Portrait commissions on the go

The portrait of this couple is nearly finished but their dog still needs some work. I'm waiting for a more detailed photo but have also been trying to source some other examples. The challenge is that I'm adding in an additional bod where the light source is in a different direction. The light on the couple is strong sunlight coming from behind so although the dog is in shadow he may also catch a shaft of light coming in between them. Since the last entry, many of layers of paint have been applied to the skin tones and fine details added which I appreciate are more difficult to see at this size. Hair highlights were applied with a sword liner brush and lots of colours were layered up to create shine on dark hair and make the curls look convincing. More details were added to the shirt although my aim is to keep the clothing looser in style and more painterly.

Charleston Painted Furniture Workshop

I have just enjoyed an amazing Painted Furniture Masterclass at Charleston farmhouse this Saturday and in just one day turned an old wooden cabinet into something unique-shabby-chic under the excellent tutelage of artist Sophie Coryndon! The day was a birthday gift and started at 10am sharing coffee and croissants with the other seven attendants on the workshop. After instruction on preparation of your chosen piece of furniture and a demo on how to achieve a crackle glaze, we all started work applying a base coat with our chosen Farrow & Ball paint. I chosen Charleston Grey (naturally) followed by a coating of paste. We left our pieces to dry in the sunshine (yes we enjoyed that too!) while we took a guided tour around the farmhouse, sketchbook and pencil in hand. Inspired by the art and creativity of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant's artwork, as well as works by Picasso, Sickert and Renoir, we returned to apply our crackle glaze. A beautiful artisan lunch had been set out for us in the garden with homemade vegetarian soup, bread, cheese, meats and salads. We swatted the midges and got to know each other a bit before returning to the workshop for some serious design and painting. I say 'serious' because silence descended as we all got absorbed in our creative endeavours, broken only when tea and bakewell tart was served, which was delicious. A few more processes of sanding and glazing and my piece was ready to take home. I was so chuffed with what I'd learned about the processes that I can't wait to attack my kitchen units and am eyeing up other bits in my cottage with a threatening stare. The day was thoroughly enjoyable, helped also by the sunshine, but I would heartily recommend it to anyone wanting to try their hand at something a bit different - you don't have to be an artist, just go to be inspired and have a go. Check out http://www.charleston.org.uk/products-page/workshops/. There were some wonderful finished pieces, all uniquely different, all had transformed an old piece of wood into something rather beautiful.

Portrait of a beautiful couple and their dog

The portrait of this lovely couple was started a while ago and has gone through quite a few stages already. First I played around with the cropping of the photograph on my laptop and made sure the composition and sizing worked when I included their beloved dog. When we had agreed the composition I sketched the outline onto a 16 x 20" deep edge box canvas. I blocked in the background with a warm mix of burnt sienna and cadmium red and started painting skin tones and the dog's face as well as the main shadows in the hair and an outline of their features. I wasn't sure at this stage how much pattern to include on the shirt so painted a few stripes, keeping them vague whilst deepening some of the shadows. I added more colour to the background and started to build the painting in layers of different glazes using different sized brushes to keep the outer areas loose and the faces more detailed. Having painted the main tonal values including their clothing I united the picture with a warm glaze. This intensified the colour and gave the skin tones a summery glow but also had the effect of strengthening the background too much. So to bring the couple forward I striped in mixtures of payne's grey with cooler blues and greens. I wanted some of the red undertones to show through in places to keep the warm depth but it has also balanced the picture better. Now I am concentrating on the detail in their faces, ensuring I get the shadows and shapes right so keep watching...!

Reggie dog portrait

The portrait of Reggie is finished.With more layers of colour painted into his coat with a fine rigger brush, finishing with lighter colours to highlight the hairs that have caught the light and subtle alterations to the balance of tone, his sparkly little eyes convey his bright personality. I hope this painting encapsulates the life he enjoyed with his owners.

Reggie dog portrait

Reggie is my latest commission, and is not yet finished as I am also working on a couple with a black lab at the same time. This sprightly little chap has the wind in his hair and as the portrait is A4 size I decided to concentrate on his face. I started by painting the canvas board in shades of brown (it was meant to be cream but I thought the white fur would disappear on the left side too much). After the two coats had dried I sketched the main features and shadows in. Using black paint first I blocked in the shadows and painted his eyes, making sure I kept the shapes tight and in the right place. After placing the darks, I concentrated on the lights and painted in white paint with a wider brush. At this point I started to introduce some mid-tones - greys and yellows. The yellows were a mixture of yellow ochre and a touch of cadmium yellow as I wanted a bright under coat. The third photo shows the addition of burnt sienna on his ears and other areas of his coat to create warmth, as well as painting in the greys and blacks on his body and pinks and blues on his tongue. I have kept the bottom right purposely loose at this stage and might leave it depending on how the portrait progresses. In the top photo I changed my brush to a rigger and swept in long white hairs. I will continue to paint layers and layers of fine hairs now to build up a realistic looking coat. Keep watching...!

Mishulah

My latest commission is a cat called Mishulah. She has the most amazing turquoise eyes and beautiful markings. Her owner (don't cats have staff, not owners?!) wanted her portrayed with her tail wrapped around her which I was able to glean from other photos she sent me. I also posed her with her feet together for a more elegant stance. The portrait is an A4 pastel on cream pastel paper. The photos above take you quickly through the first stages of sketching the pose and laying down the base layers of coloured pastel through to the latter stages when more time is spent adding details and subtle colour changes that don't get picked up so well with the camera, but are a necessary part of bringing the animal to life. I put the eyes in first then laid a rough layer of pink all over to bring warmth to the coat and blocked in some of the white highlights. Then working from the top down, to avoid smudging, I blocked in the other main areas of colour and started adding in the dark brown markings. I used a cream pastel to blend the coat and merge the colours, taking care not to change the shape of the markings too much. The top two photos show the top layers of pastel being applied with a surprising amount of bright orange and yellow added in places alongside various shades of browns, ochres, grey, black and a touch of blue to the coat as well as the eyes (though you would never know). Finally those long, white whiskers were swept in with a sharpened pastel pencil - they're subtle, but they're there!

Portrait of a couple

Following on from the last blog entry this portrait has undergone a transformation and received some more subtle painting with layers of coloured glazes applied on the faces and hands to create the right skin tones. The bottom of the painting was to remain loose so I concentrated on getting their faces right first, adding tiny strokes and dabs of colour to get the features correct. I used my trusty sword liner brush to work rich tones into the long hair before moving on to the clothing. To gradually move away from the high detail in the top left I decided to hint at the fabric pattern of the waistcoat and be fairly vague with the folds of fabric on the arms. I don't usually like to use much black paint in my portraits as it's a bit of a dead colour but I had to go quite dark so mixed brown and blue into it to strengthen and highlight various areas. After tweaking the colours in their faces and hair one last time I got sploshy with the bottom half. I mixed some thinner shades of blues and purples, loaded some big brushes, flicked, splashed and spattered. I hope they like the Jackson Pollock-esque corner as much as I enjoyed doing it! Click on the top image to get a closer look.