Update! What I am Up To!

I am not doing nothing! I am currently doing some study as well as watercolour classes and pastel boat paintings. My pastel "Gilded Quills was recently a finalist in the Lethbridge Gallery 10000 Exhibition and was sold at the exhibition. 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

Bighorn Sheep Finished!

Here is the Bighorn Sheep pastel Portrait finally finished. It has taken way longer than it was meant to due to other activities going on around me at the moment. Thankyou to Gary Kemig for supplying the photo and the challenge to paint this magnificent beast. See Gary's art here http://www.wildernessartchallenge.blogspot.com/ . I now have a boat pastel to start and an exhibition to plan and I will keep you posted on the progress of these. 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 w.portraitsthatbite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Maddie Finished

Here is Maddie finished unless I have to make any fnal adjustments. I am now going to have a sleep as I welcomed a couple of sailing friends in at the finish of the Solo Trans Tasman Yacht race last night and I have only had two hours sleep. They would be feeling alot more sleep deprived than me however since they have been at sea for just over a week. Bighorn coming up!!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

Maddie WIP 7

The oil painting pet portrait of Maddie the blue heeler dog is nearly finished. I have to finish her feet when today's paint is dry and I have started the grass around her (not shown here) which I also need to dry before I can add the finishing highlights without the paint turning to 'mud'. I will then go over the completed painting and adjust things until I am satisfied that I can not make further improvements. I will then begin work on the bighorn sheep again to get it finished and start a new pastel of boats. 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

Happy Easter

Wishing you all a very happy Easter holiday break! My husband and I are taking our boat out on the bay for a few days which should be wonderfully peaceful. I might try my hand at watercolour out there. So far I am not happy with my attempts at this medium. I have finished the pastel of the horse and rider but I will not be able to post a picture until August since this is when it is being given as a gift. The recipient is young and computer savy and we do not want to spoil the surprise!! I have been working on the oil pet portrait of Maddie the blue heeler today but I will post a picture late on Tuesday next week when I have more to show. I also plan on doing more work on the Bighorn Sheep but Maddie takes prioity unless I need drying time for the oil painting. I am wanting to enter a few competition/exhibitions and so I will be starting a pastel of boats soon using a reference photo I took in Tasmania last year. There is also a 'Fabulous Fakes' competition which I would be very excited to enter but the exhibition is at The Entrance in NSW and the painting has to be delivered in person so an entry from me may not be practical. I would love to attempt a copy of a Renoir who I think may be my favourite grand master. I love his use of colour!! And lastly we have put our plans on getting a puppy/ies on hold for the moment because the fencing was going to be very pricey and we are away on our boat allot. There are not many places in our sailing neighborhood where you can take a dog ashore for calls of nature!! 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

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

Conscience Pictures

The painting below is an acryllic which needs fish finishing and coral in the forground. I am so used to the workability of oils that I find working in acryllic quite a challenge but I have always wanted to paint an underwater scene so I must persevere. I love the ease with which you can do glazes in acryllic. I have used some gold and silver paint on some of the fish which is exciting I think!!

The picture below is a pastel which I am reworking. I have redone the background in the style of a Harley Brown but I now need to do something with the foreground which suits the rest of the picture. Not the way I normally approach a picture.

The picture below needs the clouds finishing; the water in the forground; and boats silhouetted against the water and sky.

The picture below needs work done on the rosella and mans hand before it is finished. Work is yet to be done on the shirt collar as well.

I have decided to use my blog as motivation to finish a few paintings which have been on the easel for a long time. I am posting them here in their unfinished state and over time you should see them finished one by one.