Amatheya's Studio

Pendants

2012-01-21T10:35:00.000-08:00

I’ve now completed my first 2 pendants for the vintagefair next month. They were a bit fiddly but I think I’ve got the hang of itnow. They are made with glass Cabochons and nickel free vintage style backs.

Peacock – Finished

2012-01-19T15:51:00.000-08:00

I’m calling this little lady finished.

Peacock is going to be another print that will be on sale atmy local vintage fair in February, details of which can be found here www.thevicswindon.com/get/events.

Peacock - WIP 2

2012-01-17T16:13:00.000-08:00

I may have got a little carried away with the feathers!!!

Peacock – WIP

2012-01-16T17:37:00.000-08:00

I haven’t posted for a few days but I have been working hardon my next burlesque painting for the vintage fair next month. I tried aslightly different technique with this one, first creating the line drawing,then roughing it in grey scale and finally applying colour. It’s made it a loteasier to get the effect that I wanted.

I’m nearly happy with the body now and just need to spendsome time working on her face and hair. I also need to do something slightly moreexciting with the feathers in the background but I haven’t quite decided whatyet.

Everything Stops For Tea

2012-01-03T13:26:00.000-08:00

A very Happy New Year to everyone! (I’m only running 3 dayslate)

As you can see from the picture above I’ve been taking abreak from my airship WIP to work on something completely different. “EverythingStops for Tea” is the first of several burlesque/vintage inspired painting thatI hope to complete by February in time for a vintage fair (More about that at alatter date). As usual this was painted digitally.

Flying Circus WIP 6

2011-12-04T14:14:00.001-08:00

Another slow progress day on this WIP. I’m still trying toget a feel for the ship and how she should look so I’ve mostly been playingaround with the colour and decoration and I think I’m getting close tosomething I’m happy with.

Part of the reason this WIP is taking so long is that myattention has been diverted by my sparkly Christmas tree and lots of giftwrapping

Flying Circus WIP 5

2011-11-29T15:25:00.001-08:00

Pitifully little to share today I’m afraid. A bout ofheadaches and Christmas shopping (not necessarily in that order) has slowed medown but I have got a little further on the ship tonight. I seem to suddenlyhave lots of fiddly bits that I don’t know how to paint left, like the sail wingsand the propeller which I’ve re-designed about a dozen times before coming backto something almost identical to my original design.

I’ve also started thinking about “tarting” up the ship as I’msure a circus ship would be multicoloured… or at least it would be if I ownedit!

Not far left to go on this now… I hope!

No updates tomorrow as I have a Christmas tree to tackle.Yes, I know it’s early but I just can’t resist those sparkly lights andglittery baubles!!!

RIP Anne McCaffrey

2011-11-23T16:05:00.001-08:00

I rarely blog about real world news but I was truly saddento learn that the Anne McCaffrey passed away today at the age of 85.

Ann McCaffrey has been writing since the 60’s and I’ve beena fan of hers for over half my life thanks to her Dragon Rider books. Since readingDragonflight I’ve tracked down nearly everything she’s ever written and read itat least twice. Many of those books have become staple favourites of mine andinspiration for my artwork…. It was a model dragon based on her characterRamoth that earned me the A* in my Art GCSE that convinced me to go to artschool.

It’s very sad to think of all the stories that will nownever be written but Ann has left a huge legacy for sci-fi fans that won’t soonbe forgotten.

RIP Anne McCaffrey and thank you for the dragons.

Flying Circus WIP 4

2011-11-22T13:12:00.001-08:00

I said I wanted to complete this painting this weekend buttypically instead I ended up spending most of the weekend on the sofa feelingrubbish and when I did start working again I discovered that I had no idea whatthe rigging of a airship should look like and spend most of my time drawing andre-drawing different option.

In my original design I was going to have straps across thetop of the balloon but when I painted them in they looked wrong so I decidedthat instead there would be a sail over the top of what I now lovingly call thegherkin. I also decided that it needed metal buckles to connect some of thestraps as they looked a little messy. I also added clasps for the linesattached to the ship, which if you look carefully are in the shape of lion paws.

The boat itself is now nicely blocked in and just waiting tobe decorated in nice gaudy circus banners before the crew is added.

Digital Painting Techniques: Volume 1 – Review

2011-11-18T11:04:00.000-08:00

I bought Digital Painting Techniques: Volume 1 a couple ofweeks ago after reading the 5 star reviews on Amazon. With a RRP of around £30books in this series are not cheap but even a cursory glance at the overallquality of the book will give you a clue why.

What this book isn’t; A step by step how to draw or how touse Photoshop. You will need at least some skill in both these areas as neitheris covered in more than a passing comment. What this book is; A step by stepguide to how different artists achieve different effects with hundreds of richprogression photos.

The book is broken into several different sections startingwith a section containing several different methods to create your own set ofPhotoshop brushes which it promises will be “fun”. I didn’t believe it, I triedit, I was wrong! If you follow the instructions in this book soon you’ll bemaking brushes left right and centre for all your drawing needs.

It then moves on to Speed painting, Matte Painting (Which isperhaps a little complicated for a novice but very thorough all the same), Creatures(Including a large section on how to design your own plausible fantasycreatures), Humans (Including the dreaded hair!), Environments (Including alarge section devoted to showing how you can make the same scene look verydifferent by changing the location or weather), Sci-Fi & Fantasy andfinishing with 3 projects for you to follow and a gallery of art by thecontributing artists.

In addition to the book, many of the tutorials have onlineresources such as source photos or brushes that you can download in order tohelp you practice the different processes.

This is definitely a 5 star book that does exactly what itsets out to do and is worth every penny. (The second book and the new guide toPhotoshop being released soon has already made it onto my Christmas wish list!)

Flying Circus WIP 3

2011-11-16T14:20:00.001-08:00

Just a small WIP today. I’ve now got the background all butfinished. I want to do a bit more with the city, add some haze in thebackground and maybe define some of the trees a little more but apart from thatI’m more or less done and ready to start refining my airship!

Flying Circus WIP 2

2011-11-13T06:50:00.000-08:00

Today I’ve spent most of my time working on the foreground mountains which have worked out far better than I expected.

Before I started I decided that it was time that I had my own brush set so I spent about an hour creating several different texture brushes for different uses. My favourite of these was created using one of my own photos of a weeping willow. All my work today was done using this brush.

Anyway, I worked the mountains in only 3 colours (White, Mid Grey, Dark Grey) with various blending settings. I’m a big fan of using only 2 or 3 colours and the picking and blending what I have and it’s worked a treat here.

Once the mountains were finished I wanted to get a better sense of the finished colours I would be going for so I removed the old background and scribbled in a far richer one. The middle distance will now be a forest of pine trees. I haven’t decided what to do with the city yet so I’ve left it black and white. At the moment I’m edging towards making it at least partly gold so maybe I’ll test that out next time. Finally I’ve put more mountains in the distance.

I’m really happy with where this is going so far and I’m looking forward to finishing the background and starting to work on the circus ship.

Flying Circus WIP 1

2011-11-11T13:22:00.001-08:00

It’s a miracle. I’m not sure why but Blogger has decided to allow me to upload photos again so I’ve started a new WIP.

This project is a little different to my usual portraiture. I’ve been toying with the idea of doing a circus painting and I wanted to have a play with creating a landscape. Somehow the two ideas collided, mixed with a particularly odd dream and refined themselves while I worked on a very boring spreadsheet. The result is a literal flying circus in convoy on its way to an Emerald City like location (It isn’t supposed to be the Emerald City but that’s what it reminds me of)

This is the very early stages of this painting where the only thing that I am working on is getting my idea down on paper and trying out colour. I need to tweak some of the perspective but otherwise I’m happy with where I’m going.

