28/02: LAST POST FOR FEBRUARY

Apologies for absence ... I'm having treatments for the spine/nerve problem 3 times per week but am still having sleepless nights and feeling slightly sub-human. Apparently it will take 12 months + to 'put me right' but hopefully the immediate 'trapped nerve' problem can be resolved in a week or so.

Anyway, I finally put the finishing touches to the beautiful cat I worked on last week. The portrait has been approved and the recipient will be brought to Whitstable to collect her birthday gift in person ... hope she's pleased with it (!!)

I'm now working on another birthday commission.  It isn't actually required until May but in my current 'restless' frame of mind it is great to have something I can pick up and put down without any time constraints.  It is a double 'people' portrait in coloured pencil on pastelmat paper but I haven't asked permission to show progress reports on my Blog so it will stay under wraps for the moment.   

I am awaiting reference photos for the next two animal commissions - one is a pony and one a dog.   They will both be completed in pastel and I know I can post photos along the way as they aren't intended as surprise presents. I really find it helps me to focus when I post work in progress photos .... keeps me on my toes :o)

I've got another wildlife picture in the pipeline also ... time permitting I'd like to submit it to the UK Coloured Pencil Society Spring Exhibition at Keswick ... but not sure whether I'll have it completed in time for the deadline .... fingers crossed!

21/02: PAIN IN THE NECK!!

Well its actually in my left shoulder and arm rather than my neck.    The problem started 12 days ago as a lack of muscle strength in the left arm and has gradually turned to pain, lack of mobility in the arm and tingling fingers.      We had a busy week/weekend so I had to suffer (almost) in silence but having got to the stage where I'm woken about 4am each morning I took myself off to a chiropractic clinic this afternoon and have had lots of tests and X-Rays.  I'll get the results Wednesday morning and will start a course of whatever treatment is recommended.

David (bless) pointed out that as it isn't my drawing (right) arm I can carry on with the commissions.  However, lack of sleep and constant shoulder/arm ache means I'm not really concentrating so I'm having an enforced break until Wednesday.   I'm itching to finish the cat portrait but don't want to risk spoiling it in the final stages.

I'm spending  some time searching through my photo galleries looking for inspiration for exhibition entries.  The UKCPS exhibition rules state that any ref photos used must have been taken by the artist and I've got a huge collection but so far nothing has really excited me ... I've deleted lots and tidied up the files a bit though so its a useful exercise.

I seem to have lots of photos of things I/we thought amusing at the time but then filed away and forgot about.  This was taken whilst waiting to board the car ferry en route to France last Thursday.   The sat nav accurately predicted a huge expanse of blue sea in front of our car (it wasn't sophisticated enough to recognise the huge grey lump of metal as a P&O Ferry.

We travelled on P&Os brand new ship (Spirit of Britain) which came into service a few weeks ago - it was huge but we were disappointed to find that the only comfortable place to sit was the family lounge ... and that was full of over excited children running amok whilst parents looked on fondly!!!!  We couldn't find a quiet and comfortable area at all so looks as though we'll have to upgrade to Club Class if we use this ship again.

To cheer myself up I've just booked onto Mike Sibley's 3 day workshop in August 2011.    He doesn't usually get to my part of the world but this is being staged at Sutton Valence, near Maidstone in Kent, so less than an hour's drive.  

I doubt there are many people who don't know Mike's work ... but just in case here's a link to his Gallery pages.    His graphite drawing skills are second to none and I understand he is an excellent teacher so I'm looking forward to learning some new techniques and, well just everything really!

Sibley Fine Art - Gallery Index

18/02: CAT IN PASTEL ON SENNELIER PASTEL CARD - UPDATE

had a wonderful day in France - bought lots of wine and French cheeses and crevettes (which I've just spent an hour peeling and freezing).   We had lunch at a lovely little restaurant where the owner didn't speak any English so it put our skills to the test (David's French is far better than mine)!  I'm quite exhausted now but  have to be up reasonably early tomorrow to travel to London to meet others involved with the UKCPS Exhibition in September.

