I finally have had time to post an update of Tara’s pet portrait painting.

The first two photos are close-up views of the eyes and fur base colours.

Left eye:

Right eye: This shot also shows some of the brown tones that have been used in the base of the tabby fur.

In this next photo I have added the cream markings on her mouth and I am beginning to model the shape of her face under the white fur. Although grey colours are often used to depict white fur, using other shadow colours of the right value such as pinks, violet and lilac can add depth into the white fur without making it look dirty (which is easy to do on drafting film).

I think I forgot to mention this previously, but I intensified the strength of the whiskers in white pencil earlier on to avoid loosing them in the fur. At the end I will go back and redefine them and put shadows in where needed.

The next update will include the final version of Tara’s Pet Portrait.

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This pet portrait of our cat Tara is my latest challenge - rendering white fur on drafting film with color pencils and acrylic. The look on her face in the reference photo is priceless and very typically a disdainful ‘Tara’ look. One of the most important things about choosing a suitable reference photo to create a pet portrait from, is making sure that you select a photo that shows the animals personality. Tara is not your average friendly physically affectionate cat, and to portray her as one wouldn’t be accurate to her personality!

There is a good reason for her attitudes to humans though. Tara and her litter mates were dumped in the bush as kittens when they were 6-8 weeks old, and seven years later she still hasn’t totally overcome her fear and mistrust of humans, even though she is quite attached to our family in her own way, she is very timid, dosn’t like to be touched or picked up and this winter is the first year that she has been willing to come inside and even sleeps on the foot of our bed. It has taken a lot of gentle persistence and as long as we don’t push her to do anything she dosn’t want to do, she seems to be quite happy being close to us without being a lap cat.

This is a cropped version of my reference photo.

In this first image below, I have painted the eyes using a variety of cream, jasmine, several green pencils and some reddish browns and dark green for the shadow areas. The pupils have been done with indigo and black prismacolors and the highlights with white and light blue. I have also started to block in the lightest highlights with white, using pencil strokes in the direction and length of the fur in each area.

Now I have started modelling the nose with creams, pinks and pinkish browns and black grape for the darker shadows, with tiny amount of indigo over the black grape for teh darkest areas.

Now I have started to introduce the browns and creams as the basis of the tabby pattern on her head. I have also strengthened her whiskers with very firm pressure with the white pencil so that I don’t loose them as the fur develops.

After using dark brown and chocolate with some black grape I have very sparingly ticked in some black hairs in the darkest areas.

And that’s where I will leave it for today, make sure to add my blog to your RSS feeds to see when this portrait is updated.

In the meantime, if you need a good cat related laugh today, have a look at this rather humorous captioned cat photoblog I came across http://icanhascheezburger.com

Bye for now!

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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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Yes, I know this post is out of order:) better late than never, right?

This is the first in my big cat triptych, “We Three Kings”, and my first experiment with using colour pencils on drafting film. I started with a much more detailed sketch than I normally do because I my focus was on learning how to use this support (it handles very differently to any other support that I have tried).

I did find that not all drafting films are created equal:( Although the type I used for this tiger was excellent for the pigment saturation and luminosity it allowed, unlike other types of drafting film, although it erased easily, I could not get much pigment back into the erased areas….making erasing mistakes impossible!

Considering this was an experiment, I am very pleased with how he turned out. Oh and if you are wondering about the title - I didn’t actually start out planning to do a Big Cat triptych, but the night I finished this one I was laying in bed when the title popped into my head (actually, titles for my artwork rarely pop gently into my head, they usually hit me like a sledgehammer;). I knew instantly that the next one in the series would be the lion, but I am still not sure who will be the third king cat. Watch this space to find out!

Work In Progress shot 1:

Work In Progress shot 2:

Work In Progress shot 3:

Final: “We Three Kings part I: Tiger”

I’d love to know what you think of him!

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I cannot believe how quickly 2007 is flying by! I have quite a few blog entries sitting in my ‘draft’ folder waiting to be finished off so that I can upload them, but life just seems to keep getting in the way! Hopefully by the end of August things will have settled down a little bit around here! Of course, when I finally get to upload them they are going to be out of order, so I might have to rationalize and give some of them a miss!

