Where on earth has this year gone?  I can’t believe it has been so long since I updated this blog, so much has happened since my last post, I can’t even begin to remember all of it…the last few months of last year were filled with firstly our new baby (Taj a Border Collie), then the remainder was pretty much taken over with numerous hospital trips, docotrs visits and multiple surgeries for my poor hubby who suffered a severe injury and then re-currence of his medical conditions (he was home for Christmas which was a relief!)  And 2008, well so far its gone past in a blur of activity, ongoing illness and the unexpected addition of another bundle of fluff (yup another Border Collie, Trinity).

As a result of other commitments and general stress of life, I managed very little art until just recently, and I am trying to get the last few commissions finished as soon as possible.  Then I will be taking on fewer commissions for at least the short term future, I feel that I really need to focus on my own artwork for a while, as well as complete more piece in my Best of Breed series.  Unfortunately, like many pet portrait artists, many commissions that I have done are for pets that have past away, and the reference photos are really not suitable to create my style of highly detailed artwork, so I am looking forward to doing more work (including pet portraits) using my own reference material.

As I have started using mediums other than pencil in the last few years (pastels, acrylic and now oil paints), as well as photography, pencilportraits as a domain name is no longer completely relevant to my artwork, so I am (well my hubby is) in the process of re-designing a new website which will become my main website at http://michellewrighton.com

I don’t know about others, but when I get overwhelmed by the number of things that I have to do, I kind of go into meltdown and can’t achieve anything:(  So to cut down on maintenance time so that I can actually achieve some goals, I will be streamlining my web presence into the main website and have imported my blog over there.  This blog will remain here as there are many links and blog directory listings pointed to it, but this will be the last post here.

The new website is still under major construction, but please update your bookmarks, blogrolls and feeds - I do have a number of new artwork to show over the next few weeks, and I’d love to know what everyone thinks of the new site (bearing in mind it is still under construction!).

Cheers

Michelle

This pet portrait is an acrylic painting of Moe, a gorgeous little pug that seems to be saying “Go ahead, Make my Day”, or maybe just “This IS my happy face!” Gotta love those pups with squished wrinkly faces!

8″x10″ gallery wrapped canvas

Pug Breed Profile

Pug dog were originally developed in China over a thousand years ago. When they were taken to Europe by the Dutch East India Company, they became a favorite breed of royalty and the aristocracy.

Pugs are a small Toy breed, with an ideal weight range of 6.3-8.1kg (14-18lbs). They have square compact bodies, wrinkled skin and tightly curled tails.

Pugs are intelligent dogs that are even tempered with a happy and lively disposition that makes them very suitable as family pets. They have short smooth coats, but are heavy shedders for their size, so regular brushing is required, as well as cleaning of the wrinkles in their face to prevent infections developing.

Pugs are an indoor breed. They are relatively inactive indoors which makes them suitable for apartment living, as long as they receive regular exercise to avoid becoming overweight. They are quite playful, however due to their short noses, Pugs can have difficulties breathing so strenuous exercise, especially in hot weather, should be avoided. They can also be prone to skin and eye problems.

If a Pug sounds like the breed for you and your family, please contact a reputable breeder in your area, or better still, a Pug Rescue group such as the following:

Pug Rescue Victoria

Pug Rescue Inc

Pug Rescue Sydney

Perth Pug Rescue

Pug Rescue.com United States

Pug Welfare-Rescue United Kingdom

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To purchase a variety of wall art, greeting cards and t-shirts featuring my art and photography, Please visit my RedBubble Gallery. Purchases can be made in different currencies (USD, Euro, GBP, AUD) and shipped shipped worldwide.

A variety of wall art, gift ware and apparel featuring my artwork is available in my
GiftShop at CafePress.

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This is the first portrait I have done of a Weimaraner. I am creating this one with a slightly looser, more “painterly” style rather than my normal “include every hair” level of detail.

This is on drafting film (I doubt that I will ever go back to any other support! using colour pencils, mostly Derwents, Prismacolors and the odd FC Polychromos.

As usual, I sketch in the basic landmarks, work the eyes to about 90-95% completion (if I don’t get them right, the rest of the portrait will not come together) and the establish the highlights.

In the next photo, I have started to work in the shadow areas on the chest and body using a French Grey (sorry I can’t remember the % of FG, I tend to work intuitively with the colours, and rarely keep a track of the colours I am using).