Technical Difficulties – The Continuing Saga

2011-11-10T14:14:00.001-08:00

Well I’m no further on in my quest to banish the technical difficulties from my blog. Now not only can I not post pictures but I also can’t look at my blog details and traffic report. I’ve still not received any response from Blogger but I have had a nice chat with a lovely lady called Ms Ruby who runs Ruby’s Musings (http://ruby-rubymusings.blogspot.com/) a lovely vintage style blog. She is also having issues getting her uploaded photos onto her posts and has been trying to get help to resolve the problem (which in her case is intermittent) since May!!! That doesn’t bode well for my chances.

I will give Blogger a week or so to resolve the problem but if I get no further in that time I’m afraid I will have no choice but to pick up sticks and move to another service. I really don’t want to move as I have connected with some amazing people through the site and it will be a little like leaving a home where I’ve made friends with the neighbours and just finished the decorating but if Blogger won’t let me upload my artwork I can’t see how I can stay.

It’s all very sad and I hope it doesn’t come to that… I’m sure the saga will continue soon!

Happy Rat Speed Painting

2011-11-09T14:08:00.000-08:00

This is a little happy rat speed painting I did a couple of days ago when I was feeling extraordinarily happy after spending the day with Professor Elementals “Splendid” stuck in my head.

I only wish that I was quite as happy today!

Despite appearances my image uploading problems are persisting. I’ve had to use Google Chrome which I hate with a passion in order to get this image to upload and even now it has not uploaded properly. For some reason all the colours have been bleached which is very irritating. I feel I may be being paranoid but several web pages I have visited recently have tried to “force” me to use Chrome and I’m wondering if Blogger is going the same way given that it's owned by Google. I have to admit that I’m seriously contemplating a move to Wordpress.

Technical Difficulties Again

2011-11-08T09:00:00.000-08:00

Once again my blog seems to be giving me grief. I am currently unable to load images. The problem has been reported and hopefully it will not take long for the technical bods at Blogger to kick the gremlins out of the system but until then I shall just have to ramble on without all the pretty pictures.

WIP2 Church Colouring Christmas Card

2011-11-07T05:50:00.000-08:00

I’ve finished the full layout for this Christmas card now. The front hasn’t changed much although I have made the gift in the centre bigger.

The inside now has the baby in the correct place.

I’ve printed a couple of test sheets off and the design works rather well even if I do say so myself. It should be signed off by the client by the end of the week and I’ll make any other minor adjustments then.

WIP Church Colouring Christmas Card

2011-11-06T12:07:00.000-08:00

This is the first draft of a colouring sheet Christmas card for a local church. The idea is that the cards will be cut so that the gift in the middle will lift up revealing baby Jesus in a manger. It’s quite strange for me to be working on religious imagery but it’s a nice feeling to know that kids will be having fun colouring in my artwork.

Finished artwork to follow once the sketch has been approved.

Time for Tea?

2011-11-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

I’m about to start a new line drawing for a Christmas card but first I need to remove this song from my head!

Right, time for a cup of tea....

WIP 9 – Complete (I think)

2011-11-01T15:33:00.000-07:00

I’ve finally finished (for now) my current work in progress and I’m happy with the way it’s turned out.

I finished off the background and added a few extra shadows today. The arches in the background have become columns, but when I first rendered them they looked very flat and boring so as a solution I added some honeysuckle vines.
My first idea was to have something like a curtain of them hanging down behind the girl but on giving that a try I found that it created too many tangents drawing the eye off the top left corner so I removed most of them just leaving the two.

I’ve learned so many Photoshop tricks during this picture and I can’t wait to get started on another but first I have another commission for a colouring sheet for a local church.

WIP 8

2011-10-31T16:40:00.000-07:00

Not much of an update for you today I’m afraid, just a little work on the paints and paintbrushes. The reason for the appalling lack of progress is two fold. Firstly I’m being a little pathetic and didn’t get anything done over the weekend because I have a cold. Secondly when I sat down to work tonight I was almost immediately interrupted when a firework shattered my living room window!
Luckily only the outer glass of my double glazing was broken but the whole room seemed to shake with the explosion, it felt like being fired on by a cannon! Peanut the rat slept though the whole thing…

Christening Colouring Sheet

2011-10-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

Last week I found myself working on a rush job for a local church. The client was putting together a pack for the children who would be at a Christening and asked me if I would be able to draw her a colouring sheet for the pack.

Simple? You’d think so but the problem is that she needed it within the hour, so no time to go home and collect supplies. I had to make do with a blunt pencil and some printer paper!

Despite these trials the client who had asked for a picture of a young boy walking away from an alter with footprints walking beside him, was very happy with the resulting sketch.

The above image was scanned from one of the photocopies and very slightly tweaked.

WIP 5

2011-10-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

Another couple of hours done on this one and it’s only the small fiddly bits and the background left to do. Today was spent working on jewellery and my little ratty friend who has come out looking very cute even if I do say so myself. I don’t think it will be long now before I’ve finished this one but I’ve got a couple of unproductive evenings coming up (in other words I’m off down the pub!) so I probably won’t get the last bits polished off before the weekend.

Technical difficulties – I’m currently having technical difficulties with my blog. It would seem that I can post to it, but not respond to comments or view it myself! I’m hoping to get this resolved shortly and will reply to all comments as soon as I can.

Hair Issues

2011-10-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was having hair issues. Hair is one of the most frustrating things that I can think of to paint and there are surprisingly few good tutorials available to help. Luckily the good old boys (and girls) at Imagine FX has come up with a excellent hair workshop by Marta Dahlig Which you can view at http://www.imaginefx.com/02287754331134626625/painting-wavy-hair.html

If you would like to see some of Marta’s incredible fantasy art you can view her deviant page at http://blackeri.deviantart.com/

WIP 4

2011-10-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

The update today looks very similar to yesterday but that’s because I was working on the bane of my life… HAIR. One of these days I will master this nefarious foe, however today it was the winner leaving me with many lost hours and writers cramp. Oh well, tomorrow’s another day :)

WIP 3

2011-10-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

I’ve got a bit more definition in this one now, the girl is smiling and the whole picture is a lot brighter. Time to attack the hair next I think.

WIP 2

2011-10-23T07:27:00.000-07:00

I’m a little further along with this WIP now. Both eyes are pretty much done although I think I’ll still have a bit of a tinker. The shape of the hair has been filled in also the table and jewellery has been blocked in. I’ve spent some more time on her face although I’m going to play around with her expression a little as right now she looks bored and I want her to look a little happier. Lots more to do but the shape is starting to come together.

New WIP

2011-10-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update with a work in progress. It doesn’t look like much now but I’m happy with the way it’s going. I’ve got the most of the basic shapes down and the soft skin tones and I’ve finished the left eye although I may tinker with it a little. Lots still to so but I think it’s time for a break!

Help Raise Money for Alzheimer’s Society this Halloween

2011-10-12T10:05:00.001-07:00

Will you be a trick or a treat? This year the Alzheimer’s Society has linked up with Tesco to raise money for their very worthy cause. All you have to do is text the work “Scary” to 70444 this October. The text will cost you £1.50 which will be donated to Alzheimer’s Society and in return for your donation you will either be sent a trick or a treat.

Sadly with my luck I was always going to get a trick which turned out to be the following joke which I will share with you simply because misery loves company.

“What’s a pumpkin’s favourite sport?”

Have you got it?

“Squash!”

I really am truly sorry for sharing that!

If you would like to read more about this fund raising idea or the Alzheimer’s Society and their work please go to http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/news_article.php?newsID=1075

Please let me know whether you got a trick or a treat! :-)

Lucy in the sky

2011-10-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

I’ve been a bit quite recently for two reasons. Firstly my family has had some bad news which has set us all running around like headless chickens. Secondly it was my birthday recently and one of my gifts was Photoshop CS3!!! Needless to say I was a very happy bunny indeed and proceeded to load it onto my laptop as quickly as possible before deciding that it looked scary and hiding from it for a week or two.

Once I dragged myself from behind the sofa I decided that the best way to learn to use it was to actually draw something and Lucy here is the result. She started out as a belly dancer, who kinda turned into a underwear model and ended up being some kind of goddess. Not the best picture but considering I don’t have a clue what I’m doing I’m happy with how she turned out... particularly because that hair took 3 attempts and much swearing.