Meanwhile, to add to my wildlife art portfolio, this is the second piece in the ‘We Three Kings’ series, a square format triptych of three of the big cats, the first was the Tiger, this work in progress is of the second in the series, the lion. I am still undecided on the third one because I would like to do a snow leopard, a cheetah and a jaguar but I can’t decide which one to do first!

After trying drafting film as a support for my colour pencil work, I think I have found the perfect combination of medium and support to suit my style and technique. It is rather tricky to work with initially (definitely different to any other support I have tried) but I am particularly pleased with the vibrancy and luminosity that colour pencils have on the drafting film.

These photos were taken on my easel to avoid camera flash so they are at a bit of an angle.

8″x8″ with a variety of artist quality colour pencils.

Prints and gift items with this image will be available from my RedBubble Gallery and my Cafe Press Gift Shop when the painting is completed.

Michelle

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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.

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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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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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I have done a bit more modelling of Poppy’s face and have started on her eyes. It takes many thin glazes (layers) of paint of various shades of browns and golds to achieve the luminous liquid look of animal eyes, but having made a start on her eyes, Poppy is starting to come to life.

In this next progress shot, I have done a bit more work on the field and have started to add in the red poppy flowers. I’ve also continued with the modelling of her face and started the basic underpainting on her body. Obviously the underpainting is just blocking in shapes (shadows and lights) to create the form of her body before the detail starts to go on in the top layers. I’ve also added some purple to the paynes grey to tie the background in with the dog’s fur, to give depth to the darkest shadows and to start creating some of the red highlights that are apparent in the reference photo of the black labrador retriever that I am using. Thats a handy co-incidence that will work well to tie in the colours in the dog with the background:)

This painting is in a very, very ugly stage that seems to be lasting forever. As much as it looks like it now, this will not be an abstract painting of a dog when it is finished. LOL - at least I hope not!

I am working this painting in the same way that many oil painters use - multiple thin glazes of colour, so it is pretty time consuming. This has taken about 16 hours so far and I would say has at least that many more to go.

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Michelle

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This is a painting I am working on in between commissions for my own portfolio - it might seem a bit strange but I have very few pieces of my own artwork to show clients because most of the work I have done over the past few years have been sold.  Which of course is a good thing, but I would also like to enter a few competitions and can’t do that when I keep selling everything, so hopefully over the next few months I can add a few pieces (at least six) to my own collection here and there. 

I’d also like to experiment with a much looser style and try out some more landscapes if I get a chance.  To help keep me motivated to achieve these goals, I’ve joined in the Australian Art Forum’s Winter Challenge with will run from 1 May to 1 September.

It seems that most artists that paint with a high degree of realism tend to produce  pet portraits with traditional landscapes or portrait backgrounds, and those artists that paint in a bold contemporary style usually don’t paint in highly realistic detail.  I would like to pursue a slightly different direction with some of my artwork, although I don’t think I will ever move away from my realistic and ‘up close and personal’ style, I want to explore combining that with modern contemporary backgrounds.   Bright bold background colours and landscapes full of beautiful saturated colours that border on the real/surreal/hyper real.  Will it work?  Can it be done?  LOL, who knows, but I am sure it will be fun to find out:)

This one is likely to take a while to complete as I am fitting it in between commissions.  ‘Poppy’ is 16″x20″ on gallery wrapped canvas.  This is a big experiment as acrylic is a new medium that I am teaching myself how to use.  The thing I love about being self-taught is that you can try new and unusual techniques because no ‘expert’ teacher has deemed there is a right way and a wrong way. 

Personally, I think as long as you use good quality artist’s materials, you can’t go far wrong by simply experimenting to find out what works (or dosn’t) for you:)

So here goes my experiment with ‘Poppy’.  I’ve deliberately chosen to offset the black labrador to the right hand side of the canvas, and to use a landscape orientation rather than portrait.  My vision for this one is to have the dog sitting a a field of red poppies. So I have to learn how to paint flowers as well, which will be fun:)

The first image shows my sketch of the Poppy, and the beginning of the background field, which has been created with many thin glaze layers of paint which has taken about 3.5 hours so far.

The next progress shot shows how I have started to block in the main shapes (shadows and highlights) in the underpainting using various dilutions of paynes grey.

More work on the underpainting and additional glazes on the background.

Stay tuned for the next updates on Poppy!

Michelle

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