Apart from some minor adjustments that I might add in the next day or so, this is the (almost) completed portrait of our Chinese Shar-Pei, Tia.

Achieving depth and dimension with her black coat and all those wrinkles was a great challenge, but I thoroughly enjoyed working on this and I am really pleased with the resulting portrait, although I might need to get a better photograph in better light!

“Tia”

Pastels on Velour Art Paper

10″ x 14″

2006

This is the reference photo I used for Tia’s portrait - as you can probably see I took this photo with the flash on (something that is not usually recommended), just to make sure that I could see all the curves and contours of her wrinkly face! Most of the photos I have of her are either very black, or if she is in full sunlight, her eyes will be closed, so using the flash was the best way to get a nice detailed photo, then it was simply a matter of making her fur darker than it appeared in the photo to make it look like my dog rather than the washed out/faded reference photo.

Shar-Pei Breed Info: Shar-Pei’s are an ancient dog breed, and are still fairly rare, although thanks to tv commercials such as the toilet roll ad with the wrinkly puppy, “Rolly” they are becoming more popular.

The breed is best known for its wrinkled apprearance which is caused by the excess skin they have. generally puppies and young dogs appear to have more wrinkles as older dogs grow into their skin a little bit. (This is actually a good thing, as Shar-Pei’s do suffer from skin conditions do to the wrinkles and rough fur irritating the skin.)

The name “Shar-Pei” literally means “sand-skin”, or loosely translated to “sand-paper-like coat” which refers to the unique characteristics of the Shar-Pei coat - its roughness and its shortness. The Shar-Pei also has another distinctive characteristic that is shared with only one other breed, the Chow Chow (also a Chinese breed) - both breeds have a blue-black tongue!

Of course I am biased, but Shar-Pei’s are an incredible breed - totally devoted to their families, highly intelligent and excellent watch/guard dogs!

More information on the Shar-Pei breed can be found at http://www.sharpei.com.au/

Cheers

Michelle

Technorati Tags: art, artist, artwork, velour, pastel, dog portrait, portrait artist, dog art, Shar-Pei

I am thoroughly enjoying working with this velour paper with my pastels and I am really pleased with how this portrait of Marcus, a Long Haired Dachshund has turned out. I can see that my pastels and this velour support and quickly going to become my favourite medium for working in.

I couldn’t help myself, after finishing this one I have finally started a portrait of my own dog Tia, she is a black Shar-Pei and it is proving to be a very interesting challenge creating black wrinkles that look realistic! I will add a blog entry with her portrait when it is finished.

Technorati Tags: art, artist, artwork, velour, pastel, dog portrait, long haired dachshund, portrait artist, dog art, Shar-Pei

Where has this year gone? I can’t believe that it is nearly Christmas already and I am definitely not going to look at the last date that I updated this blog, so instead I will just share my latest piece, a pure pastel painting on velour paper of a gorgeous Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

This is the first time that I have used the German made Hahnemuhle velour pastel paper and I will definitely be using it again, it creates an incredible softness to the artwork that is particualrly suited to animal portraiture.

Michelle

http://www.pencilportraits.com.au

Technorati Tags: art, artist, artwork,velour, pastel, dog portrait, cavalier king charles spaniel, portrait artist, dog art,

Despite what many people may think, kangaroos are not a common sight for most Australians, especially for aussies who live in city and urban areas. We are among the lucky few who get to enjoy these beautiful creatures in their natural habitat several times a week, as our backyard is part of their natural habitat! Although the native wildlife is abundant in our area, kangaroos in the backyard is not a common occurence for most people.
I took these photos of this Western Grey Kangaroo from the back steps of my house. As cute as she looks here, the ‘roos that come to visit and mow our back lawn are wild animals and the closest I can get to them is about three metres. Not that you really want to get too close to a wild kangaroo - the males can grow up to two metres from head to tail and can weigh 50 to 60 kgs (120 to 144lbs)!

Scenes like this is enough to inspire any artist!

They quite often spend the night grazing on our lawn, and occasionally we see one that spends the day dozing in the shade under a tree but usually in the wild they can be seen at dawn and dusk grazing in jarrah bushland and open paddocks.

