Merry Christmas !

Merry Christmas to all my visitors and followers. Stay safe and have a fabulous festive season! I have slowed down alot with my portraiture in the lead up to Christmas because of all the other things I have to get done. I am taking most of January off (away from the easel and the computer) so you will not see me posting much till I get back on January 28. I have to finish Cap'n Jack and Mr Sheffield followed by a two dog portrait which will be followed by a horse and rider portrait. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Cap'n Jack WIP

Here is Cap'n Jack nearly finished. I just want to alter colours' add contrasts and whiskers and then I am ready to start on Mr Sheffield. I am a little slow a t the moment because of various committments to have finished before Christmas. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Cap'n Jack WIP

Here is the latest. The colours in the fur are both many and subtle so it is slow painstaking work to get the patterns just right! Photograph is a bit darker than real life. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Red Boyz-Cap'n Jack

Here is the begining of Cap'n Jack. Undercolour is going on and rather than sketching the complete outline first I am working from the eyes outwards. Please ignore the dark undercolours and the scratchy scribbles and be assured that it all turns out in the end. There is alot of detail and refining to happen yet. And of course the rest of his body and that of Mr Sheffield. The photograph is a little dark because it is cloudy up here. It is going to look stunning on this Terracotta colour! If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Ollie Trees and Red Boyz!

Just thought I should post a final view of Ollie with refined tree background. Ollie is now at the framers. I have just begun sketching out Cap'n Jack and Mr Sheffield the "Red Boyz". They are going to be done in pastel on a terracotta coloured background to enhance their eye colour and fur. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Shai Framed

It is always exciting for me to see how a portrait looks once it is framed so I am very grateful to Robyn of Western Australia for sending me this photo of the portrait I did of her dog Shai. The frame is a light bronze/gold/pewter colour chosen to set off Shai's brindle colouring and the matt is off white with an inner mat to match the frame moulding. It looks terrific!! If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Itching to start a new pastel portrait!!

Cap'n Jack

Mr Sheffield

I am just tiding up a few loose ends on the Ollie portrait before I move on to my next pastel portrait which is of two absolutely stunning red persians Cap'n Jack and Mr Sheffield. I did a portrait of Jeremiah last year for the same client. Can't wait to get started on all that wonderful red fur!! If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Ollie Finished!

Ollie portrait is finally finished. I repainted the tree on the left today as it had been frustrating me for a long time. I now have paintings to finish and more commissions arriving. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Ollie update

Here is a WIP of Ollie. I have been painting the white fur and now need to let certain areas dry before I can paint the dirt she is kicking up as she runs and also put some highlights in the dark fur. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Ollie Update

These are the best photos I can produce at the moment as the paint is wet and reflective nearly all over the painting today where I have built up paint layers and adjusted tones etc. I haven't even cropped or straightened the picture! But i felt i had not posted for so long you may have been thinking I had stopped painting. Far from it! I will need to wait now until the dark colours are dry berfor i begin work on the white fur and adjust tree tones. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Pastel Workshop Boats and Seascapes

The above is pastelled using a reference photo I took at Strahan in Tasmainia earlier this year.

The above is copyright to Regina Hona as it was pastelled using her reference photograph.

I have just spent two days doing a pastel workshop with an artist I greatly admire Regina Hona. The theme was seascapes and boats and we did one picture each day. Being a 'boatie' I was really drawn to this workshop. Neither of the pastel pictures shown here is complete but I thought I would post them both anyway. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Ollie Update

Here is an update on Ollie!  I always have trouble taking pictures of wet oil paintings as they reflect so much! I am still not satisfied with the background and I need to finish the bark on the tree at the right. Ollie herself is only undercolour at this stage with nothing complete. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Weekend Bliss!

This is where I was on the weekend. Guess what sort of weekend I had! Yes it was wonderful or you could say out of this world! My husband and I sailed our small yacht (30') to a local island and climbed a huge sand hill to take this photograph! I am still painting Ollie and should be able to post a photo once this layer is dry. I have not started Ollie herself yet though. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Ollie

Here is what I have done so far on Ollie. Alot of what you see is either not finalised or is still undercolour. Once I have completed the background I will begin work on Ollie herself. The colours are not completely true to the picture in real life as I have difficulty photographing wet, shiney oil paintings. I will continue to work on Le Tour during Ollie drying times. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Le Tour

Here are a few WIPs of Le Tour which I have been working on whilst Ollie dries between layers. I am very pleased by the way it is going. I have photographed Ollie but because the paint is wet and shiney in some areas it has not photographed well so I will try again on Monday when it is drier. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Computer Crash GRRRRR!

