my workboard - you can still make out shadows where the paper was rolled in a tube when I took it on holiday to work on - it is Mellotex white paper which is almost cardlike so I'm surprised it has taken so long to recover from its journey. Anyway, Happy Anniversary Jo & Roy - I know its a few weeks' away yet but you and your friends/family made us feel so welcome - can't believe its almost a year ago!

02/03: 'WIN SOME, LOSE SOME'

Its been a 'funny old week' really. I expected to be working on a portrait of a lovely Ragdoll cat. I'd received half a dozen reference photos and had lots of email conversations regarding size, payment, delivery etc., and then ... total silence! I have to assume the client has changed his mind, for whatever reason, but I'm reluctant to delete the pictures and/or instructions 'just in case' .... such a shame as it is a beautiful cat!

If you've been following my recent ramblings you will have noted a few references to a graphite double portrait I'd been working on recently. I started work on it whilst on holiday in Fuerteventura but the paper didn't take kindly to being rolled in a cardboard packing tube, or to the humidity, so I gaveup and brought it back home to the UK to work on. The portrait was of my fellow artist JO SIMPSON and her hubby ROY. Jo and I 'met' on an artist forum and became cyber friends over the years. We met 'in the flesh' for the first time last year when she invited me to Derbyshire to her wedding - having decided to make an honest man of Roy after UMPTEEN years!! As the first anniversary is PAPER I thought it would be fun to do a graphite drawing based on some of the photos I took then.

The portrait didn't turn out as well as I would have liked, but David (hubby) persuaded me to send it to them anyway and I'm really pleased that it arrived with them today and Jo and Roy tell me they are happy with it (in fact I'm 'chuffed as a maggot' - whatever that quaint expression means)! I haven't posted a photo of the portrait as I forgot to ask Jo if she'd mind .... we'll see

Before flying back to Fuerteventura next week, I'm delighted to be working on a portrait of a gorgeous white German Shepherd dog. The portrait is to be a surprise 40th birthday present for my client's brother and I have her permission to post some WIP pictures on the blog as he is unlikely to see them.

I was sent several reference photos and the portrait is based on a couple which are very similar but allow me to flit between the two to pick up as much detail as possible. I'm working in pastel on Sennelier Pastel Card on the colour they describe as Light Blue Grey. At a very early stage - this is Snowy:

I outlined Snowy today to work out fur direction and position of ears, eyes, nose etc.,

and then, as usual, I worked on Snowy's eyes to an 'almost completed' stage so his portrait gets a little personality as I build on this early start - and on to his ears.

25/02: BROTHER & SISTER IN COLOURED PENCIL

Its STILL raining here in Whitstable!!!

I'm not being very productive - I think I've finished the graphite wedding anniversary portrait but am leaving it on the easel for a couple of days so I can think about it some more.

I started a picture today that I've been thinking about for some time for entry into the UKCPS exhibition later this year ... but i'm not very happy with progress so it may be scrapped. Could be I'll wake up tomorrow in a more positive frame of mind and turn it around :o) watch this space.

Anyway, this is the portrait I was working on last week. Two beautiful children drawn as a surprise 40th birthday present for their Mum:

22/02: Monday Blues!!

It has been raining non-stop here for about 24 hours!!

We were rudely awoken this morning by a phone call from our neighbour - she wanted David to inspect the huge puddles in our shared Drive as she felt we may not have appreciated how deep they can get (as we usually spend quite a lot of time in the Canaries during the Winter months avoiding this type of unpleasantness)!!

  Needless to say, David wasn't keen to get out of bed, get dressed and stand over a puddle in the drive lamenting the fact that one's car would get dirty if driven through that!!

Don't misunderstand me .... our neighbour is a delightful lady - 80+ years old, retired teacher with high standards and a lot of spare time!!    Bless!!


Anyways, after the earlier than planned start to our day, I did a lot more work on the graphite 'double portrait' but it didn't go well - not sure if I can blame that on the early start, or if it is just 'one of those days when nothing goes right'    I spent as many hours erasing as I did adding pencil - so the portrait hasn't really advanced at all..  Reading through recent blog entries it appears I may have fallen foul of the general lack of motivation and enthusiasm that is prevailing.   I was OK until yesterday as I had some tight deadlines to meet but ..... today,.... its just isn't working

The highlight of my day was this morning when I decided to have a break from the drawing board and get to work on the exercise bike which David bought 8 days ago.   We just don't get enough exercise so since he bought the exercise bike we've both been very good and completed at least two sessions per day.     This morning I had just got to about 10 mins on the bike and I was 'nobbled'!!!    One of our resident 'tree rats'  was absolutely fascinated watching me peddling away ... The exercise bike is set up just in front of the patio windows looking into the back of our garden and this squirrel sat there pulling faces and staring at me.. I had to stop and get the camera..  This was taken through double glazed doors but I think you can see how impossible it was to carry on peddling with this little character staring at me!! He/she is one of three squirrels who spend a lot of time in our garden raiding the bird feeders and the horse chestnuts etc ... I know they are pests, but they are cute :o) This one is sitting on one of our garden ornaments which I'd bought close to the house for winter protection. He/she has managed to knock the 'roof' off the candle holder. bless!