I've been given the OK to show Work In Progress pictures of the cat on my Blog so here are some more photos ... isn't she pretty?     I won't mention her name yet ... just in case it gets Googled and spoils the birthday surprise.

I sent this photo and the following one to my client asking whether he wanted me to centralise the cat and simply fade out the fur on her chest, or whether to continue drawing fur on her chest/leg area and take it right down to the bottom of the portrait.    He has asked me to centralise her .. so once I've done that the mounted portrait will look something like this

This was a photo I took part way along the process .... I thought I had taken more photos at the earlier stages but now can't find them - lost in cyberspace somewhere obviously!

I'm enjoying this commission and can't wait to get back to work on it on Sunday/Monday.

17/02: CAT COMMISSION - PAN PASTEL TRIAL

I'm about halfway through my latest commission - a beautiful long coated cat who shall remain anonymous for the moment.   My client has given permission to show work in progress pics  .. but I'll do that early next week

I recently received some sample Pan Pastels and tools from Colorfin LLC in the USA (many thanks to Berni for her generosity).    I had intended to wait until after I'd finished the current commissions before experimenting with the Pan Pastels ... but I couldn't wait!!  

So here's a picture of the cat's basic outline drawn in white and brown pastel pencil ... then I used the white pan pastel and applicator to 'underpaint' and it provided a fast and efficient layer which is perfect to depict the cat's dense fur - I'm using Sennelier Pastelcard as the base which is a sanded surface and I'm pleased to say that the applicator and sponge stood up well to the challenge - and with very little dust!

I think I can get away with showing this initial stage ... its unlikely the cat will be recognised from this

Now I have permission I'll post more pictures at the weekend - its a beautiful cat with the most amazing eyes.  

We're off to France for the day today (Booze cruise to stock up on wine).  Good old P&O Ferries are offering a return crossing from Dover to Calais for car and up to 9 people for just £19 ... and they are including a case of wine (6 bottles) and a BOGOFF (Buy One Get One Free) breakfast.     Too good an opportunity to miss, living as we do on the coast not too far from Dover!

on Friday we are off to Westminster for another meeting regarding the 10th anniversary celebrations of the UKColoured Pencil Society - the Annual Int'l Exhibition is being staged in London and is going to be a major event requiring lots of planning ... just wish there were more hours in the day sometimes :o)

16/02: CATCHING UP

A local lady saw some of my work on display at the Horsebridge Gallery recently and approached me with an unusual request and I have her permission to show this on my Blog now.   Her husband never met his Grandfather who was Gamekeeper on the isle of Jura (Scotland) for many years.  Grandfather died before my client's husband was born.  There are no photographs of his Grandfather in existence but elderly relatives had an oil painting of the gentleman and were persuaded to take photos of the oil painting (I understand they had to buy a camera to do this).   So I was asked to produce a portrait of Grandfather based on a selection of photos of an oil painting and a photo of my client's husband who is said to have similar eyes.  This was intended to be a surprise birthday gift for her husband.

I agreed to start the project on a 'no obligation' basis ... partway through we'd decide whether it was working out and she/I wanted to continue.

My client visited last week to see the initial stages and was happy with progress so at her request I added a background and finished the portrait.  It was very strange trying to interpret another artist's work - particularly as the original was in oil and therefore fairly 'loosely' painted.  I tried to take a 'middle path' between Grandfather's and husband's eyes/mouth shape and colour.    I've never met the 'subject' and nor have my client or her husband so it was a bit of a mystery tour  :o)

Anyway, my client collected the finished portrait today - she brought a frame from home that complemented the portrait perfectly so we were able to assemble it at my house and she presented her husband with the framed portrait at lunchtime.  I've now had a text saying he's really pleased with the portrait ... whew!!   I had offered to make any minor adjustments he might want - but as he didn't know his Grandfather its unlikely he'd know what should be changed.  

This portrait was completed in coloured pencils on Clairefontaine Pastelmat and I used Zest It solvent to help dissolve the pigment and give a more 'painterly' effect to combat the lack of fine detail.

This was the main photo I worked from ... I won't post them all

and a photo of the finished portrait (sorry it was taken late yesterday afternoon using flash so its not good).  I've erred on the side of caution regarding 'wrinkles' etc but offered to add more if required once husband has had time to think about it.    I wish I'd have thought to photograph the finished item today in daylight once it was in its mount and frame - it worked beautifully.

