What's new, pussy cat?

A quick pic today - a pencil drawing of a lovely little cat. Sadly the circumstances behind the drawing are heartbreaking. I was asked to draw this by a lady whose daughter's cat was run over and killed a few weeks ago. Needless to say I wanted to draw something that would give her daughter some happy memories.

Ribbon flowers

I came across a lovely company the other week on one of the craft channels - Ribbonbox. They supply products to make your own fabric flowers but they are so simple and so effective that I wanted to give it a go. So I looked out my stash of wire edge ribbon and artificial flower stamens and followed along with the demos. 

The flowers in the photo below are the result. Really nice blossomy flowers, one anemone and one poppy. Bear in mind I did not use Ribbonbox's kits (they come complete with ribbons, stamens, leaves, etc) but they will definitely be added to my crafting wishlist.

The poppy was nice as a little addition to a birthday gift for my sister - a little pencil drawing of Indy.

Post-Christmas commission pics 1

The next few blog posts will be of some of the commissions I have done recently. It has been lovely to have so many people ask me to paint and draw for them and everyone loved the finished pieces.

Here is the first of the commission pictures. This is Trigger, a black labrador. Graphite drawing, 8x11 inches. Such a sweet guy.

Badger, bee and rabbit from me

I don't do an awful lot of painting or drawing these days. My 'get up and go' got up and went a while ago. However, I drew a few pieces a couple of weeks ago and they have been on Etsy for sale. Sorry for the bad photos. My scanner has been playing up and refuses to give me nice graphite images. I suspect a few hours of tinkering with the settings is needed.

Of foxes and tigers

For those who do not know, I live with my 93 year old Grandmother. Until recently she was pretty much fit and able to do things for herself. However, last December she took a number of health issues including a small stroke so things have had to change. I don't get the chance to do a lot of drawing and painting these days with doctors, nurses and carers coming in regularly, not to mention visits from family members. So the house is a bit hectic. In the last few months though I have managed to draw these two 1.5x1.5 graphite drawings. Being so small they don't scan too well but I think they are pretty cute. 

On the subject of foxes, last night we had the most amazing evening sun. It made the whole countryside glow. During the sunset a fox looking for a meal trotted through the field in front of the house. It was a stunning sight - and wouldn't you know it, by the time I'd grabbed my camera the fox had gone. Typical.

Art update

I have been wondering all week what I was going to post about today. Should it be my wire insect, the new cards I have been working on, some crochet or the art I have been creating. The only way I could decide (being a libra and terribly indecisive) was by realising I've posted most of my art on Facebook so I might as well post it here too. So, what do we have? Pencil drawings. Part of a raccoon (it still needs to be finished but I had to start on new work for the local exhibition next month), a bee, a hungry rabbit and some cuddling doves. Why do I have so much art to post at once? A new drawing board. It's fabulous - smooth, solid, tilts at four different angles and means I don't have to hunch over my desk. With a little luck it will mean more drawing for me.

Challenge Gillian - August experiments

I'm very late posting my challenge efforts this month. It has been so busy that I kept forgetting. But while my challenge has been about producing a finished piece of work every week for a year (with the exception of the mid summer bust) this month has been about experimenting with new techniques I have read about. Each is a finished piece but to mind hideously ugly. But as they are experiments I'm not going to beat myself up about it - they are entitled to be ugly as a first time effort.

The first piece, of the robin, was to try and mix coloured pencil to produce realistic colours for birds. Birds often have multi tone feathers, e.g. those which look greenish or brownish. The British robin is one such bird so it was an idea subject.


The next piece is of a dog rose rosehip and was done using markers and coloured pencils. I read about a technique where you lay down a coating of solvent based marker (in my case, Promarkers) then shade over the top of it with the coloured pencil. While the colours are fantastic and vibrant the coloured pencil can lead to rubbing through the surface of the paper and spoiling the image. I think the paper I used might have something to do with it though. The article I read mentioned that it was done on smooth watercolour paper and I was using heavy drawing paper. There is also the problem of the markers bleeding outside the drawn outline. While you have the option to not draw right up to the outline with the marker it is still a bit hit and miss. Which is a pity as I LOVE the vibrancy of the technique. The brown outline was added at the end to disguise the bleeding of the edges.


