Civil Ceremony Portrait

This portrait is pretty much finished, I just need to look at it again in proper daylight and not just under my daylight bulb! Being that it's A4 size each tiny pinhead of pigment can totally change the shape of the features so this one has been fiddly. From the previous entry I added light pink pastel all over to smooth the skin tones and create the base layer before fixing it. Then I carefully added reds, yellows, oranges, blues, greys and greens to the skin, taking care to blend well and knocking a colour back with the pale pink if too much pigment was applied. Then when I was happy with the depth and colour I sharpened my pencils and sharpened the features, adding freckles and wisps of hair and highlights on jewellery.

Civil Ceremony Portrait

This latest portrait has been commissioned as a gift for a couple who are having a civil ceremony this September. It is A4 size in soft pastel and so far as you can see I have been building up the skin tones. Now the base layer is down I have fixed it so I can build on the depth of colour and concentrate on getting the tonal values right. It's fiddly working at this size with pastels as the smallest move of coloured dust can totally change the shape of the features. Teeth and eyes are particilarly hard and I'm having to sharpen my pastels frequently. I hope the next layer of colour behaves itself!

Watercolour flowers

I was presented with some beautiful sunflowers from one of my students when the Haywards Heath art class came to an end. I placed them in front of my black Victorian fireplace and the following morning came downstairs to see them bathed in sunlight. They looked so beautiful it would have been a crime not to paint them so here's the result, in watercolour, which is not my favourite medium but I fancied the challenge. And for a bit of fun I sprinkled salt into the centre on the sunflowers to create texture and in some lights it now looks slightly sparkly.

Then while I had my paints out I had a go at painting some daffodils in a looser style working mostly wet-in-wet. I think this one better captures the brightness of sunlight but I like both of them for different reasons. I bought some coloured mounts from my framer, which set them off a treat, ready to sell on my website!

Portrait of 3 Labradors in Pastel

I've been adding extra layers of pastel to this lovely canine family as you can see in the picture of Paddy before I blended the colours. In order to get depth in black fur I add a lot of additional colours and on Paddy I added orangey yellow, burnt sienna and cobalt blue, blended them together then put extra black, grey and white on top. On these upper layers I have sharpened my pastel pencils and used individual strokes to create texture in the fur. The eyes have additional colours added and the highlights and black outlines reinforced. Finally whiskers are drawn on with a fine point. Ted has also had the multicoloured treatment including green, blue, purple, grey, orange, yellow, cream, white and different shades of brown.

Portrait of 3 Labradors in Pastel

The second layer of pastels has now been applied and I've included my workings on the puppy to illustrate the addition of reddy browns and purples onto the coat as well as bluey greys and blacks before I smudge it all together. I fix the drawing in between layers using an aerosol fixative. This enables me to add more pigment without scratching so much of it off again. I create mountains of dust when doing pastel work and I have to make sure I don't transfer any of it to different parts of the drawing. All three dogs get the same treatment, Ted has peach, orange and violet tones added to his coat. The top three pictures just illustrate how I work from left to right to further reduce chances of accidental smudging. The picture is fixed again ready for the top layers of detail.

Portrait of 3 Labradors in Pastel

This is the story of a handsome golden labrador, Ted, and his beautiful wife, Pepper, who had a cheeky son called Paddy. They all lived happily together but their owner could never get them to pose with each other in one single photograph. So she came to me to place them all together in a family portrait. Ah the merits of artistic licence! So I've sketched out their faces on pearl grey Fabriano Tiziano pastel paper, size 70 x 50cm, and lay down the base colours. I have smudged the pastels into the paper, making sure there is no loose dust left over for me to accidently press elsewhere into the paper. Next I will build up the colours and details in their coats and I haven't yet decided whether to put a simple hint of a background in to draw them together ('scuse the pun!).

Lucan - Black Labrador Painting

 

Lucan, the handsome black labrador, is now complete. I have added texture within the paint to bring his fur to life but this is regrettably lost on these photographs. So, from the last blog entry I have painted the detail of the fur by building up layers of black, payne's grey and white with a synthetic brush that separates its bristles when I have the right mix of paint with water. This gives me the ability to build up layers of hair. Next I concentrated on the background sky and grass adding in more shades of greens, yellows, blues, browns and even peach tones to create more texture without detracting too much from the detail of the dog. After that I spent a few final hours comparing the finer details of the photo with the painting, making sure the shine on the fur gave him the correct face shape, tweaking the colour of his eyes and getting the right texture on his shiny black nose.