12/02: WHO KILLED JASPER PARROTT??? and other stuff!

OK ... the great news is that my client visited yesterday and was very pleased with the work I've done on the 'unusual' portrait.  I have the go-ahead to finish the work which will involve adding a background and generally tidying up the subject.    As I have promised to have it ready for framing next week I won't show pictures yet (it is intended as a belated birthday present for her husband so I'll wait a few days more).

In the absence of Work in Progress pics, I've put together a little Murder Mystery story - its very short as we're walking to the Marine Hotel at Tankerton Beach soon to enjoy a Valentines dance and Buffet.   A friend has started playing guitar (bass I think) in a 60s band and they are getting quite a good reputation.   We've been invited to 2 previous 'gigs' but haven't been around ... so tonight's the night!

So ... one dead Parrot.      Jasper Parrott has lived on our patio wall in Fuerteventura for 7 years but he had to be moved to enable the new patio doors to be fitted.     Within minutes I found him lying by the pool like this with his feet in the air:

Who could have done this dasterdly deed????   .... a clue perhaps? - the killer left clear footprints on the wall when making her escape

and then she came back into the house via the open front door, rubbing up against the furniture and looking as though butter wouldn't melt .....  our neighbour's very cute fluffy white moggy

David took Jasper to the rubbish bin for a ceremonial burial but en route he came up with a more fitting 'final resting place'.   He tucked Jasper securely into the trunk of a palm tree so just head and beak were poking through the palm fronds.   When we passed by the tree in the evening Jasper had gone ... whether to parrot heaven or to somebody else's patio we don't know.    RIP Jasper!

10/02: BACK AT THE DRAWING BOARD

We got home from our 'working holiday' in Fuerteventura last night - we're having building work done at our holiday home but because of adverse weather conditions in the first week, and one of the builders being sick, we didn't manage to get everything finished this trip so will have to continue the final decorating stages in March when we return.   Since arriving home it seems as though I have been 'glued' to my computer in an effort to catch up.   Whilst away I was able to view my emails (if they didn't have attachments) but the signal wasn't strong or consistent enough to let me access my blog or favourite websites.  So I've had over 500 emails to trawl through today and, fingers crossed, I've sorted most of them out now.  

Many thanks to my Blogger friends who contacted me during the last 3 weeks to find out if I was OK.   I apologise for not making it clear I would be away but its nice to know some of you missed me :o)   I hope to catch up with all your emails/messages over the next couple of days.

I have a client visiting tomorrow to review progress on a very unusual portrait I agreed to undertake for her.   As its way outside my comfort zone I started it on a 'no obligation' basis.   I'm about halfway through  and its decision time.   If she likes what I've done so far I'll finish the portrait ... if not, we'll call it a day and I'll use it as an exhibition/sample piece.       I'll be in a position to reveal more after tomorrow hopefully.

Then next week I will start work on a beautiful cat portrait ... its a birthday present for completion early March so I won't be able to show WIP photos for a while.

I haven't yet started work on my entries for the UKCPS Spring Exhibition and Society of Feline Artists exhibition .... so it really will be nose to the grindstone for a few weeks now.  

I'm finding it difficult to get motivated though .... this is what we left yesterday (these pictures are taken on the beach path 5 mins walk from our home in Fuerteventura)

Looking left from the beach path towards the town and harbour area

Looking right from the beach path towards the famous Sand Dunes - about 10km of golden sand blown in from the Sahara.  The area has been declared a Natural Park where no building is allowed

In an attempt to dispel the 'post holiday' blues we went for a walk to our local beach at Tankerton/Whitstable this morning ... but our sea was porridge coloured and the sky was grey ... then the drizzle turned to heavy rain which has lasted all day!!    I know where I'd rather be :o)

But I am looking forward to getting busy with the pencils/pastels again tomorrow.  

14/01: I'M ONLY A GIRL ....... WHAT DO I KNOW???

When we 'retired' and moved to Whitstable we agreed to sell my beloved, very pretty, Mazda MX5 sports car (limited edition, Garnet Red with cream leather interior) and just use one car!      To be fair, I don't enjoy driving these days - David does!   But access to our house is via a private drive which is very narrow with a 90deg bend so his favoured car (Jaguar) had to go - it just couldn't negotiate the bend in one go!!     Our current (shared) car is a QashQai which I love.  It looks like a 4 wheel drive, but isn't -  it coped brilliantly in the recent snow and ice.      I'd like to keep it for another couple of years but the Lord and Master has decided he can't live with a car that is more than 3 years old and needs an MOT so he's on a quest to find a successor and I hate most of his shortlisted contenders!

Apparently modern cars have to comply with EU laws regarding shape to minimise damage caused to pedestrians when we hit them.  Hence the rounded elongated bonnets making all 'new' car designs look so grotesque - so injured pedestrians can roll off the bonnet to the side of the car and injuries are less severe ??!!!

David's and my combined driving life exceeds 70 years.  In that time we've never hit a pedestrian - obviously we haven't tried hard enough.   Why is the EU now presuming to dictate ugly car shapes so when we do hit a pedestrian the impact will be less significant?    

I can only assume they've overloaded modern cars with so many buttons and gadgets and lights inside that  drivers are sufficiently distracted that they can hit the odd pedestrian and justify EU concerns?

Must admit one of the (Ford) cars David tested had a dashboard so full of gadgets, lights, buttons etc that I hated it immediately.    Haven't they heard of the KISS idea, Keep It Simple Stupid ....... or do all you Men out there sympathise with David and want as many gadgets as possible to save you being bored on long journeys?    There was even an ESC key on the steering wheel in case the driver got too bogged down trying to find a radio station or chat network  ............ REally!!!!!!!!!

I should state here that I am in no way minimising the distress caused to people who have been involved in vehicle accidents, or have relatives that have been involved.   I just don't understand why we have to accept these weird looking vehicles which are supposed to be pedestrian friendly but are chock-a-block full of distracting buttons, lights, gadgets which can't fail to distract a driver's attention from the road ahead???

Watch this space ....

12/01: TIDY ROOMS ARE OVER-RATED!!

All I had to do today was email the latest portrait to my client for approval, the usual meal preparations and then sort through my collection of picture frames and parcel up all those with scuff marks/dents etc to take to the charity shop.  I'm trying to free up space in my studio.

Easy!!

BUT we lost internet connection this morning ... I initially blamed TalkTalk as the internet has been crashing regularly over the last week but I think we are getting power surges in the area.   Talking to another artist who lives locally, she reported that her home had been without electricity for several hours during the weekend - our lights keep flickering but so far no loss of electricity.

When the internet connection returned I was very pleased to find several 'good news' emails.

Firstly, the portrait has been approved by my client and he will present it to his girlfriend on her birthday in February.  I won't mention the dog's name ..just in case it shows up in a Google search (stranger things have happened)!   The portrait was completed in Pastel on white Pastelmat paper.


Then I had a lovely email from the man who bought my Zebra picture yesterday.   He was sorry not to have met me in person but the picture is now hanging in the hallway of his Surrey house (he also said he lives mostly in the South of France amongst vineyards and sunflowers - lucky man)!!  I was really 'chuffed' to get his message - nice to know the zebra has gone to an appreciative home :o)

Additionally, I've been getting positive reactions from various art materials distributors in response to my appeal for sponsorship for the big UKCPS Event which will be staged in London this year.   So, many thanks to Colorfin (Pan Pastels), ExaClair Limited (Pastelmat) and Jackson's Art Supplies (gift vouchers) ... its good to know that they are prepared to help in this tough economic climate!!

Check out the UKCPS website for full details of the 'Celebration of Creative Art' event, Westminster, London.   I hope lots of my blogger friends will want to put in entries to one or both of the exhibitions this year.

Anyway .......... to explain the Blog Post Title .... After all the faffing around I really couldn't face sorting through the frames in my studio.  So I decided to have a blitz on my wardrobe instead and get rid of everything not worn in the last 18 months.  I filled two black sacks with clothes for the Charity Shop but now have a pile of 'not sure' outfits that I'll decide on tomorrow - I wasn't quite as ruthless as planned.