The final piece is of a sprig of olive and began as a detailed pencil drawing. I wanted to see if I could add a watercolour wash to a detailed drawing and still have it look like I wanted it to. It didn't work too good so I added some black ink to the outline. Unfortunately it didn't improve things too much either. It seems that the watercolour just washes out the pencil even though the pencil was quite dark in places. However, I won't give up on that technique yet. I will try again with an animal drawing. The problem I have is that I love drawing in graphite and feel that it is a stronger point of mine that watercolour. Unfortunately, graphite drawings do not sell as well as watercolour so I am looking for a compromise.


However, I am one piece short. With all the buzz around the house finding time was not easy. Hopefully I will have the full four pieces to show next month.

Challenge Gillian - belated

In March I finally fell off the challenge wagon. Despite trying to fit a completed painting or drawing into each week I had a rather rough week where I did nothing. Yes, absolutely nothing. I lolled around. Since the start of the year I have been very busy and I needed to take a break and let my brain relax. Therefore no painting or drawing was done. I did manage to finish the two dog portraits I started in February throughout March. The pencil drawing turned out OK but the watercolour isn't so great. In fact I hate it. By the time I got to finishing it I was fed up with it, having drawn the same image in pencil. I'm not very good at drawing the same thing over and over - I get bored.

However, my garden has become a bit of a haven to some new wildlife. The bank voles are back, pheasants come daily to be fed and some red legged partridges come every now and then. The partridges are particularly fun to watch. They remind me of little rugby balls on legs. So I just had to sketch a few.

We are already into April though and I have missed the first of my Sunday deadlines. I will need to try and catch up. Unfortunately my tax return arrived this morning and that will be the first thing that has to be done this week.

Challenge Gillian pt. 2

My weekly attempts at producing a finished piece of art every week finally hit a speed bump this week. I could not decide which version of a dog I wanted to produce - a pencil drawing or a painting. So I started both this week but got neither finished. But it is not a big deal. This week I will try to finish them both. That way I will technically have done one piece of art a week.

Last week I turned to something a little less realistic. I produced some colourful bird collage/painting/things. With the Olympics taking up so much time I wanted to keep thing simple but didn't want to give up on my challenge. The two weeks before that I drew some more flowers and a miniature cat (2x2 inches). I really need to turn my attention to some larger pieces now. A few months and I will be nearing exhibition season again and it would nice to be prepared this year.

Bargain art

I have just poster two new pieces of art on my Etsy store - Napoleon the puffin and the badger and bee above, otherwise known as Friends on a Summer Evening. You'll possibly recognise the two pieces from my Art Wanted widget at the bottom of the page. I discovered that I had alot of art sitting in a folder never seeing the light of day. Why not try putting them on Etsy, I thought. Well, last month I sold four pieces that way so I will be posting a few more pieces during February at reduced prices in the hope that people will want to pick up a bargain. I hope you will find something you like.

Challenge Gillian

At the beginning of the year I challenged myself to do one drawing every week in an attempt to spark my creativity into a regular pattern. Four weeks in and I have managed to keep up with my challenge with four completed pieces. The puppy in the post below is one of them too (though he hasn't scanned as well as he could have). This hasn't been about producing finished pieces of saleable work but just doing it for pleasure and I think that has been what has kept me going. So often I have to paint and draw things that have to go up for sale but I am always pressured into finding a subject that people want to see. These pieces are about trying techniques and expanding my skill - especially in the case of the graphite pieces. The flower and butterfly were drawn in pen and ink and then coloured using water soluble coloured pencils - something I haven't done outwith my card making. Hopefully I can keep it going - for another month at least.

Ta-da!

At long, long last! I've done it! Some of my paintings are on Etsy with more to come - once I actually finish them. At the moment the art I have up is the mouse in a tea cup and the panda from my earlier posts. Unfortunately the art exhibition wasn't as successful as it usually is. I can only assume it was done to the current financial climate. I also added the pencil drawing of the coal tit that I also posted a while back. It has been sitting on my desk for weeks so I figured I might as well show it off on Etsy and see if anything comes of it. In the pipeline are some cute bunnies but I actually have to sit down and finish up their landscape. At the moment they are sitting in mid air, just floating on blank paper. They look like the first rabbits in space. A swish or two of a paintbrush should sort that out for them. Anyway, I hope you will take a look at them. At the moment their viewing figures are kind of low so a few visitors would cheer them up.