Female kangaroos are known as does or fliers, the males are called bucks, but are also known as boomers or stinkers (they have a very strong aroma) and baby kangaroos are called joeys. The most we have had on our back lawn at one time is five which is a pretty small family group (mum and previous years joeys), normally a kangaroo mob will be larger in size.
Michelle

Technorati Tags:art, artist, kangaroo, wildlife,australian animals,

I’ve just found out about Squidoo, and have officially become a “Squidoo lensmaster”. LOL while that sounds really technical (or maybe just plain bizarre), it really is a very simple way of sharing your recommended links on a particular topic in a portal and possibly earning a few $ through the Squidoo system (you get paid based on Google Adwords, Amazon, cafe press etc).

I strongly believe in coincidences and as I have just recently begun a personal quest researching art history, famous artists, art movements and styles (all the things you propably would learn in art school), I thought it would be a good idea to put all the great information that I find together in a new lens All About Art for my own reference and maybe it will also help out other people who are interested in the same subject. I’ve also added a section for art lessons and demonstrations because, as a self-taught artist, I firmly believe it is possible for anyone with the determination and persistance to develop their artistic talent which we all have if we nurture it!

If you would like to join squidoo and set up your own lens, please consider using this link as your referral and when you earn your first $15, we’ll both get $5 free!

Refferal Link

I finally finished the commemorative portrait of Cleo the Bull Terrier cross that I mentioned in a previous post. I am really pleased with the way it turned out - especially as it was the first time I had attempted to draw a white dog in graphite. It was for a 60th birthday present and Cleo’s owner loved it thank goodness!

Unfortunately I did not have time to scan it and the digi photos I took really didn’t turn out very well, so much of the detail and fine shading was lost. This is the best photo of the lot however the shadows on the original are no where near as dark as they appear in this photo, and there is a lot more detail on her brown ear that is obscured by glare in the photo. Oh, the joys of photographing graphite artwork!

“Cleo”

Bull Terrier Cross

Graphite, 11″ x 14″, 2006

Technorati Tags: art, artist, artwork, graphite, dog portrait, bull terrier, squidoo, dog art, lens, art history, art styles, art movements, famous artist, art lessons, art demonstrations

I posted a couple of cat ACEO’s (original Art Cards) on Ebay yesterday. I decided to try the Aussie ebay site for a change, I usually list ACEO’s on the US ebay site as ACEO’s are much more well known there (A search on Ebay.com.au for the term ACEO reveals all of 92 items today compared to several thousand on the US site). ACEO’s are not very well known over here in Australia though, so it is a bit of a gamble at best. More and more Aussie artists are now creating them though, so hopefully they will become well collected in the future.

I have also removed my Ebay Art Store as it is not proving to be worth the cost or effort, largely due to all the messing around Ebay has been doing recently. I might consider re-opening it in the future, but until I can have a really good number of items in the store it seems pointless to keep paying Ebay for low views!

Marmelade and White Kitten
Click to view on Ebay

Marmelade and White Kitten

White Persian ACEO

White Persian (Closeup view)

Click to view on Ebay

Technorati Tags: art, artist, artwork, ebay, aceo, art card, color pencil, persian cat,
cat art, kitten , australian artist

This is probably my favourite piece that I did in 2005. The look in this dog’s eyes just says it all, he is laying there patiently waiting for his owner to come back.

“Waiting” Coloured Pencil, 11″ x 14″, 2005

This piece was completed purely in colour pencils on cream Stonehenge paper and took well over 55 hours of work to complete. It was worth it though, because it was awarded First Place in the Painting & Drawings: Animals class at the Art Show I entered - pretty amazing seeing as colour pencil is such a new Fine Art medium and because the other entries included oils, acrylics and pastels!

Technorati Tags: art, animal artist, art award, painting, bullmastiff, coloured pencil, color pencil, dog art

We lost our little girl Jack Russell Terrier over two years ago to a brain tumor. She was nearly 11 years old and such a gutsy, happy little dog - a true Jack Russell Terrier in every way. Even though I am a pet portrait artist, it took a long time for me to be able to do her portrait.

Created with soft pastels on black Art Spectrum sanded paper, this is one of those pieces that just seemed to paint itself and I am really pleased with the result. I can now really understand why many of my clients who have commissioned commemorative portraits of pets they have lost as it feels almost like having them back again, that probably sounds really strange, maybe its being able to see that familiar loving face every day. Of course a painting can never replace a dearly missed pet, but it certainly does help to heal the pain a little.