African Woman – Photoshop

2011-09-04T09:59:00.001-07:00

This is a new practice piece which is a little different from my last few portraits. I used inspiration from the Acrylic painting I did a short while ago and some pretty African beads.

Harry Potter

2011-08-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

This is another black and white digital movie portrait, this time Daniel Radcliff as Harry Potter.

I watched the final Harry Potter movie a week ago, it’s easily the best one they’ve made and had me crying my eyes out! As a result I decided that I should do some portraits of my favourite characters to say goodbye.

Daniel really does have a remarkably odd shaped face when you start examining it in detail and I’ve found it very difficult to get the angles and proportions correct. I’ll probably re-work this portrait so it’s more of a work in progress than a finished piece.

Photoshop Value Study – Jack Sparrow

2011-08-01T11:53:00.000-07:00

I’ve been working on another value study in the past week, this time using a photo of Jack Sparrow. I’m really happy with most of the picture and I’m definitely improving. One of the most important things I’ve learnt from this one has been lot to rush, I’ve played with a few other value studies beside this one during July and overall the ones that I’ve worked on in short session and then left for a few hours have come out best.

I’m going to do a few more of these studies in greyscale and then start moving into colour.

Photoshop Value Study – Nightcrawler

2011-07-05T16:39:00.000-07:00

Today I have continued my journey into the wonderful world of digital art with another value study. I’m keeping with the x-men theme and this time going for the movie incarnation of Nightcrawler. (At the risk of sounding like a fan girl I really do not approve of the movie Nightcrawler as he looks nothing like his comic book origin and he’s no-where near as cool.)

I think this sketch has a lot of faults but as my main goal is to become more accustom to drawing in Photoshop using a tablet I’m not terrible fussed that it’s not perfect. What I am happy about is that I’m becoming more comfortable using shortcut keys, my pen control on my tablet is improving and I’m starting to get a better feel for what will happen when I splodge one tone on top of another.

The biggest difference I noticed working on Nightcrawler in comparison to Azazel last week was that instead of trying to “grab” a tone using the eye drop tool I began using only 2 shades (a light and a dark) and mixing them on the picture by altering the opacity. I think the result is much better than my previous effort and I imagine I’ll continue along this track for my next attempt.

It’s unlikely that I’ll be posting for a few days as I’m heading out to the battle of Tewkesbury but when I return I will be continuing to practice value studies on Photoshop along the same theme.

Photoshop Value Study - Azazel

2011-06-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

Recently I’ve decided that I need to get with the ~~20th~~ 21st century (I’m only 11 years late!) and learn how to draw and paint using Photoshop.

Previously I have used Photoshop for “colouring in” with my Ratz cards, but creating a piece of artwork from start to finish has always been quite daunting. I could blame my archaic version of Photoshop or my small graphics tablet but in I think I am guilty of being a bit of a technophobe when it comes to laying aside my pencils and brushes and embracing pixels.

Well, they say the best way to beat a fear is to face it (although I’m sure that doesn’t count with spiders, Yuck!) so today with the help of the fantastic tutorials over at http://idrawgirls.blogspot.com/ I began my first ever start to finish Photoshop art project.

I chose to work on a value study as a starting point and in keeping with the sort of artwork done at “I Draw Girls” I chose my favourite character from the new X-Men: First Class movie, Azazel. The idea of this piece was to take a picture (in this case a promotional photo) and recreate it entirely within Photoshop using only shades of grey.

I’m quite happy with how it turned out, I started very basic and found it quite frustrating. I just couldn’t get the shades to go where I wanted them to but as I became more familiar and confident with the brushes and how the shades react together, I started to find the process enjoyable and completely lost track of time. The end result is still very loose and sketchy but as a first attempt for someone who can’t even draw a straight line in Photoshop (Yes, I’m sure there is a tool for that somewhere) I’m very happy with the effort and will definitely be trying this exercise again.

Book Cover Mock-up (Final post!!!)

2011-06-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

Just for Queen*B (http://queenbstudio.blogspot.com/) here’s the Historian book cover again with the dragon facing the other way… You’re right it does look better ;-)

Mini Card

2011-06-25T16:28:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post today as it’s nearly 1am and I’m desperate for bed! I made this card for a friends daughter. Medium is ink and watercolour which I found really easy to work with. Once I’d got the hang of drawing the mini and got it inked the actual painting part was really quick and easy. This is definitely something I’ll try again!

Book Cover Mock-Up

2011-06-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

So there were a couple of things about this mock-up that have been bothering me all day. Firstly at about 11pm last night I realised that there was a spelling mistake (Oops!) so I’ve corrected this. I’ve also made the dragon a little larger and turned him around. The original dragon looked a bit lost on the page but I think this one looks a lot better. I’m not sure about the change on orientation except that it makes the curly tale look better and I’m a big fan of tails!

Book Cover Mock-Up

2011-06-15T12:56:00.000-07:00

So I’ve finished the mock-up of my version of The Historian book cover and I’m reasonable pleased with the effect considering I’m just “playing”. This little project has however made me painfully aware than I need an up to date version of PS if I want to start playing with digital art.
I’m currently running PS6 and after spending several hours last night looking at tutorials I was really disappointed to learn that I wasn’t able to put many of the tricks to use with my dark ages software. I guess I’m going to have to start saving my pennies or alternatively learn to live without food!

Book Cover Mock-up

2011-06-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

So I was trying to decide what to sketch today and came up with an idea for a new cover for the book I’m reading at the moment, “The Historian”. It’s a vampire novel and has a very plane red cover with nothing but the name of the book and the author on it. I figured it would be good practice to make up my own cover.

Early in the book a print of a medieval dragon features quite strongly so I’ve decided to make this the main feature of the cover. This sketch is the dragon I’ve come up with based on the description and a little research on dragons in medieval art. He’s not exactly a carbon copy of a medieval dragon but the shape of the body and wings are similar to most depictions. I need to clean him up and make a ink copy and I also need to do some work on the banner before I scan him and start working in Photoshop.

On the finished cover I will have the dragon outline and the title in red (if it was a real cover I would have this metallic) and the background in black. I haven’t decided yet whether I will stretch my dragon across the back and front or flip him and have him just on the front cover perhaps with some other little detail on the back to add interest.

Priestess – Acrylic

2011-06-12T11:36:00.000-07:00

It’s been a rainy old day in Swindon so I decided that it would be the perfect day to give Acrylic a go.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from this medium, so I decided that I wouldn’t waist a canvas but instead use some heavy CP paper. I made a few changes to the Priestess character I drew earlier and used this as it’s a relatively simple design that I could do quickly. Although I possibly should have remembered how much I hate trying to paint skin tone when I made this decision!

As it turned out I need not have been so cautious, I absolutely LOVE acrylic. I’ve always had a bit of a love hate relationship with painting on the whole. I can’t stand oils and while I like using watercolours they can’t give me the look that I really would like to achieve and that frustrates me. Today even thought I was only “playing” I found that it was so easy to get my idea down on paper and after a bit of practice I can definitely see myself using acrylics in most of my work. I love the fact that it allows me to finish a painting in a day (4 hours in this case) while I still have all my enthusiasm and ideas chasing themselves around my head (and being able to just paint over mistakes is a definite advantage!)

Priestess

2011-06-12T04:23:00.000-07:00

Todays sketch was modified from a photo on the Wet Canvas free image library.

Shiny New Website!

2011-06-11T18:48:00.001-07:00

Things have changed again!

I’ve been beavering away at my website for the past 6 hours (I really would like to go to sleep now!) with the goal of making it look a little more professional and I thought I would give my blog a matching facelift. So long burgundy background, hello classic black and white.

I hope you all like it and please let me know what you think of my new look website at www.amatheya.co.uk. I may have “borrowed” a few web design ideas from my good friend Jen but Shhh… if you don’t tell her I won’t!