So the house looks like a Primark shop on a bad day (UK blogger friends will know just what I mean by that - clothes all over the floor and every other available surface) :o)  

Must do better tomorrow :o)

11/01: BITTY BITS

Today was the final day of the week long Showcase 3 exhibition - featuring the work of 17 local Whitstable artists at the Horsebridge Gallery, Whitstable (including me)!

I'm very happy that 4 of my pictures sold during the exhibition, most of my Business Cards were taken and I received a couple of very lovely comments in the Visitors  Book.   So it was definitely worth doing and I'm just sorry that nothing more is planned for the Group till 2012 as all local Gallery space is fully booked  for 12 months. Whitstable has a reputation for being a very 'arty' town and we certainly have a huge number of galleries and craft shops in the area.

One of the comments in the Visitors Book referred to our Exhibition as being a great showcase for 'Bubble Artists'.      Coming from the borders of Kent and S. East London as I do, I couldn't work out what this meant ... in rhyming Cockney slang a 'Bubble' is a Greek Person (Bubble & Squeak - Greek)!!     Then I remembered the old TV adverts for Aero chocolate ... does anyone else remember the ads - an actress (possibly Stacy Dorning) travelling on the train and talking about going  to 'Dunstabubble or was it Whitstabubble'??  I guess thats why the author called us Bubble Artists - We all live in Whitstabubble!

As well as two cat pastels and Snow Drop (White GSD) my Zebra picture sold.     This brought it home to me that the best judge of what I should put into a Gallery Exhibition  is David.

Everything he dislikes or tells me shouldn't be exhibited SELLS!!    What a brilliant foolproof method I now have of gauging public taste in Whitstable!

He didn't like the Zebra and I didn't bother taking photos of the final work ... so here it is before I put the finishing touches to it.   and now it has a new appreciative owner :o)

Its a dreadful photo but I'm posting it anyway as I know David will be looking in later and I just felt like making a point!   Bless!

On the strength of my sales in the exhibition he treated me (and him)  to a lovely meal out tonight :o)  

06/01: PASTELMAT AND PAN PASTELS

I can't post WIP of the current commission until I'm given the go-ahead from my client.

So, I'd just like to say how thrilled I was to receive an email from Bernadette Ward, co-founder of Colorfin LLC a couple of days before Christmas.    She had stumbled across my portrait of Noggin, the Mastiff I completed recently in pastel on Clairefontaine Pastelmat paper. Colorfin are the distributors for Pastelmat in North America and she asked if she could link my blog post to the Pastelmat Facebook Page.

Additionally, she is going to send me some sample Pan Pastels to try - I've heard lots about these innovative pastels from my American Blogger friends but they aren't easy to find here in the UK. So I'm very excited and grateful to Berni ... When I've had the chance to 'play' with them I'll post my reaction.

For anybody wanting to learn a little more about pan pastels, this is the link to their site
www.colorfin.com

So ... there is a Christmas Fairy

05/01: TWO SALES !!

No pictures, or long posts today .... I'm exhausted!

Two sales at the exhibition today !!!! One is Snow Drop - her 'dad' phoned me to say he'd seen the portrait and liked it. The other is a cat pastel.

So despite worrying whether my 'realism' style of art will fit in with the more abstract work produced by most of the other artists, I'm doing OK it seems :o)

Off to enjoy a glass of vino and put my feet up now

04/01: SHOWCASE III EXHIBITION - WHITSTABLE

This Exhibition featuring works of 17 local artists runs for 1 week from tomorrow (5th) and we planned to hang all the pictures/display the crafts this evening at 6.30pm.  

Then we received news that the Gallery was closing early tonight and we had to rush to get everything organised this afternoon .... quite an undertaking but we succeeded.  

I wasn't sure which pictures to display - I was expecting to have 7ft width of wall space to use so I wanted to maximise the pieces on display.  It helps to lay the pictures out on the floor at home first:

and just in case ..... take a few 'spares' along for the ride :o)

In the event my wall space was a corner one so I got 6 foot width on one wall and approx 3ft on the adjoining bit next to the Gallery door - 9ft to play with!!!    I hung more pictures than anticipated and may still have space for a large picture in the Main Gallery window tomorrow morning.

