London Training Company Portraits

This is the finished portrait of Lesley. From the last post you can see I worked on her skin tone, adding more definition around the eyes (which included enhancing a few laughter lines - sorry Lesley!) and adding highlights and lowlights to her hair. If only hairdressing were that simple! I have just emailed the final picture across to the offices at Mouse Training and their response was, "Wow, that's really lovely (you've captured her twinkle!)". I hope Lesley has the same reaction.

3-D Portraiture

This has been an interesting project: painting the image of a dearly loved dog onto a garden statue that the owner said had a very clear likeness of him. The dog, called Shadow, was nearly all black with a white paw and white stripe on his chest. I had lots of excellent photos to work from taken from different angles in order to build up a 3-D reference. So first I painted on two coats of masonry primer. This had the added advantage of allowing me to fill in the pin holes where the cement had set around bubbles. Then I gave him two coats of black acrylic paint before painting in the details of his eyes, paws, muzzle, nose and white fur. I am so used to having to create shadow to create the illusion of 3-D onto a 2-D canvas that working with an object that creates the shadows for you was quite a challenge. The paint effect changes as you move the object around and the light reflections change so I kept adding, then removing and changing the details. Fun to do though and I think the paint has added to bring the unique characteristics of Shadow to the statue.

London Training Company Portraits

Here is another victim for Mouse Training's rogue gallery. This is Lesley and she is a lot prettier in real life than the first couple of stages of my painting but I'm hoping to make her look more her usual self with just a few more splashes of paint!

Pastel portrait of Jazy

Jazy the cat is now finished and sitting very pretty. I have included the photograph I was working from in the bottom picture although I had other really sweet shots sent through via email for additional reference. In the second shot the picture was almost finished but at this stage I like to spray it with fixative and go over the drawing again to deepen the colours and enhance detail. Apparently Jazy recently returned home looking rather traumatised and with a kink in her tail. Ouch! Fortunately it seems to be straightening out again. Maybe she'll take a hint from her portrait and keep her tail hidden underneath her for a while.

Pastel portrait of Jazy

I have just started a pastel drawing of this gorgeously cute silver tabby kitten. She has such a demure pose seated on her favourite chair. Unfortunately I started the drawing on a colour that I realised would not work with the background I wanted to put in, so I had to start again. Doh!

Portrait of a Father

Here is the finished article with another stage thrown in to illustrate some of the subtle details that get added in, like more definition around the eyes, enhanced skin texture and individual hairs painted on eyebrows and hairline. I just hope I've captured the essence and character of a well loved father.

Painted House Numbers

I have just painted the number 68 on slate for a lovely couple in Yorkshire who couldn't find anything in the shops they fancied attaching to the front of their house. If any of you followers would also like a bespoke house name or number then I'm your artist! My husband commented that if they moved next to a number 89 they could take it with them (sigh!).