Whisky the black and white cat!

 My latest commission is an A4 size pastel drawing of a lovely old cat called Whisky. I started drawing him on cream pastel paper but got so carried away I forgot to take photos of the preliminary stages. Here you have the final piece with the one before I fixed it with an aerosol fixative in order to add more detail and intensify the colours. I think I've taken years off him!!

See some more of my cat portraits

Kissing by the Viaduct

These are the final two versions of this commission. The client wanted a stripey red and black tie added in, some books in the foreground and the boy's hair lightened and shortened. As well as adding more definition to the couple I put more detail into the bushes and viaduct and added more texture to the grass using the edge of a palette knife.

Kissing by the Viaduct

Holidaying over, I have now started a fascinating commission combining a few photographs to create a painting which illustrates actual memories and the dreams of what could have been.
In the beginning I sketched the picture onto gesso primed board before adding texture and painting a wash of ochre to give background warmth. I painted the structure of the viaduct in burnt umber as I didn't want to lose my sketch while painting the sky.
Next I worked on the textures of the sky applying white with palette knives over a wash of paynes gray mixed with small amounts of blues and softening the edges with a brush. I also started painting blocks of colour that make up the viaduct and the couples' clothes and skin.
In the third photo you can see I have added greens to the meadow and worked further on the sky to make it appear less foreboding. I didn't want the couple running off for cover as a storm builds in the distance!
Today I roughly painted the trees and started to put detail on the viaduct. I'm quite pleased with these first few stages but there's a lot more detail, depth and texture yet to add. Keep watching!

Dog Pastel Portrait

Completely finished, this portrait of Major is bound for the framers before travelling to surprise its owner on his birthday. I hope he likes it! The background proved a bit tricky as I wanted to draw the stream and trees in quite a detailed way. However the more detail I added the more Major's head seemed to disappear. I decided to smudge it right back and lighten it all before increasing the detail on Major's fur and making sure I had the right shadow and colour balance. I'm looking forward to seeing it framed and ready to hang.

See some more of my dog and pet portraits

Dog Pastel Portrait

Traditional new commission of a lovely alsation golden retriever cross called Major, a name that seems to suit him as he looks quite dignified and regal in all his photos. I like the way he sometimes sits with his paw curled around, looking straight at the camera. I'm going to place him on some ground by a stream he apparently likes to jump in but for now, here are the first few stages of the drawing. His fur is mostly black but he has an interesting coat with lots of rusty brown speckled throughout and even some blond bits. I have used a wide range of browns, reds and ochres with a lot of the black and white pastel and have added blue in contrast to make the black shine.

Loose style portrait

The finished portrait of the little girl I have painted in a slightly looser style than usual. The painting is meant to be black and white with a hint of colour so the last couple of stages I used mostly black and white acrylic to focus on the highlights and shadows and a little colour to soften the edges. I added a crimson red to the background at the last minute just to give the portrait a bit more warmth. I enjoyed painting this style and may disappear up into my studio to create a few more. Perhaps my cat will pose for me...

Loose style portrait

I have just started a portrait of this gorgeous little girl. I am using acrylic paint on box canvas and it is to be a black and white loose style portrait with a hint of colour - a bit like the old fashioned black and white photos that photo- graphers used to tint with inks for a hint of colour. As you can see, for the first few stages I have laid down quite a lot of bright colours, oranges and blues, for contrast. Applying bright colours across a canvas as a base is a way of unifying a painting and giving it depth later on.