These are the works from some of the other artists - not everybody had hung/displayed their work at this point so there are still some gaps ... but there is a huge variety on offer from handmade silver jewellery, to glass ornaments and felted gifts - lets hope we attract lots of visitors who still have some pennies left after Christmas :o)

I love these glass fishes and birds ..... they catch the light beautifully

02/01: WHITE SHEPHERD PUPPY FINISHED

Here she is finished.  

I had planned to text Snow Drop's owner (I think I can just make out the phone no. on her ID tag).  I planned to ask whether he'd like copies of  the photos I took before clearing them from my 'ref library'.  I was also going to let him know that this portrait will be on display at our local gallery next week.

But, then I realised the phone number shown is a land line, not a mobile no - so I can't text him.   I think a phone call might be considered a little intrusive and 'hard sell' ... which isn't my style.   So...... guess I'll give up on that idea. After all, I took these photos of Snow Drop back in October 2009 when I met her on the beach path on her very first outing ... its a long time ago now but as usual the ref photos got filed away in my 'to do' list which seems to get longer by the week!

Tomorrow I will get back to work on the yellow labrador which has been commissioned as a birthday present  for my client's girlfriend.

31/12: LAST POST IN 2010

I shan't be sorry to say goodbye to 2010 .... as friends and followers will know my stepson had a very nasty motorcycle accident in April.  He was in a coma for 5 weeks and hospital for 23 weeks.  Thankfully he is now continuing his rehab and recovery at home with his Mum and stepdad.  

The plans we had were scuppered and hospital visiting dominated our Summer.  For that reason I will not be joining my many Blogger friends who are being very organised and setting out their goals and objectives for the New Year.   I will probably put in some entries for a couple of exhibitions/competitions but anything else will be 'played by ear' - I intend to just enjoy my art but will not be following a structured plan!  (that's my excuses over .... better than making lots of resolutions and breaking them before the month is out methinks)!!

Our first Grandchild arrived at the end of October and she is lovely (Sophie-Louise)  - so the family news wasn't all bad although I had to be dragged kicking and screaming into Grannyhood   :o)

Anyway, here is an update on Snow Drop ... I didn't manage to finish her today for my last 2010 portrait - she will have to be my first 2011 completion.

We are off to stay with friends this evening ... we traditionally see in the New Year together and have tried various venues -our holiday home in the Canaries, Bernkastel Germany,  Vianden Luxembourg, EuroDisney Paris ... and a couple of  'posh' hotels in the UK.   This year we decided to save megabucks and stay at home with a take-away curry and a few bottles of bubbly.    I'm sure this will be the best one yet!!

Have a great New Year everybody wherever you are and I look forward to catching up with you all in 2011





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30/12: WHITE SHEPHERD - PASTELS ON PASTEL CARD

This is Snow Drop - her identity tag shows the name as two separate words.

Progress is slow with this picture .... I am definitely struggling with the Sennelier Pastel Card and I'm not sure if its the colour or the gritty texture which is slowing me.    I suspect I should have laid a base of soft pastel first to help with depth ... but I haven't got any soft pastels in white or grey (to be added to shopping list) (!!)

This is where I finished tonight ... I have put in quite a lot of eye and nose detail just to make me feel a little happier about the picture .. although I know I'll have to keep 'touching up' these areas as the pastel dust dulls them.

and here are some photos I took along the way.  It really has been a case of slowly building up the colour.   These are all taken with flash and don't show the underlying shades of cream, grey, blue and pink that I've used to help add contours to her face.   Maybe they'll be clearer if I remember to photograph the next stage whilst we still have some daylight (I won't call it sunlight as we've had heavy mist/fog hanging around all day so I've had to work with two daylight lamps burning)!

It would be nice to think I can finish her tomorrow but realistically it will most likely need an extra day so I'll aim to finish her by Sunday and start work 'proper' on the commissioned portrait of a labrador.    With these two 'under my belt' I feel as though I've finally got back into the swing of things.