Black Knight Sketch

2011-06-11T05:55:00.000-07:00

I feel like I’ve been a bit lazy recently. I’ve started going to the gym again and that has taken up a lot of my time but that is just no excuse. So, in order to rectify this little problem I’ve decided I need to set myself the task of updating my blog once a day again. Whether I can achieve this or not is debatable but the intention is there so we’ll just have to see how I get on with it.

So, on to todays post. I’ve decided that with all the watercolour work I’ve been doing recently I’ve been ignoring the grass roots of sitting down and sketching so that’s what I’ve done today. I’m rather proud of the result as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before I’m not usually happy with my male figures but this one has turned out quite well. The source photo was taken by a friend and the subject is a member of the Plantagenet Society, when this photo was taken I believe he was taking a moment to glower at the audience. If you live in

England

I highly recommend getting along to one of their shows (and not just because I’m a member!)

In the next couple of days I’m hoping to have a go working in two mediums I’ve never tried before, ink and acrylic. It is perhaps a lie to say I’ve never worked in ink before as I have always inked my Ratz cartoons (like the one below) using technical pens before scanning into the computer to add colour. What I’m going to do this time is use brush and ink (which I’ve been informed is not the easiest way to use ink) and then experiment with the different effects that can be created using different mediums to colour the resulting image. I may add my experimentation in acrylic into this mix too and re-work the same picture over and over in different styles to see what happens. I’m hoping that I enjoy using acrylics as I love the effects that you can get with oil and acrylic but after a short experiment using oils I decided that I just didn’t enjoy using them not least because the smell made me feel ill and made poor old Peanut the rat sneeze!

Petals in the Rain – Complete

2011-05-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

I’ve finally completed Petals in the Rain. I’ve struggled with this one and it has made me realise that I need to work on my speed. I’m always very enthusiastic about my work when I start but after a day or two I lose my momentum and I think my work suffers so I’m going to try and complete my next painting in no more than 3 sittings. This may be difficult but not impossible, I’m just going to have to learn to paint smarter and not allow myself to be distracted by all the other things I have to do (like the mountain of washing up waiting for me!)
So anyway, here is my finished painting which will be on sale on my website shortly.

Petals in the rain – WIP 4

2011-04-27T09:33:00.000-07:00

Just a quick WIP post today. I managed to fit in a little more work on Petals in the rain while waiting for the filler to dry in my half decorated bathroom, now it’s time to go paint with some really big brushes!

Petals in the rain – WIP 3

2011-04-15T12:58:00.000-07:00

It seems like forever since the last time I posted and my only excuse is that for I’ve been dreadfully distracted. Between a few minor emergencies, my sudden desire to spring clean and decorate and the discovery of the very addictive Twilight Saga I just haven’t been in the mood to finish this painting.

That aside, nothing absolves me from not posting my most recent progress which has been sat on my camera for quite a while. So, here it is. Since my last post I have put the first wash on the background details, added detail to the parasol, and put some shades into the kimono. Not as much progress as I should have made by a long shot but I often get my inspiration from the books I’m reading at once I’ve finished “The short second life of Bree Tanner” I will be reading “Geisha” by Liza Daley which should put me in the right frame of mind to finish this painting!

Petals in the rain – WIP 2

2011-03-14T13:29:00.000-07:00

I’ve now started working on my Petals in the rain watercolour. I’ve only got the first layer of colour down but so far I’m happy with the design and colour choice.

I designed that kimono myself based on real kimonos both classic and modern. I wanted to use the outer garment to pull together the sky and the water so I decided to make a vibrant blue kimono with a cloud and bird design at the top in the blue sky and a lily design in the blue water skirt. I wasn’t sure if it would work or if it would be too simplistic but so far I’m happy.

At the moment the red undergarment and the black hair and eyeliner so look a bit out of place but as I add more colour to the rest of the painting these should look more in place.

A Lovely Surprise

2011-03-02T11:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I gave my Pooch painting to his owner, today I received this lovely little card attached to a even lovelier box of chocs. Just what I needed to help me get over yet another cold!

Petals in the Rain – WIP 1

2011-02-25T13:19:00.000-08:00

The muse has hit me for a new Geisha painting.

Unlike my last Geisha painting which was based heavily upon a photo which I requested permission to use, this idea comes completely from my imagination. I’ve started with a pen sketch to plan out what I want. In my original vision, I was going to have my Geisha on a washy blue grey background but as I added more detail to the sketch a background appeared all by itself… funny how that happens when your not concentrating too hard. So, I’ve decided to use the background but keep the colours in blue greys with perhaps the odd hint of colour, while the Geisha in the fore ground with be in very bright yellows, greens and reds.

Pooch – WIP 3

2011-02-16T12:54:00.000-08:00

I feel as if I’ve hit a brick wall with Pooch now as I don’t think I can go any further. I’ve corrected his left ear and eye as much as I can and put the finishing touches on him but I’m far from completely happy. I keep reminding myself that he’s a practice piece and I was never expecting him to be perfect but that doesn’t stop me wanting him to turn out that way.

I still need to make a small adjustment here and there to the left eye in particulare and I want to make the background darker but other than that I’m going to live with him for a day or two before I decide he’s completely finished. I’ve also decided that I need to do a few more pet portraits to try and get my fur technique down… good thing I know lots of people with pets I can practice on!

Pooch – WIP 2 (Demon Dog!)

2011-02-15T13:44:00.000-08:00

Pooch is looking rather demonic today but he’s also getting a little closer to the way I want him to look. I’ve worked on the darker fur some more and I’m pretty happy with the nose. I’ve fixed the eyes a little but I think I’m going to have to tweak them a little more next time, I also need to tweak the left ear to give it more depth as he’s looking a little wonk at the moment. Once all that’s done I think I’ll be able to fiddle with the white hairs.

I’ve also done a little more planning for my next painting which I’ll hopefully be able to start next week. I’m going to have to start setting myself a routine for painting because it’s just too easy to get home form work and plant myself in front of the TV which is not good… Do I really need to watch another episode of Grand Designs?!

… I’ve just realised that I’ve topped 25 followers, I wonder if I can get to 30 before I turn 30?... No I’m not telling when that is! ;-)

Pooch - WIP 1

2011-02-13T12:13:00.000-08:00

After lots of procrastinating I’m finally working on the pet portrait I’ve been planning on doing for a month or so.

I can’t remember the last time I painted a dog in watercolour (probably over 10 years ago!!) so I’m not expecting this one to be perfect but you can’t get better unless you practice the things you’re not comfortable with.

My source material isn’t perfect (start of the pre-emptive excuses lol) as it is a home printout which is only about 4” square, so I’m looking at this as a challenge on all fronts.

I prepared by doing a couple of sketches, first very loose and then slightly more detailed. Neither was perfect but that was ok as I just wanted to get a feel for the shapes rather than create a masterpiece.

Once I had the general layout on the paper I started drawing in the fur in progressively dark blues taking care to follow the flow of the fur… I’m working first on the black fur as I’m going to have to be a little more creative in expressing the white fur. I’m going to have to correct the right eye on my next sitting as it’s far wider than the left. That shouldn’t be too much of a problem and I left the details like the eyes until last so that I could make slight adjustments to their orientation as sometimes I find it’s easier to see that I’ve got it wrong after I’ve worked on the painting a bit and if I’ve already invested a lot of time to the details there’s nothing I can do to fix it.

Once I was generally happy with the black fur direction I placed a wash over some of the areas to darken them up and I placed a very light green base wash on the background.

In my next sitting I will be placing a second wash on the background, correcting the right eye and working more detail into the black fur. At the moment I think that I may have made the head slightly too squashed but I’m going to keep working and see what happens. I often don’t like my work at this stage so I’m getting used to pushing through the self doubt and hoping for the best.

I’m already thinking of the next couple of paintings I want to work on and am going to start working on preliminary sketches for both soon. I’ve found working on a portrait from a photo quite restrictive so my next too paintings will be far more in the realms of plopping things straight from my head onto the paper.