‘Harley’ in pastel: 9″x12″

At the moment I am working on a commemorative portrait of Cleo, a Bull Terrier cross. I had the choice to do it in graphite or colour and decided on graphite, I’m not quite sure why as apart from one ear she is a white dog, and rendering white fur on white paper with graphite is a bit of a challenge! I will post a picutre of Cleo’s portrait when it is finished.

Technorati Tags: art, artist, artwork, pet portrait, jack russell terrier, pastel, pastels, dog art,
bull terrier, art spectrum, commission portrait, pet portrait artist

ACEO’s are a sub-group of Small Format Art that I also love creating. ACEO is an acronym for “Art Cards, Editions & Originals” - collectable little artwork gems only 2.5″ x 3.5″ in size. Size is the only guideline for artwork to be defined as an ACEO - they can be created in any al all mediums including collaged items, as long as they meet the size requirement, which is the size of a standard sports trading card.

ACEO’s can be framed and displayed on your office desk or walls or kept in a collection in Trading Card Albums/boxes as a mini art gallery for your coffe table.

Here are a few of the ACEO’s I have created:

“Purple Fudge” acrylic Abstract on mattboard

“Frog On A Log” Prismacolor Pencils on mattboard

“Lost in Thought” Prismacolor Pencils on mattboard

More ACEO’s can be viewed in the ACEO gallery on my website

Hi and welcome to my new art blog! My name is Michelle, I am a Western Australian artist who specialises in Pet Portraiture and Small Format Art in a variety of mediums, including graphite (black and white), Artists colour pencils, ink, acrylic and pastels.

Small Format Art (SFA) is defined as any type of artwork that has a maximum size of 14 inches (35.5cm) in any one direction. SFA is collectible, affordable artwork that make wonderful unique displays in homes and offices to suit your own personal decor or personality. SFA can be collected by artist, theme, style, color or an eclectic mix to create an eye catching display to suit your own individual taste. They are especially suited for small display areas such as hallways, mantlepieces and desk tops where larger art work would be unsuitable or simply wouldn’t fit.

As an artist with three small chilren, I love Small Format Art because the smaller size allows me to be creative and productive within the limited time that I have available. Although SFA’s can take 50-60 hours or more to complete over many days or even weeks, it is also very rewarding to be able to complete a finished painting in a looser more artistic style in just a day or two!

I love animals and the majority of the artwork I create is animal portraits. As a professional Pet Portrait Artist, my pet portraits are highly detailed and very realistic - if you would like to see examples, they can be viewed on my website http://www.pencilportraits.com.au.

However, with the SFA I create, I find myself drawn more towards less realistic styles that really express my creativity - I really don’t like labels and would prefer at this point in time not to be limited to creating art within the confines of only one artistic ’style’. Many different art movements inspire me and as a result, the SFA that I create is an eclectic mix of styles that might normally be labelled as abstract expressionism, minimalism, surrealism or modern/contemporary with some representational pieces thrown in for good measure! That is my idea ofArtistic Freedom:)

I’ve decided to create this blog as a separate entity to my original blog http://www.petportraitartist.blogspot.com/ for several reasons - firstly, for myself I like the idea of maintaining a visual diary of my work and at the same time being able to record some of my thoughts and emotions surrounding each piece, and secondly the majority of Small Format Art that I create will be available for sale in different venues such as Ebay, Art Wanted, Art Cards Wanted and Art By Us and by listing each artwork here in one place, it will be easier for me to keep track of everything, plus I would imagine it will be a bit easier for those who like to collect my artwork:) If you would like to join me on this journey of dscovery, please add this blog to your RSS feed to recieve notification when new art work is added (simply click on the second orange button on the right that says ‘Feed’ - or if you use atom click the first button that says ‘Site Feed’).

Cheers

Michelle

‘Tall Poppies’ 4″x4″ art squared, acrylic on canvas, 2006

‘Solitaire’ 4″x4″ art squared, acrylic on canvas, 2006.

‘Ginger Kitty’ 4″x4″ art squared, Prismacolor pencils on blue suedeboard, 2006

Michelle

PencilPortraits