20/02: SPANIELS FINISHED AND APPROVED

I've been so busy with the portraits that I only left the house once last week (lovely evening out with friends) so it was a pleasure to get out into the fresh air today - and although frosty, it wasn't raining for once! I spent some 'quality time' with my retired horse - scraping off the mud she'd encased herself in ... I just know she's crossed with a hippo! Then went to visit Mum and Mum-in-Law .. so a full day.

Subject to final approval, I finished the coloured pencil portrait of the brother and sister which has been commissioned as a surprise 40th birthday present for their Mum (by their Dad). After sending my client the penultimate progress scans he confirmed that 'they looked great' but I'm just awaiting his response to the 'final' pics so I can parcel the portrait ready for despatch on Monday - this was a pretty tight deadline!

These are the last pictures of Meg and Molly I sent to their owner - and I heard back today that they are delighted with the portraits so I can now 'fix' the pastel and do the final 'retouching' where necessary - I find that the fixative sometimes dulls the white pastel a little and just needs a final tweak. Then they are ready to be despatched - I'll miss having them watching over me as I work!   The mounts have just been laid loosely on top of the portraits hence the shadows

Its back to the graphite 'anniversary couple' portrait now.    As previously mentioned, I started work on it whilst in Fuerteventura last month but progress was slow and the humidity made the paper feel damp so I wasn't sure whether I'd rescue it or start afresh.   Now back home the paper feels and looks fine so I spent a couple of hours on it yesterday and will enjoy working on it tomorrow.  No urgency as it isn't required for another 4 weeks so its a portrait I can work on 'as and when' which is always nice.   This is another portrait I have been asked not to show on my blog till after it has been presented - just in case!

16/02: HOW TRUE IS THIS??

I'm working on a portrait of 2 children today and can't show any pics as the portrait is intended for a birthday present next week. So, I thought I'd share this email which I received today - its very apt (well, in my case anyway)!

I was recently diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D.

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder.

Somehow I feel better even though I have it…you may recognize the symptoms as someone you know may have A.A.A.D.D. too!

The Doctor told me A.A.A.D.D. is commonly known as-

Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden.

As I turn on the hose in the driveway,

I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage,

I notice mail on the porch table that

I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table,

put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,

and notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back

on the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think,

since I'm going to be near the mailbox

when I take out the garbage anyway,

I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table,

and see that there is only one check left.

My extra checks are in my desk in the study,

so I go inside the house to my desk where

I find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks,

but first I need to push the Pepsi aside

so that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Pepsi is getting warm,

and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi,

a vase of flowers on the counter

catches my eye---they need water.

I put the Pepsi on the counter and

discover my reading glasses that

I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk,

but first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter,

fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.

Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV,

I'll be looking for the remote,

but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,

so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,

but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers,

but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table,

get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to

remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

the car isn't washed

the bills aren't paid

there is a warm can of

Pepsi sitting on the counter

the flowers don't have enough water,

there is still only 1 check in my check book,

I can't find the remote,

I can't find my glasses,

and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,

I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day,

and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem,

and I'll try to get some help for it,

but first I'll check my e-mail....

15/02: 'ALTERNATIVE' ART ???

I've reached one of those points this afternoon where I have to stop and reassess priorities.     I've 'tweaked' the two spaniel portraits and emailed photos to their Mum for critique/approval.  

I'm waiting for feedback/instructions  from my client regarding the brother & sister portrait in coloured pencil that I 'drafted out' yesterday.   

I'm awaiting reference photos from clients for the sheepdog and the grey horse.  I have photographs of a beautiful cat to work from for the end of this month and potentially a Weimaraner for early April.  I'm dithering as I can't really move forward till I get outstanding info from clients.

I have got a graphite 'double human' portrait on the go .... I took it out to Fuerteventura with me last month and made a start on it - but the humid weather made the paper damp so not sure if I can rescue it or whether I need to start again.  It isn't required till end March so I have time to 'play'

Whilst waiting .... I've been looking for 'silly' photos from which we can make up some new 'joker' cards for a friend in Fuerteventura who hosts General Knowledge Quizes at various bars in Corralejo.   'Mad Mik's  existing cards have been around for a couple of years and the laminate is wearing off - to say nothing of the way some of them have been defaced :o)  He is a brilliant Quiz Master and has a great sense of humour so I hope he will appreciate these.