Hello! I won't be able to post an update of Ollie's portrait until I get my computer back hopefully by the end of the week. It started to freeze on me last week and by Monday morning it actually refused to turn on so I am currently using our server. So far I have been working on the background of the portrait. Most work has been done on the blurred bushes and I will then work on the the foreground, then the two large trees and lastly Ollie herself. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Ollie Commission

Hello! Here is a picture of my next subject 'Ollie'. She is a Border Collie and I am going to paint a 50x75cm oil painting of her with a full background. This great action shot was taken by her owner. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Shai Finished

Here is Shai all finished. I found getting her fur just right was a bit tricky but I think I have achieved a brindle effect. The other challenge was working from a photo which had an ear missing as well as some of the chest fur. I used a combination of photos to put the portrait together. My next commission is an oil of a Border Collie named Ollie. I should be starting this as soon as I have prepared the canvas early next week. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Shai Update 2

I have done a bit more to facial fur, mouth and body here. I still have allot to do all over particularly the mouth, nose, right eye and body fur. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Shai Update

Shai Step 1

Here is the portrait to date. As you can see I am using a different photo to the one originally posted. I believe the one chosen here shows Shai from a better angle as you can see the shape of her profile. I work mostly from dark colours to light so the portrait when finished will be lighter than this. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Shai

I have started Shai and now that the composition and layout are finished I can begin the pastel work. I will post a picture of what I have done by the end of Thursday. Tomorrow, Wednesday is a public holiday here so I will be sailing with my husband. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Le Tour Stages 2 & 3

Step 3

Step 2

Here is the beginings of glaze application. I have to keep reminding myself that a painting is never 'stuffed' it is just not finished! My intention is to apply many layers of glazes until I have great depth of colour. I now have a pretty good idea of what is going to work and what will not. There will be different shapes overlapping and the over colour effect is not going to be as it appears now! Just keeping you guessing!! 'Phew' I can hear you saying. Yes I hate that green!! I probably will not have time now to do more until I have finished the portrait of Shai. I have bought materials today ready to begin Shai on Monday. Also been busy purchasing food etc for my daughter's 21st tomorrow. No time to pick up a paint brush except when I was a t the art supply shop!! If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Shai Pastel Commission

I have just recieved a new commission to do a pastel portrait of a beautiful Staffy named Shai. She is pictured above although this may not be the pose I will use. I will be starting it on Monday so you will be able to follow my work in progress here on the blog. I have also worked out how to tackle Le Tour and will post what I ahve done so far tomorrow. I will be putting Le Tour aside temporarily from Monday whilst I am doing the portrait of Shai. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Le Tour Step 1

Here I have sketched the cyclists onto the canvas. Having thought about how I am going to tackle this painting I have decided to make it a Mixed Media. I intend to use Acrylic glazes first to indicate the movement and speed of the cyclists followed by oil for the cyclists themselves and the add a bit of oil glazing if needed. A bit experimental but we will see how it goes!! If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Le Tour?

Here is a 'Rough as guts' idea or concept plan of my next painting. I hope I am up to it!! It will be oil on canvas 48x24inches. The next step is to prepare the canvas. (I have the frame together already to stretch the canvas over.) Then after priming the canvas I will sketch the drawing up roughly before I begin the background in paint. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Frisky!

It is with great sadness that I have to report that Frisky our very special friend and companion passed away on Saturday. He was 11 years old and became ill suddenly due to kidney failure. He had not touched food or water for days when the vet and I decided that it would be kindest to euthanise him. Heart wrenching is an understatement. Frisky was extraordinary; having lots of character he would sit at the top of the driveway waiting for us to come home just as a dog would; he played games like hide and seek with my husband; and he was very affectionate and loving, curling up with us to watch TV and sleeping on our bed during the night. He is a huge loss.

On a brighter note my husband and I sailed in a race to raise money for breast cancer awareness yesterday and had a much needed very happy day! I think my next work will be cyclists inspired by the Tour de France which we watch every year without fail. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Ruby Tuesday Finished

Ruby Tuesday is finished. Didn't have to do many touch ups so you probably won't be able to see any difference. Frisky my cat is unwell-he is not eating or drinking and vomits alot. I took him to vet yesterday but these things are hard to diagnose so we are hoping it is just a bout of gastro and not kidney failure. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Ruby Tuesday Update

Here is the latest stage of Ruby Tuesday. I have completed the fringe and the eye and I am nearly satisfied with the mane. I need to add more tones to ears and mane. I intend going over the whole portrait doing small touch ups then adding the name and signing it. Should be complete tomorrow I think. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Ruby Tuesday Pastel Portrait

Here is an incomplete stage of Ruby Tuesday. I have work to do all over such as ther ears, the mane, the fringe, the eyelashes and the brown hair in the face. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Ruby Tuesday

Ruby Tuesday commission is progressing well and I should be able to post an image of it next week. If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Blog Award!

I am honoured to have been awarded this Premio Meme award by artists Doreen Cross of http://www.dorsart.blogspot.com/ and Karie Ann Cooper of http://www.artbykarie-ann.blogspot.com/.