Out of the Dark

Here is my first drawing that will go into the local Christmas art exhibition. I wanted to call him Spandex the panda but someone pointed out there might be copyright issues over the name 'Spandex'. I bet the panda is very glad about that. Not sure too many pandas would like to be named after a synthetic fiber. The picture is three inches square and done in graphite.

What's new, pussy cat?

This is my latest attempt at pencil work. My neighbour's cat dutifully posed for me, really getting into the act my stretching, sleeping, looking in every direction and generally being a fabulous model. Although I would love to say it was done from life, it was actually from a photo. Hope that butterfly is safe from tiny teeth.

Greyhound

I have been practicing with my graphite pencils recently. Although I have been using watercolours for twenty years I have often neglected pencil work, using it only as a way of transferring shapes onto blank watercolour paper. However, all of a sudden I have had the urge to draw. This guy is the result of my latest experiments. Greyhounds are often found needing homes after their racing days are over. I hear they make great pets and do not need as much exercise as you might think. So if you think you might like to take one on have a look in your local animal shelter. At the moment there are a lot of cats, dogs and small animals in desperate need of new homes. People cannot afford to keep them due to the financial crisis but they all need a little TLC. Not only that but many animal shelters are in terrible need of support. Their finances are slowly dwindling due to rising costs and more animals needing homes. One of the shelters near me, Arthurshiel Rescue Centre, might have to shut its doors if they cannot get more funding. That would be terribly sad, not only for the volunteers at Arthurshiel but also the animals who need their help, people who have no choice but to try and re-home their pets, the local council who rely on the service and those who want to take on a homeless animal.

September

It's September!!! This is the time of year that I actually feel best. The weather is cool, the trees are changing their livery, animals are running around stuffing themselves silly before winter. Ahh! The best time of year as far as I am concerned. From now until Christmas I should have more energy so work will actually get done. I HATE the summer. I always feel like I am decomposing from the inside out. The weather is too hot, the insects drive me mad and I suffer from hayfever. Now I can look forward to those bright frosty days (providing we actually have frost as it has been lacking over the last few years) listening to the robins twittering in the trees.

To prove what I have just said about having more energy I have scanned my coloured pencil dog again. I have been working on him today and this is my progress report. I am finding the pencils easier to work with now. I had been trying to follow a couple of step-by-step projects of dogs but have just discovered that trying to draw my own way works better. Now, that might sound obvious to some but when I tried it before I was getting nowhere fast. I believe I needed to try other artist's techniques in order to find my own.

The Gummy Bear

Stanley has been christened Gummy Bear due to his bear-like looks and desire to eat and chew on just about anything. And I mean ANYTHING! Let's just say having him lick you is not very desirable after he has been out a walk. But he looks cute and is very photogenic. This is a pencil drawing of him that I have been working on. That is the advantage of having a sister who has a pup while you are doing a pet portraiture course - there are plenty of opportunities for getting subject matter.

Tada!!!

At long last I finished my first assignment for my art course. Due to other commitments and my commissioned work it had to take the back seat for a while. It has been four months since I signed up. FOUR months! That is the 'still life' effect in action. Having to draw it makes life stand still. I sincerely hope it will not take me another four months to do the next assignment.

However, what follows in the course is the exciting bit - drawing animals and using a host of new media. Next stop: coloured pencils. Yippee!

Doggy doodles and pandas to boot

Here are a few pieces I have been playing with over the last week or two. The dogs are, of course, Stanley. I was trying to figure out the tonal values of his fur. Unfortunately the paper was too grainy to allow nice blending. I cannot say that I am overly happy with my sketching technique. I look at some artists' sketching and they can convey so much with just a few lines. I tend to hold on tight to my pencil and scrunch as much detail into what I am sketching. Oh, for a wild and free technique that allows a good standard of detail. Am I asking for too much? Probably. Anyway, I am hoping to work on a painting of Stanley soon.

The two pandas were also just excercises. I love pandas, they have such cute faces (but big teeth). The one with the bamboo was meant to show a technique that suggests the shape of the panda rather than dictating it. It shows white fur on a white background but the shape is filled in by the viewer's brain. It probably has a technical name but I have forgotten it right now. However, I think my detail radar has sneaked in there and added a few brush strokes around the head. The second one is cute but verging on the cartoon style. He was causing me trouble and I ended up over working him.