This is the type of silly photo I searched out, and David has been busy substituting Mik's head/face ..... once downsized and laminated I hope it will still be possible to identify Mik!

14/02: NEW PAGES ADDED TO MY BLOG

I haven't been idle today. I have taken a break from pastel art to allow my fingers to heal - working on sanded paper plays havoc with the fingertips! I hope to get back to working on the two spaniels tomorrow morning.

I have a coloured pencil portrait of a brother and sister which needs to be completed and delivered before 24 February (Birthday present for their Mum). I anticipated starting work on that around Wednesday next week, but thought I'd make a start today. After six hours I've made pretty good progress but can't show you yet - just in case!

I have just added a couple of new pages to my Blog relating to my commission work - Rather than negotiating away from my Blog to my Website, you can check prices, sizes and my contact details by clicking on the appropriate headings at the top of this page (under the Header).

12/02: MOLLY - WORK IN PROGRESS

Change of plan!!

It was so sunny and bright this morning I decided to work on the portrait of the black spaniel, Molly, instead of continuing work on Meg. I find black fur/hair the hardest to work on in poor light - hence my decision.

Although it may not be evident from these photos, I have incorporated lots of blues, greens and reds into Molly's coat to help 'lift' the colour. Black pastel used alone would give a very 'flat' and unrealistic effect.

Needless to say, after just a couple of hours the weather took a turn for the worse and the light disappeared.

I continued to add base colour, blocking in the most obvious areas of light and dark. Because the reference photo was taken in bright sunlight, there are a lot of shadows cast.

After another couple of hours:

and this is where I finished for the day. These photographs are taken fairly 'close up' so they are a little 'warts & all' - pastels are always better viewed from a distance I think :o)

I did take another photo of Meg's portrait this morning, whilst the light was better and this is pretty accurate colour-wise:

I will leave the portraits of Meg and Molly to one side for the weekend and come back to them with fresh eyes next week. It will also give my fingers time to heal. I like to blend pastels with my fingers but this sanded paper isn't kind and if not careful I end up with shredded fingertips (ouchy stumps as a friend calls them). I can't risk spilling blood on the pictures !!

12/02: THE BEST LAID PLANS ........

Well, we set off at 7am yesterday for the half hour journey to the Ferry port at Dover - we were booked on the 8.30am crossing to Calais.

As we approached Dover on the A2 motorway everything ground to a halt. We were fortunate (?) in that we were close to the front of the queue that rapidly formed. To cut a long story short ... after 90 minutes a troop of scottish soldiers (don't know which regiment unfortunately) jogged along the road to assess the situation. Their vehicle was way back in the queue but they expertly diverted it onto the opposite carriageway and drove (the wrong way up the motorway) and dragged away a lorry that had jackknifed and was blocking the road. Unfortunately, we then found out that other accidents along the way still meant the route to Dover was blocked but it did enable us to turn off onto a side road and risk a 'scenic' route to the Port. We got through ... but I think our minor road got blocked soon after as we heard some people spent more than 3 hours in the queue.

Listening to the local radio station, we learned that their traffic reporter was held up in the same queue. Then we saw a man get out of the car in front of us holding a very large camera/video and start to film the scene. So we sat up and smiled a lot (as you do) and I've heard from a friend that we featured on the local TV news!! Obviously we missed that .. but in the following video from the BBC News website our car is shown at the very end of the film - a black Nissan Qashqai A5 DPC. So, could this be our 5 mins of fame that everybody is entitled to??  I'm pleased to say that our car isn't the one shown upside down in a snowdrift (at the beginning of the video)


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/8509871.stm

We eventually arrived at the Port at 10am to find our 8.30 ferry hadn't departed - so we didn't miss it (??) We decided to carry on with our planned daytrip anyway and I'm pleased to say we eventually got to Calais at about 1.30pm. We'd abandoned our plans to have a nice meal in Bruges and ate on the ferry to save time (why else would you eat on the ferry)? As its only one hour's drive to Bruges we arrived in time to have a whistle-stop tour. I knew it was off-season so the boat tours weren't running, but I had hoped to take a horse-driven tour ... but we didn't see any carriages so just had a brisk walk round to get a feel for the place.  I couldn't believe how many restaurants and bars there were - obviously the town gets very busy with tourists.   As could be expected, there are lots of shops selling beautiful home made chocolates - they are so beautifully presented (and expensive) ..... but I don't really like chocolate so was able to resist :o)    The light wasn't good for taking photos but, from the little we saw, I'm certain its a place we'll visit again in the Summer.

Bruges had less snowfall than we had ... but it was VERY cold - as you can see from one of the statues in the Market Square

These are the views I wanted to see ... and I now know that we'll be going back in warmer weather to see more of the place when the trees are in leaf and the sun is shining

and the good news is ....... we still had time to do some shopping for 'essential supplies'  in France on the way home ... so we've replenished the wine stock!  

Cheers!!

11/02: BRUGES, SNOW AND MOLLY

Today David and I are supposed to be going to Bruges. Its a place I've wanted to visit for some time, really just to explore the Canals and wander around the old Streets. I know it is sometimes referred to as the Vienna of the North but have heard mixed reviews and I'd like to experience it for myself and see whether its a location I'd like to visit when the weather is nicer in the Summer months.

P and O Ferries are offering the return crossing to Calais from Dover for just £19 - and that includes 6 free bottles of wine - so realistically the crossing is a freebie!

However, yesterday's snow continued throughout the night and it looks to be pretty deep in places outside, particularly where the snow has drifted in the high winds. We both woke up early and have been checking the weather forecast and Port of Dover travel sites (no information there though)! So we are going to chance it and hope that a) the roads are clear enough for us to get to Dover and b)the ferries are running.

If we don't make it, I'll be back at the drawing board by mid morning :o)

This is the very sketchy outline of the black spaniel, Molly which I drew last night. I wanted to capture the pose and block in some of the darkest shadow areas. This won't be straightforward as I'll be working from several reference photos but now I've made a start I look forward to working on it properly in a few days' time.

10/02: MEG - WORK IN PROGRESS

I've been beaten by poor light I'm afraid. I have two daylight bulb lamps working and the overhead lights but am struggling to see the colours of my pencils properly.

The snow is settling here and looks as though it is going to last for a while longer yet - its very dark outside.

We are supposed to be going to Bruges tomorrow so just hope the wind dies down a little or it will be a very choppy ferry crossing to Calais :o)

I will continue to work on Meg on Friday. In the meantime I'll draft out the outline for Molly's portrait which will be based on the photograph I posted a couple of days ago. The detail will be obtained from more recent photos supplied by Molly's owner.

Again, apologies for the poor photos. I've tried various camera settings but there's no substitute for good natural light is there? Fingers crossed that the weather will be kinder/brighter on Friday.

10/02: MEG - SPANIEL IN PASTEL. WIP

As I explained to Meg's owner yesterday, I don't usually show clients the early stages of my portraits as they go through such an 'ugly' stage at first :o)

I'm using a variety of pastel pencils for this portrait - mainly Conte, Carbothello, Faber-Castell and Derwent on Fisher 400 sanded paper. When using Fisher 400 I like to get down a base layer of colour pretty much all over and then build up detail on top. So ... this is very much a 'don't do as I do, do as I say' progress report ... I know that conventionally I'm supposed to work from left to right, finishing one small area at a time - and I do that when working on less 'toothy' papers.

The weather here is doing all sorts of funny things ... bright sunshine, followed by snow showers and grey clouds - so I've been up and down like a yo-yo switching the overhead lights and my daylight lamps on and off. As a result, the photos aren't very consistent. Probably the truest is the first photo here - the Fisher 400 paper is a light sandy colour.

Here, I've basically outlined Meg and, as usual, started with her eyes

More base colours added here, and I've drawn in her nose. This was photographed with flash camera last night


Meg has so many beautiful, delicate colours showing in her coat so I'm using lots of pinks/violets/creams and light browns at this stage. I can't confirm the exact colours as, unlike coloured pencils, many of the pastels are numbered rather than named.

10/02: I'VE REACHED 'THE TON' - OR HAVE I?

According to the message on my Blog's 'Dashboard' this is my 100th post - yeaaahh!! However, the list of archived posts on the right side of my Blog's front page has counted/listed only 87 (including this post) since I became a blogger last July. It doesn't take much to confuse me these days and things like this worry me. Does anyone else have a similar discrepancy, or an answer to the puzzle?




Now I'm even more confused ... its about 30 minutes since I published this post and now the archived numbers agree with the Dashboard numbers ... its all tooo much for me !!

09/02: CAT IN COLOURED PENCILS - PROGRESS

Whilst waiting for my client's feedback re. the young boy's portrait, I spent a little more time working on the cat picture. I find it very therapeutic having a few pieces like this in the background so I can pick them up as and when I have time to work on them. I didn't want to clear the coloured pencils away in favour of pastels till I knew whether more work was required on Elliott's picture.

I was ridiculously indecisive about the colour and style of the cushion here. The 'real' cushion pad (from my 'studio' chair) is a chequered pattern in pastel colours - but I didn't want to draw anything that complicated. In the end I settled for this ..... still not sure if the cat will remain as a sandy/ginger colour but that's the beauty of a 'fun' piece ... I'll just play it by ear.

I had an email tonight from the lady who is owned by Molly and Meg (the two lovely spaniels I wrote about recently). I'm pleased to confirm that I have made a start on the portrait of Meg and will be posting some progress pictures tomorrow.

It always surprises me when I learn that people actually read my blog .... and I thought I was just talking to myself all this time !!!