I prefer to have a full range of values in my artwork, this can sometimes be a challenge with images like this one where there is fairly strong backlighting. We’ll see if I can pull it off;)

In the next image I have added some indigo to deepen the shadow areas.

Now I have started working in the midtones on the chest and body, working on the shapes for the different values rather than focusing on individual hairs.

I have continued building the chest and body with a variety of pinks, mauves, purples and french greys. The lips have been done with browns, pinks, light purple and black grape for the shadow area. I’ve also started the background using a variety of soft subtle greens. While a stronger background would definitely make the dog ‘pop’, I really want to portray the soft, loving side of the Weimaraner, so I have deliberately chosen more subtle colours.

A few more layers have been added to the background and I have started the first layers on the face and nose, which is looking a little wonky in this image, probably because I took the photo at an angle to avoid reflection of the drafting film.

Thats the last update I have at the moment. I’m having fun experimenting with a slightly different style, and would love to know what you think, so please leave a comment!

Until I return with another update, here is some information on the Weimaraner breed, just in case your interested!

Weimaraner Breed Profile

Country of Origin: Germany

Colour: Silver-grey

Coat type: There are two coat types, the Short haired which is smooth and sleek and the long haired variety which have a soft medium length top coat, with long feathering on the ears, tail and breeching and moderate feathering on the legs, belly and chest.

Temperament: Alert, affectionate, willing, obedient (when trained) dedicated and devoted to their family, love being the centre of attention.

Group: Gun Dog

Size: Dogs 59-70 cm and bitches 57-65 cm.

Weight: dogs - 30 to 40 kg, bitches - 25 to 35 kg

Original Purpose: Originally bred as a versatile hunting dog, and they are still used for this purpose today.

The Weimaraner is good natured and totally devoted to his owners, although they can be aloof with strangers. Affectionately known as the ‘grey ghost’, the Weimaraner is one of the worlds most versatile hunting dog that is able to point, retrieve, track and hold at bay. They are highly intelligent and excel in Obedience and Agility trials, and make wonderful companions if they are allowed to be a part of the family and are given an outlet for their intelligence.

Weimaraners need contact and companionship with their owners and are an energetic breed that needs lots of physical and mental stimulation to avoid boredome problems developing. The coat requires minimal regular grooming to remove dead hair (more frequent during coat changes) as well as regular ear cleaning, nail clipping and dental care.

Weimaraners are beautiful dogs - but that dosn’t make them suitable for everyone, so if you are considering adding one of these gorgeous dogs to your family, make sure you thoroughly research the breed and spend time getting to know them to make sure they are the right breed for you and your lifestyle.

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To purchase a variety of wall art, greeting cards and t-shirts featuring my art and photography, Please visit my RedBubble Gallery. Purchases can be made in different currencies (USD, Euro, GBP, AUD) and shipped shipped worldwide.

A variety of wall art, gift ware and apparel featuring my artwork is available in my
GiftShop at CafePress.

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I have just opened a Gallery on Imagekind, a US based print on demand service that allows you to purchase fine art prints from as little as $12.74US for prints which can be customized and ordered with millions of combinations of frames, museum quality papers, canvas types, and sizes.

Giclee Technology

Giclee is a form of fine art printing which is superior to any previous form of inkjet printing. Giclee is a French word that means a spray of liquid, which possibly derived from the word “gicleur” meaning “nozzle” or “to squirt.”

The giclee printing system allows a precise level of color representation and ImageKind offers eight different paper types and two different canvas types that are widely used in the visual art world for prints and paintings, look tremendous, and will last for years.

Examples of framed ImageKind prints:

Technorati Tags: imagekind, wildlife art, wildlife artist, painting, artist, art reproduction, print on demand,

Two new breed portraits have now been added to the Dogs gallery, a Shiba Inu and another Shar-Pei (I just can’t resist wrinkles!). Both of these are color pencil/acrylic on drafting film.

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To purchase a variety of wall art, greeting cards and t-shirts featuring my art and photography, Please visit my RedBubble Gallery. Purchases can be made in different currencies (USD, Euro, GBP, AUD) and shipped worldwide.

A variety of wall art, gift ware and apparel featuring my artwork is also available in my
GiftShop at CafePress.

Technorati Tags: shar-pei, dog art, canine artist, painting, artist, artwork, drafting film,
shiba-inu,

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This is a small selection of the merchandise printed with my artwork and photography available in my giftshop at CafePress.