The Harpist – Complete

2011-01-24T11:31:00.000-08:00

I feel like this painting has taken me forever but I’m happy with the result. I started work on “The Harpist” at the beginning of December and it really shouldn’t have taken me so long to complete but I just can’t paint when it’s cold (in my next life I shall be a polar bear and just sleep through the winter!)

I’m very happy with the way she’s turned out now that she has strings on her harp and eyes that, breaking with tradition, are not crossed. I certainly feel that I’m reconnecting with the skills I had before I took a 10 year break but I also have a long way to go before I will be happy that I can get what I have in my mind onto the paper consistently without a struggle. I guess that will teach me to never take a break again! lol

All that is left for my harpist now is to be framed which I will hopefully do at the weekend in between painting and tiling my mothers bathroom for her. If that doesn’t earn me brownie points nothing will.

Moving on, I have already started preparing for my next painting. I’m going to be working on a pet portrait of a friends dog. Unfortunately I only have a very small photo to go on but he’s quite distinctive and I’m viewing it as a challenge. I will also be using my shiny new watercolour set for my new painting, so I’m really eager to get started but I’m determined to do a number of sketches first as I really want to capture a good likeness. :-)

The Harpist - Work In Progress 4

2011-01-15T04:55:00.000-08:00

I’ve reached the point in my harpist painting where I’m making very small changes and then having to wait while they dry. Today I have finished her eyes (nearly) added a few more shadows into her hair and lips and put the basic colour onto the tuning pins. With any luck I’ll be able to add a few more tiny alterations and put in the harp strings. I think that addition will make the painting look very different as it will add detail to the big empty patch to the left of the painting and it should make the background colour fall back a bit.

I can’t wait to see this one finished and framed!

I’ve already got my next painting which will be a pet portrait lined up. I’ll be starting him tomorrow.

Radio Silence!

2011-01-06T14:30:00.001-08:00

Sorry about the recent radio silence. I was off visiting family in Canada over the Christmas period and it’s taking a little while to get going again.

Normal service will resume soon :)

The Harpist - Work in progress 3

2010-12-13T14:12:00.000-08:00

Another hour of work on my Harpist painting and she’s really starting to move along now, one or two more sittings and she might even be finished.

Today I worked on adding detail to her hair, more skin tone, shadow, detail in the shirt and detail in the hand. I still need to add the detail to her eyes, I think that will need to be a job for next time. Once that hurdle is over it will just be the strings and the finishing touches… I hope! I’m looking forward to getting this one finished but I’ve only got another week before I hand over my keys to my house sitter and head off on my Christmas holls. I had better get a move on!

In other news, I’m really chuffed to have reached 20 followers! Thanks everyone for your time and comments, I really look forward to reading them.

The Harpist - Work in progress 2

2010-12-05T10:17:00.000-08:00

Today I got some more work done on my latest work in progress The Harpist. I’ve added detail to the facial skin, hair, dress and harp. I’ve also added a bas coat to the background colour. I’m not sure I’ve made the right choice but I’ll find a way to make it work. Hopefully the green of the dress will even it out when finished.

Nest time I want to add more detail to the face, hands, top and background. The last thing that I’ll do is add the strings and tuning keys.

The Harpist – Work in progress

2010-12-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

I’ve been very quite recently and I have a very lame excuse for it. England has been having a big freeze and I most certainly am not a fan, sub zero temperatures have sent me running for the covers literally!

Anyway, the temperature has temporarily gone above Zero so I’ve started painting again. I have no idea why I chose my subject other than the fact that I’ve always loved though of harps as incredibly elegant.

As always I started by making several sketches to plan out my painting, at first I was going to paint the picture from a far wider angle but I prefer this composition as it gives a better focus to the painting.

Once I’d decided what I was going to do I mixed up the skin tone as I have the most trouble with this, I also worked in some darker skin tone and some pinks into the cheeks. The harpist is going to have a cherub like look to her, very pouty and rosy cheeked.

Next I put the base coat on her clothes and the harp wood. The harp is going to have a light pine look with a simple medieval pattern inlaid in a darker wood. I’ll need to put a lot more work into this to make it convincing. I also want to make sure that I get the stings correct.

Finally I added the base colour for her hair, a sort of golden brown, colour to her lips and the lightest shade of blue to her eyes. I think I may have actually succeeded in not painting someone cross eyed this time but we’ll see!

Hopefully the better weather will continue so that I can keep painting!

RIP Moniack

2010-11-22T11:58:00.000-08:00

I’ve not had the best time of it rat wise recently and now I’ve lost Moniack too. It’s been quite a shock as although he’d been ill for about a week and had suffered with bumble foot for at least the past 6 months I have always thought of him as a baby and so I always expected him to get better. I was quite surprised when I looked at his birth date and realised that far from being a baby he was in fact two and a half, a very old gentleman by any ratty standard.

Moniack was one of two rattys that I had from breeder friends of mine, a fact that made them very special. I had met their parents and watched them grow from little pink sausages into hefty soppy rattys. Sadly I lost Moniacks brother at the age of one which was heartbreaking and after that Moniack refused to live with any other ratty. As he grew up Moniack became known as my fat sewer ratty because of his often dishevelled fur that was perfect sewer rat colour and he had the distinction of being the only rat to have ever sent me to A&E *bless the little booger* He was also well known for his obsessive love of biscuits, his very unratty love of chewing cage bars and his reputation for being a coconut short of a shy!

Good night my silly boy, go find your brother who I know you’ve missed.

With Moniack gone Peanut is now an only ratty. Being another boy who refuses to live with others it looks like mine will be a one rat household for a while.

A Quick and Random Post

2010-11-19T15:32:00.000-08:00

I thought I’d make a short and random post as I’m very proud of myself and my friends today… We won a charity quiz night!!

We’ve been going to this quiz for 6 months blinking months and never done better than 5th place so we were slightly stunned when we won tonight… We skimmed over the fact that we had one more person than allowed and were therefore technically cheating. To be fair I don’t think that I really count as a person for all the questions I can answer. Apparently I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed!!!

So anyway, well done the “Us” team (after winning we wished we’d spent more time thinking up a team name lol) we may have cheated but at least we cheated and won unlike the other dozen times we cheated!!

To prevent this post from being nothing but a ramble I thought I’d post this video which I found on www.emptyeasel.com and thought was very interesting. It covers a method of adding shadow to skin tone that I think I will try next time I paint a portrait.

Speaking of paintings I will be starting a new one next week possibly featuring a harpist, although I haven’t finished planning it yet.

Soldier Girl - Framed

2010-11-13T17:50:00.000-08:00

Title – Soldier Girl

Medium – Watercolour

Painting Size – 8 x 12 inches

Frame – Cherry Wood

“Soldier Girl” is now finished and framed. I’ve put her in a cherry wood frame as I wanted to go for a classic look and toned down my original idea of mounting her in red and blue, instead using cream and blue which on reflection I thought would work better and keep attention on the painting rather than the surround.

In a completely unrelated ramble I really have managed to hit myself on the head way too many times today!!! First I took down my pull-up bar for the winter and dropped it on my head (ouch). Then I took my mothers old wardrobe to the tip for her and managed to hit myself on the head once when getting into the car and a second time when the wood resettled as I went across a roundabout (ouch, ouch) and finally I place the frame for “Soldier Girl” on the back of the sofa while I cut the mount but forgot I’d put it there, flumped down on the sofa cracking the back of my head and sending the frame flying into my studio area scattering paints and equipment everywhere (really ouch!!!) luckily nothing was broken but I do have some rather impressive bumps appearing… I’m hoping that tomorrow will be less painful!!!

RIP Dizzy

2010-11-12T14:35:00.000-08:00

Last night I lost my last old boy Dizzy. It wasn’t unexpected he was looking very old and I think he missed his cage mates Sausage and Mr Slinky the past few days. The evening before he went we had a nice hour sat together. Dizzy was never a cuddly rat but he sat and fell asleep on my lap while boggling (a ratty sign of pleasure) madly… He’d never boggled for me before.

Dizzy came to live with me with his brother Mr Slinky. They were unwanted pets and because they had been ignored they were pretty wild and it took a long time to bring them round. Dizzy in particular was very aggressive to everyone (and everything) and even after he’d been with me a year he still liked nothing more than to sneak up on me when I was sitting on the floor and nip me on the back to make me jump… little booger lol.

He also loved to sit and stare making little “nom” movements with his mouth. It was very funny to watch.

Good night little man, go find your cage mates and keep them in line!

PEAS!!!!!! Dizzy didn't believe in only taking one :-)

It’s very strange in my flat now, I’ve gone from having 20 rescues to having just my old man Moniack and my little lad Peanut… It’s suddenly very quiet here!

Soldier Girl

2010-11-09T14:43:00.000-08:00

Soldier Girl

Watercolour on 180gsm Paper

Well, solder girl is all finished and I’m pretty happy. It looks enough like Jen to be recognisable (well, she recognised herself anyway lol) and the only thing that I think I would have liked to have done differently would have been to use a authentic uniform instead of a costume.

I’m going to mount her in colours to match the Union Flag and use a plain dark wood frame I think, but knowing me that plan will change the moment I get to the art shop!

Soldier Girl - Work In Progress 2

2010-11-08T12:53:00.000-08:00

I didn’t think I’d get any painting done today. I’ve been stuck at home with food poisoning (I have no idea what gave it too me but whatever it was I don’t recommend it!) but at one of the short intervals when I wasn’t doubled up in pain wondering about the merits of falling into a black hole, I discovered the joys of painting in bed.

So today I made the background darker, put base coat on the hair (Jen isn’t really blond), filled in the shirt and tie, added a few more darker shades, started painting the badges and finally added some more detail and tone to the face.

I’m pretty happy with where this is going now and may even have it finished tomorrow. Assuming I haven’t jumped into that black hole!

Soldier Girl - Work In Progress

2010-11-07T15:12:00.000-08:00

Today I started a new watercolour based on a photo of my friend Jen at a 1940’s party a couple of years ago (that was a good party) she’s in a WWII military outfit, not a perfect representation but close enough and she did look amazing! And with veterans day coming up it seemed very appropriate.

In the original photo Jen was stood in front of a large swirly curtain with a small Union Flag (It’s only supposed to be called a Union Jack at sea. One of the many random facts I’ve learnt from Dr Who!) behind her but in my painting I decided to put a large flat Union Flag behind her as it looks better.

I started as always with a tweaked pencil outline. I made Jens waist more defined (I’m sure she will be happy about that!) left out her rings and learnt that the Union Flag isn’t symmetrical, you learn something new every day!

Next I filled in the larger areas of colour on Jen and put in the majority of the shadows. I’m not yet happy with the skin tone as Jen does look a little florescent in places (I’m not sure how that happened) But I’m sure it will look better once I’ve added the rest of the features and hair. I’m also a bit concerned about the hand giving a jaunty salute, I never did like painting hands. I am very happy with the jacket and cap though, which are both looking pretty good at this stage.

And finally here’s where I am so far, I’ve got a bit more tone in the salute hand but it does still need a lot of work. The face will need some definition and shade once the first coat of paint is fully dry. I’m starting to think maybe I should have left the poppy she was wearing in her hair out but it’s a bit late to do anything about it now (I suppose that would be one of the advantages of oil over watercolour) I’ve also added some tone in the skirt and oh yeh, almost forgot I’ve painted the majority of the flag in the background… easy one to miss that!

I want to concentrate on getting the face and hands right on my next session, I think I’ll be happier once I’ve given Jen some hair too… I’m sure Jen would mirror that sentiment!

I’ve been using a extremely old non-refillable set of watercolours that my grandfather gave me for my 15th birthday (my God that was a long time ago!) for my last two paintings. Sadly I think that set may be coming to the end of it’s life *sniff* so it will soon be time to go shopping for a shiny new set me thinks! Yay!

Butterfly of Gion

2010-11-06T17:14:00.000-07:00

Butterfly of Gion

Watercolour on 180gsm Watercolour Paper

Yay! Moms b-day present it now framed and ready to be wrapped. I’ve re-named her “Butterfly of Gion” as I wasn’t happy just calling her Geisha, Gion is a famous Geisha district in Kyoto (it was the location for the book “Memoirs of a Geisha”).

I’ve never had to properly frame anything before but as the Swindon Artist Forum requires members to professionally frame their work I thought I would practice on this piece. I chose a white frame with a black border (I couldn’t tell you why it’s just what jumped out at me at my local store) and I bought myself a 45 degree angle cutter so that I could cute the board to the perfect size. It’s a bit fiddly cutting out the board with it but I got there in the end… I also discovered my math left a lot to be desired lol!

Below are a couple of YouTube videos that I used to learn framing. As I said I’d never framed anything properly before and was under the impression that all you needed to do was stuff the picture in a frame and that was that, apparently I was wrong lol

Cutting Mat

How to tie picture wire

On a completely unrelated topic I hope everyone had a good 5th of November and saw lots of amazing fireworks. For those of you not in England the 5th of November is Bonfire Night when we remember an attempt to blow up the houses of parliament and kill King James I in 1605. The Gunpowder Plot failed and to celebrate we set fire to a “Guy” (an effigy of Guy Fawks) and set off loads of fireworks.
I went to see the local firework display with my friend and a fluffy hot water bottle (Well it is cold) tonight and had a great time writing rude words with sparklers lol

“Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason, why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, guy, t’was his intent
To blow up king and parliament.
Three score barrels were laid below
To prove old England’s overthrow.

By God’s mercy he was catch’d
With a darkened lantern and burning match.
So, holler boys, holler boys, let the bells ring.
Holler boys, holler boys, God save the king.

And what shall we do with him?
Burn him!”

- Traditional Bonfire Night rhyme.

Geisha Birthday Present

2010-11-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

My mothers’ b-day present is finally all finished and I’m really happy with the result! All I need to do is find the perfect frame and surround tomorrow. Hope my mom likes it :-)

Geisha Birthday Present - Work In Progress

2010-11-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

Another painting session on my moms b-day present and I’m nearly finished. I’ve got most of the detail into the kimono, the hands are looking better, the basket has weave. All I need is a bit more detail in the kimono and some colour in the background and then I’ll call her finished. I may add butterfly details to the surround but I haven’t decided yet, I’ll wait to see what frame I choose.

Geisha Birthday Present - Work In Progress

2010-11-01T15:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend I’ve been working on a birthday present for my mother. She really loves Geisha (I don’t think she knows what they do for a job lol) and a couple of years ago I bought her a geisha doll which has pride of place in her bedroom. This year I want to give her a painting to hang next to it.

After looking around I found a photo by the talented Greg Elms who has very kindly given me permission to use his photo as a starting point for my mothers gift.

Below are a set of working progress photos, I’m about 50% finished and I’m loving how it’s going. I would go as far as to say it’s the best watercolour I’ve ever done!

My first step was to make a rough sketch so that I could get a idea of where I wanted to put the features and where the shades and fabric folds are. The kimono the geisha is wearing is very intricate so I have reduced the detail a little to prevent my pore brain getting dizzy!

My next step was to paint the black fabric of the kimono. I spent about an hour getting the shades and folds correct before adding any other details.

Next I put down some of the other blocks of colour including the face paint which was way too dark at this point. I was confident I would be able to correct it though.

Hair and some more detail in the kimono. The face has now been corrected.

Finally this is where I am at the moment. The face and hair are now completely finished. The kimono will need a lot more work before it’s finished and I need to add some more butterflies to the obi. I also need to lighten the skin on her hands and add some detail to the basket she is holding so lots more to do!

RIP Sausage

2010-11-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

About 3 years ago I bought my apartment and decided to start keeping rats again. Well I say decided, a more accurate account would be to say that I went to a pet shop and a ratty decided that he was coming home with me, I had very little to do with the decision!

In the end four rattys came to live with me Reggie, Rolo, Gizmo & Sausage. Over the past year or so I’ve had to say goodbye to the others but Sausage was the Peter Pan of the rat world. Despite being 2years10months well over the normal lifespan of a rat he remained to be the impish little ratty he’s always been right up to the end.

I’ve had many scares with Sausage over the past year, not because he has been ill but because he was such a heavy sleeper. Several times I went to his cage for treat time and found him so fast asleep that when I touched him he didn’t move. I would then attempt to pick him up and he would jump awake and give me the most indignant look I have ever seen on a rat!

It would be very difficult to describe my little imp but a picture speak a thousand words.

It really is the end of an era, with the last of my original boys gone to the bridge.

Technical Difficulties

2010-10-31T10:01:00.000-07:00

It seems that blogger does not want me to load photos at the moment, hopefully it’s just having a funny five minutes and normal service will resume soon.

RIP Mr Slinky

2010-10-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

This week I lost one of my old rattys Mr Slinky. Mr Slinky came to live with me with his brother Dizzy when they were 6 weeks old. Their previous owners had got board of them and hadn’t bothered playing with them so they were pretty wild. Dizzy was bitey and Mr Slinky was terrified of being touched. It took a long time to train them out of their behaviour, for months whenever I did manage to catch Mr Slinky he would shoot out of my hands again like a bar of soap!! Sometimes even when I was stood up, it’s a miracle he didn’t knock himself silly!! (On second thoughts maybe he did lol)

As I said it took a very long time to train Slinky but eventually he was as well behaved as any of my boys. He would tolerate cuddles, come bounding to the cage door when called for treats and when out for free-range time he was always the first to come running when called.

Even at his advanced age of 2 years 7 months he was a healthy, happy and relatively energetic boy, although the past weeks he was starting to show signs of being more tired than usual. It was a bit of a shock to see that he’d slipped away in his sleep while curled up with his cage mates, I am however happy that he passed away so peacefully.

Sleep tight little boy, your cage mates Dizzy and Sausage look lost without you.

Watercolour Lion - Complete

2010-10-24T04:29:00.000-07:00

Snaggled Lion

Watercolour on Paper

Last night I completed my watercolour lion. I’m very happy with the way he turned out he’s a lovely old thing although I think he might be a little cross eyed!

Today I will be starting a new watercolour. I will be doing another Geisha for my mothers birthday. I had toyed with the idea of giving her one of the Geisha paintings I had done previously however I’m not happy that they are good enough so I’ve decided to have one more attempt. Her birthday is at the beginning of December so I’ve got plenty of time to get it right.

I will also be starting a new oil on canvas soon. I just need to decide what to paint!

Removing lens distortion from your artwork photos

2010-10-15T12:09:00.000-07:00

I was looking at www.emptyeasel.com today and found the answer to a problem that’s been bugging me for a while. I’ve been looking at others art photos and wondering how they manage to get them looking so good without going to a professional photographer. Every time I try I end up with bowed edges due to the lens distortion, which I have to crop off. This tutorial shows you how to use free software GIMP to solve this problem and it looks so simple!! On a personal note I’ve also discovered that my camera has a white balance fix. Woohoo!!

I would highly recommend you drop by www.emptyeasel.com if you haven’t already as it’s full of really useful articles.

Graveyard Photos

2010-10-10T14:20:00.000-07:00

Today I went for another one of my wanders in an old cemetery. Usually I go to the one opposite where I live but today I went to one I found behind a church about 5 minutes drive away (I only drove because it’s at the top of a very big hill and I was feeling a little lazy) I didn’t like the new cemetery as much as my old one. It was very pretty and has a beautiful old church which is one of the oldest in Swindon, but it is also a lot busier and I felt a little ghoulish wandering around with my camera.

Despite that I did manage to get some good photos from around the church building.

Watercolour Lion – Work in Progress

2010-10-09T08:05:00.000-07:00

This is the second work in progress on my watercolour lion. He’s nearly finished and starting to look good. I just want to make some adjustments to the eyes and maybe touch up a couple of other little things then I’ll call him complete.

He’s kinda a snaggly old lion so I think that’s what I’ll call him :)

Aslan - Finished!

2010-10-05T13:17:00.000-07:00

Aslan is now finished (at least for now). I’m quite chuffed with how this looks so I’ve popped it on my wall so that I can live with it for a while.

The only thing I’m not sure about is how to finish the edges. I started off trying the continue the painting around them but I’m finding it really fiddly. Any suggestions?

Aslan – Another Work In Progress

2010-10-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

I’m very nearly done with this one now. I want to touch up the teeth and tone down the pinkness of the mouth but other than that I think I’m just about happy. The fur is looking more defined now and I’m reasonable happy with the way it turned out particularly as this is the first time I’ve tackled fur in oil.

I’ll try to get Aslan finished tomorrow.

Watercolour Lion Work In Progress

2010-10-01T14:58:00.000-07:00

It seems recently that I keep coming back to lions. It’s odd really as I’ve never had a particular love of them. I however really do enjoy drawing and painting them and through that I have come to appreciate how beautiful they really are.

Today I started a new water colour based on a lion that I have sketched before. He’s a bit old and battle worn but I think he’s got lots of character. I haven’t worked in watercolour for ages and for this painting I pulled out my old watercolour pastels that I was given by a grandparent when I was at school. (That seems like such a long time ago!) I certainly think that the struggles I’ve been going through trying to understand colour for oil painting has paid off because I’ve found it very easy to mix the colours that I was looking for and I’m happy that I’ve got reasonable base to my painting painting. I’m going to try to finish painting tomorrow after I’ve worked on my Aslan oil.

Goldilocks has been found!

2010-10-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

I don’t blog about news very often but I was truly excited when I read on BBC news that astronomers have found an elusive Goldilocks planet. What does that mean? Well, a planet that is within a certain orbit and of a certain mass is said to be a Goldilocks planet, in other words just right for life. Gliese 581 is the first planet of this kind (other than our Earth) to be found and most excitingly it is likely have an atmosphere and liquid water. This makes it very likely that it may supports life in some form or another! We’re probably not talking little green men but even discovering another planet capable of supporting a shrub would be remarkable. What’s more Gliese 581 is only 20 light years away, in astronomical terms that is a tiny distance making it far more likely that Goldilocks planets are common as muck and that the universe is absolutely teeming with life!

Well, I’ll stop proving myself to be a complete nerd and leave this post there. If you would like to know more about this amazing discovery the attached video is very good.

This Little Piggy

2010-09-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

Right I’m back to the drawing board and looking forward to (hopefully) finishing my Aslan painting at the weekend. In the mean time here’s a little piggy! I’m thinking of re-doing him in watercolour soon.

I also joined the local artist club “Swindon Artist Forum” today. They have a gallery in the centre of Swindon town and all the members I’ve met seem really nice. Who knows maybe I’ll even apply for some space in the gallery myself next year.

We Haz Nana

2010-09-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

Posts have been a little thin on the ground this week. This is entirely due to laziness (although I’m sure I could think of an excuse if I tried!) It was my birthday last week and I’ve been spending this week playing with my birthday presents… I’m such a child!

So to fill the gap I thought I’d share these photos of my rattys enjoying treat time this evening.

Above Left - Sausage my oldest boy protecting his treat. Above Right - Peanut the baby trying to hide from the camera

Above Left - Dizzy my little blind boy... he has no idea he's having a photo *bless*. Above Right - Moniack, determined not to stop eating for something as unimportant as a photo.

And Finally - Slinky, he found the camera far more interesting than his treat.

Aslan – Further Work In Progress

2010-09-25T10:33:00.000-07:00

I’ve started getting the fur tone into Aslan now. I’ve got a long way to go but the main is taking shape and I’ve got the fur direction into the face. I’m going to give it a day or so to dry then I’m going to put finer detail in the main and I’ll try stabbing the individual hairs on the face… I will probably regret this decision but if you don’t try you don’t know.

I think my ability to mix colours is starting to improve by pure fluke!

Aslan – Work In Progress

2010-09-21T12:11:00.000-07:00

This painting’s really coming along now. I’ve got Aslan’s base coat on, I’ll give it a day or two to dry then I’ll go over it to give the fur depth.

I’m still struggling to mix colours, I’ve tried reading about colour theory but I have to admit that it’s all completely over my head. Typical, I can understand algebra but ask me to mix a colour and I’m lost.

Aslan – Another Work In Progress

2010-09-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

Another day, another Aslan update. I’ve started work on the lion now but I’m starting to struggle with the loss of light. Autumn is definitely here!

Aslan – More Work in Progress

2010-09-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

Another day spent being frustrated with paint. I absolutely hate drawing buildings, that probably means I should practice more but there’s something about bricks and mortar that completely switches me off. That being said I spent today’s painting session working on Cair Paravel in the background of my Aslan picture. It’s no where near finished yet but compared to my usual building painting level it’s positively brilliant. Tomorrow in between building flat packed furniture for my mom (what a good daughter I am) and doing the hoovering I’m hoping to add some more detail to Cair Paraveland work on the grass.

I also had my first major paint related catastrophe today when I managed to tip half the content of my new brush cleaning jar which is full of thinners all down my top! Luckily I was in the kitchen, I think I would have cried if it had fallen on the carpet… I probably shouldn’t be aloud to play with things that can cause damage to my house.

Completely unrelated but I finished reading The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullmen. I usually I get a lot of inspiration from the books I read but although this book had a really good plot idea it was otherwise absolutely awful! Oh well, The Constant Princess by Philipa Gregory is next. It’s a fantasy about Katherine of Aragon so I’m really looking forward to more Tudor goodness.

Aslan – Work in Progress

2010-09-15T12:58:00.000-07:00

I’ve finally started painting again. This is going to be a colour copy of my Aslan sketch, I’ve got some base colour down and I want to get the background finished before tackling the lion.

In my previous 2 paintings I’ve used water mixable oils with water as the medium but this time I’ve started using liquin. From all I’d read I thought working with liquin wouldn’t make much difference but I was wrong. It makes the paint move completely different. For want of a better term it seems to make the paint feel slimy. I think I prefer it.

Oh! Mr Darcy

2010-09-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

Mr Darcy

Graphite on 220gsm Cartridge Paper

(8 1/2" x 5 7/8")

This was going to be yesterdays post but unfortunately my computer decided to have a funny five minutes, it seems to have recovered all by itself though so here we go…

Today’s post is the gorgeous Mr Darcy (Colin Firth). Pride and Prejudice is one of my favourite books and I love the BBC adaptation. I’m also really happy with this sketch, particularly the nose. I sometimes have issues with noses but this one looks particularly nose like!

Mr Darcy is now on sale on eBay Click Here

Lion Pride ACEO set

2010-09-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

Lion Pride ACEO's

Graphite on 220gsm Cartridge Paper

I’ve recently been inspired by Fay Akers to create my first set of ACEO cards. Hope you don’t mind :) I’ve called this set of four “Lion Pride” as it features 4 lions including my favourite one a little baby lion. I’ve never worked this small before so it was a new experience but I really enjoyed it and will definitely be making more ACEO’s in the future.

These are now up for sale on eBay Click Here

Mr Lion

2010-09-10T15:45:00.000-07:00

Mr Lion

Pencil on Cartridge Paper

Today’s post is Mr Lion… Why is he Mr Lion? In my view anything with teeth that big deserves every respect!

Win a portrait by Crystal Cook

2010-09-08T10:52:00.000-07:00

Since starting my art blog I’ve been lucky enough to stumble across some really amazing artist & their blogs. One such blog that really stands out is that of Crystal Cook an amazing watercolour artist and all round lovely person who is celebrating her return to the wonderful world of commission painting by offering a 8 x 10 watercolour portrait to whoever wins her contest.

If you’d like to participate just follow the link below for the rules. Good Luck!

Crystal Cook

I can't draw today!

2010-09-07T14:25:00.000-07:00

Enchanted

Pencil on Cartridge Paper

Today I decided to draw my friends scruffy little dog but after about an hour I decided that I can’t draw! So instead I did this cheesy doodle from the movie Enchanted.

Catherine of Aragon

2010-09-05T13:48:00.000-07:00

Catherine of Aragon

Pencil Sketch on Cartridge Paper

Today’s daily post is a fantasy sketch of Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII. I’ve been watching the first season of the BBC series “The Tudors” this week and I recently read the book “The Other Boleyn Girl”. In both of these my favourite character was been Queen Catherine who both in fiction and in historical record is portrayed as a good person who lived a privilege but tragic life full of loss and betrayal… I do have a thing about tragic figures lol

This sketch is inspired by several period paintings of Catherine.

Bunny

2010-09-04T14:28:00.000-07:00

Today’s post is another little colour sketch. I’m quite enjoying playing with coloured pencils at the moment although I think I need to update my pencil set. I’m also working on a new oil painting but I’ll post on that once I’ve got the basic colour down.

Rainbow Bridge

2010-09-03T14:02:00.000-07:00

This week has brought the end of an era. As you will know if you read my blog or have visited my website I’m rather soppy over my many pet rats. I’ve kept them for several years and over the past 3 years I’ve been mom to a rather large mischief of rescues. At the beginning of this year I decided that I need a bit of a break from the non stop cage cleaning, training and nursing of rescues and so I’ve been allowing my numbers to naturally dwindle.

The end to which I refer is the loss of my last two females who went to sleep for the last time within days of each other last weekend.

Whenever I lose one of my furies I always remember this little story. I’m not a religious person but this tale always makes me feel a little better.

“Just this side of heaven is a place called the rainbow bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills and valleys with lush green grass for all of our special friends, so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food and water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who have been ill and old are restored to health and vigour, those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again...just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.

The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing. They miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. The bright eyes are intent, the nose twitches and the eager body quivers. Suddenly, this one breaks away from the group, flying over the green grass, legs carrying them faster and faster.

YOU have been spotted and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, NEVER to be parted again! The happy kisses rain upon your face. Your hands again caress the beloved head and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet...so long gone from your life, but never absent from your heart.

Then, you cross the Rainbow Bridge together...”

Einy Trinket

Both these ladies lived to the ripe old age of 32 months.

Blackberry Patch

2010-09-03T13:02:00.000-07:00

Blackberry Patch

Coloured pencil on paper

Today’s sketch is in colour for a change. I’ve never really liked working in bendable pencils before as it takes so long and mixing the right colours is pretty difficult but I quite enjoyed this little sketch… Well I did after the first hour of colouring in blackberries was over!

I’ve decided to change the format of my blog a little. I will no longer be doing a daily sketch but not to worry instead I will be doing a daily post. This will give me a bit more time to work in other mediums… what’s the betting that now I’ve said that I will continue to do nothing but sketches lol

Yawn… So tired

2010-09-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

No daily sketch today for as the title suggests I am very tired. So instead here’s a ratty.

Daily Sketch 31/08/2010

2010-08-31T14:02:00.000-07:00

Rudolph the Big Nosed Reindeer

Pencil on Cartridge Paper

Today’s sketch is a big nosed deer… That almost sounds like a breed but unfortunately it’s not. This poor deer has been the victim of a slight miscalculation on my part. Is it too early in the year to call him Rudolph?

Daily Sketch 30/08/2010

2010-08-30T13:38:00.000-07:00

Sookie Stackhouse

Pencil on Cartridge Paper

Today’s sketch is Sookie Stackhouse from True Blood. I’m not overly happy with this sketch, there’s a lot about it I’d like to improve but it has made me realise that bigger isn’t necessarily better. I always remember my art teacher at College nagging me to work bigger, after enjoying working in A3 yesterday I thought I would do the same today however I think I would have enjoyed this sketch more if I had been working in A4. I may try this one again tomorrow in A4 to see how it turns out.