29:12: BORDER COLLIE PUP - PASTELS ON PASTELMAT

The more observant readers may notice that this is not the Labrador I was supposed to be working on today (!!)  but David pointed out that I have another exhibition scheduled next week (for 1 week at the Horsebridge Gallery, Whitstable) and I'm rather 'top heavy' in terms of cat pictures - both domestic and wild.   He suggested I add another dog or two to the portfolio of works available for sale to balance things up.

So this puppy will probably be on exhibition.  I'm calling it finished now, although it will need tidying up a little when I can see stray specks of pastel etc in better light tomorrow.   I'll also try to photograph it in natural light (however poor that might be) as this is yet another 'flash' photograph.

This is intended to be a portrait of a beautiful white Shepherd puppy I photographed a while back when walking along our local beach path.   Her name is Snow Drop and she probably looks very different now as she will be fully grown. 

In some of the photos I can see her owner's telephone number on her identity tag, so if this picture turns out well and is ready in time to be exhibited I may contact him to see whether he'd be interested in viewing the picture at the Gallery.  He does live locally, judging by the area code of his number :o)   In any event, he might like to have copies of the photographs I took - I have about 20 (she was so cute and photogenic).

I'm not at all sure about the background colour here.   I had planned to use a pink shade but didn't have a large enough piece available.  This is Sennelier La Carte pastelcard in their Sienna shade.  I hope that once I have built up the layers of white fur the background colour will look less sombre.    If all else fails I'll have to add a background, but that really will be a last resort.  The paper feels quite 'scratchy' after using pastelmat for the last few portraits ... its taking a while to adjust to the different texture.

This is the outline I completed before the light became too poor

So, this may or may not work .... I'll have a better idea tomorrow!

28/12: BORDER COLLIE PUPPY - PASTELS ON PASTELMAT

I outlined a yellow labrador, my next commission, but despite having good reference photos I found myself prevaricating and making very little progress.  I think its just the aftermath of Christmas and entertaining etc which is making me a little sluggish :o)

So I've put the labrador to one side and will go back to work on it tomorrow.     In the interim I started work on this border collie puppy.   You may recognise the puppy as he was the model for my 'Windy Day' picture which was awarded Best in Show at the World of Coloured Pencil Exhibition 2009 at the Cumberland Pencil Museum.  I have several similar photos of the same dog and as he is so cute I thought I'd use him as the model to get me back on track.   The last drawing was completed in coloured pencil on drafting film.  This one is pastel on white pastelmat paper.

This is a photograph taken with flash so colours aren't accurate but I'll get better shots as the picture progresses.

  

26/12: RELAXATION TIME!

We've just taken my Mum home - the last of our Christmas Guests to leave - and visited Roxy (my horse) then dropped a birthday card into a friend's home - his birthday is tomorrow so we couldn't trust Royal Mail to deliver the card on time given the Christmas chaos and backlog due to snowy conditions.

So .... time to chill out, put our feet up and relax without having to worry about entertaining guests!

Hope you all had (and are continuing to have) an enjoyable holiday.

Here's a photo of the youngest member of our family enjoying the festivities .... Sophie Louise at 8 weeks old - flat on her back and enjoying a good old kick and wriggle on her mat

Grandad (David) has already figured out that she'll be old enough to appreciate a train set next Christmas!!

Tomorrow I need to get back to the drawing board .... I have a yellow labrador next in the schedule, and I must crack on with various jobs I need to undertake for the UK Coloured Pencil Society.    There is a major exhibition/celebration planned for September and its time to let everybody know what will be happening.  

25/12: COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS

My commission order book is now full till the end of the year so I can't accept any portrait orders for delivery before 25 December.

However,a Portrait Gift Voucher makes a wonderful gift and is valid for one year which enables the recipient to select their favourite reference photo(s) at their leisure. Please see my website for further details.

If you are the recipient of a Gift Voucher issued during 2010 and require a portrait to be completed by Christmas please contact me .. I  allow some free space in my schedule for redemption of Vouchers and can probably accommodate your requirement.

Best Wishes
Sue
10/9/2010