If you are commissioning a portrait of your favourite pet, the completed portrait can also be made available for purchase on the items in my GiftShop at CafePress at no extra charge.

Coffee Mugs and Tile Boxes

Mouse Mats and Throw Pillows

Framed Prints and Badges

Calenders and Wall Clocks

Journals and a variety of clothing styles

Click to return to my Pet Portraits & Wildlife Art Home

A variety of wall art, greeting cards and t-shirts featuring my art and photography, is also available in my RedBubble Gallery. Purchases can be made in different currencies (USD, Euro, GBP, AUD) and shipped shipped worldwide.

Technorati Tags: art, wildlife art, wildlife artist, painting, artist, artwork, art prints, red bubble,gifts,photography,cafepress,
animal lover,

RedBubble now offers worldwide shipping and can handle different currencies - USD, Euro, GBP, AUD!

Currently RedBubble offers giftcards, wall art including laminated prints, mounted, canvas and framed to order prints, as well as high quality t-shirts. Here are a few examples of the items that can be purchased with my artwork and photography.

Gift Cards

Laminated Prints

Framed Prints in choice of colours and styles

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Click to return to my Pet Portraits & Wildlife Art Home

To purchase a variety of wall art, greeting cards and t-shirts featuring my art and photography, Please visit my RedBubble Gallery. Purchases can be made in different currencies (USD, Euro, GBP, AUD) and shipped shipped worldwide.

A variety of wall art, gift ware and apparel featuring my artwork is available in my
GiftShop at CafePress.

This is a small acrylic painting I am working on of Gilley, a rescue Greyhound from the UK. Greyhounds have the most beautiful, liquid, expressive eyes that are an absolute joy to paint. As a breed, Greyhounds have such a regal bearing that the deep purple background seemed appropriate for Gilley’s Pet Portrait.

With these smaller paintings, I am really trying to loosen up and capture the essence of the animal without being totally pre-occupied with capturing every last detail like I normally do in my pencil portraits.

I usually do my initial sketch on paper then transfer it to the canvas, but I thought I would just sketch straight onto the canvas this time.

But graphite on canvas dosn’t erase very well, so next time I will transfer my sketch the usual way.

Gilley’s face still need some more work and I need to finish painting the sides of the canvas as I have the painting continueing around the edges.

(8″x10″, acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas)

Michelle

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RedBubble.com is a new Australian online Art Gallery and Creative Community where you can purchase high quality prints and t-shirts with artwork, photography and digital imagery submitted by a gallery full of Australian artists.

I have recently set up my own gallery at RedBubble so that I can offer prints of some of my artwork and photography for sale. I will also be able to offer prints and t-shirts (and other products as they become available) of commissioned art to my clients.

Please click here to visit my RedBubble Gallery.

I only have a couple of images available for sale right now, but will be adding more as soon as I have a chance to re-scan images at a higher resolution than I use for display on my website gallery.

At the moment it is only for deliveries within Australia, but I am sure that in time, Red Bubble will expand to include many more items that will be available for purchase worldwide.

I have contemplated opening a store at Cafepress for a long time, and once I have my RedBubble gallery up and running I will probably look into Cafepress again.

Michelle

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I’ve managed to grab a few hours here and there to get some more work done on Poppy.

Basically just adding more thin layers and creating depth in the fur using paynes grey, ultramarine, burnt umber and some reddish brown mixes.

Also adding more thin glazes to the grass to blend the background, adding individual blades of grass and flowers stalks and a few flower buds using different greens mixed with some of the darker paint used in the dogs fur.

I’ve also started to add to the flowers to create the shadows and highlights that will give them form.  The flowers are proving to be the biggest challenge, partly because I am working from several different reference photos because I don’t know what poppies look like in detail and because none of the photos have the flowers as I want them, I am basically making it up as I go:)

In the image above, I’ve started to add the darkest paint to turn Poppy into a black dog.  The trick here is to avoid making her look like a big black blob!  The highlights in her eyes really make her come alive on the canvas.

In this last photo, Poppy is finally looking like a Black Labrador, even though she still needs a fair bit more work.  And I think she needs some liposuction on those lips, so I will have to post another update, and hopefully the final image, when she has had that necessary face lift, and had her whiskers added!

Michelle

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