Doreen(Dors) does stunning graphite works and Karie Anne impresses with detailed animal and wildlife works in coloured pencil on drafting film. Take a peek at their blogs!

A requirement of this award is that I list 7 things about myself so here we go:

1. I love the smell of new books and different paper textures.


2. I love reading! (Mainly crime fiction and sailing biographies)


3. I love the way a drawing begins flat (2D) and comes to life like a sculpture almost (3D)!


4. I love my Nikon SLR camera which I purchased last year. I did a photography course to learn how to use it properly. If the house burned down apart from people and my pet Frisky my camera is what I would grab!!


5. I love sailing-both cruising and racing. I have sailed since I was 15 years old.


6. I like to keep fit by running and swimming.


7. I love outdoor activities, space and freedom. Totally Sagittarian!!

This award now must be passed on to 7 others so here we go; Karie-Ann Cooper and Doreen Cross should be listed here but since they gave the award to me I don't want to start a ping-pong game!!

All of the artists below do beautiful work which inspires me and they have encouraged me in the past!!

1. Grahame N Butler http://www.grahanebutler.blogspot.com/ for his wonderful Graphite works.


2. Laura Hardie http://www.portraitartistsblog.blogspot.com/for her stunning mastery of coloured pencil and graphite. Laura gave me alot of help and encouragement with my first graphite!


3. Debra Jones http://www.dog-a-dayartblog.blogspot.com/ Her watercolour dogs a day are amazing.


4. Melanie Phillips www.portraitartist.com/blogs I love Mels oils.


5. Heather Page http://www.pagesportraits.blogspot.com/ for her wonderful graphite works!


6. Gary Keiming http://www.gkeimingart.blogspot.com/ Gary does stunning landscpes. I love his use of colour and I love his skies.


7. Sally Lancaster http://www.sallylancasterportraitswip.blogspot.com/ for her wonderful works in oil!

I am going back to my easel now to work on Ruby Tuesday!!

If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Trusty Steeds is Finished!!

Yes finished at last! I am now going to begin the Ruby Tuesday commission. Very exciting! If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Equine Commission and Trusty Steeds

And here is the latest on Trusty Steeds. I have got to a point where I think I need to put it facing a wall for a couple of days so that I can come back to it with a fresh mind!

I have a new commission to do a pastel of a stunning horse called Ruby Tuesday. I am sure I will have the Beatles song Ruby Tuesday going over and over in my head the whole way through just as I did for Jeremiah commission with "Jeremiah was a Bull Frog". If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Trusty Steeds Progress Report!

Here is what I have done today on Trusty Steeds. I have done a little more on the white horse but I still need to complete the muzzle and refine all over! I have also worked on the brown horse today but have a long way to go yet. I am glad I got impatient and left the brown to work on the white because it is now obvious that I need to work on tone and colour to make the brown jump out of the page! Exaggeration and artistic license will come in here!! I will try to get to my easel again tomorrow but I may be running around purchasing safety gear (flares, fire extinguishers, etc) for our boat so that we qualify to enter a shorthanded race on Sunday! Should be lots of fun. Our boat normally sails with five or six crew but a shorthanded race limits crew to one or two! If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Trusty Steeds Update

I have worked on the white horse today. I still have a long way to go especially with the muzzle, the ears and the front of the face. The colours and tones need to be corrected yet as well! If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Trusty Steeds Update

I have today off from work so I hope to get alot more done on trusty Steeds. Here is what I did yesterday. I am very sad this morning to have just heard that Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett have died. Two amazing people. Michael was such an incredible talent and will live on as a legend forever!!If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Head down Tail Up Update!

I left work a little early today and made it to the easel to do a bit on Trusty Steeds. It is too dark now to photograph what I have done so I will do it in the morning and post it so that you can see. AAhhh!!! It feels so good to pick up a pastel again! Funny how when art time is taken away from you , you think of all sorts of wonderful painting ideas!If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Head down Tail Up!

I am doing a bit of full time work to help out at my husbands buisness this week so I am not getting near my easel to finish Trusty Steeds. It hurts but I hope to be creating again soon!!If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Sassi the Schnauzer

Detail of Sassi.


And here is the finished 50x60cm pastel portrait!

This photo was used for fur colour and direction on the body.

This photo was used for the main composition.

This photo was used for the head.

Well here is the portrait I have been working on which was commisssioned as a surprise anniversary gift. I actually got to meet Sassi as she lives not far from me. I really enjoyed this commission although I had difficulty with the selection of a suitable composition at first because although I was provided with many photos not many of them were good enough to work from. These are the main photos I worked from to achieve the finished portrait. I am now looking forward to finishing Trusty Steeds! If you enjoyed this post please consider becoming a follower of my blog. See the Followers section down the right side of my blog. You may like to add me to you own blog. If So my link is www.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml