I have now decided to switch to Facebook for blogging...

I very much like using Blogger and have enjoyed posting my updates on here.

Now I have decided to try Facebook for blogging as I enjoy the interaction it offers with friends and customers alike.

You will be able to see my latest pet portrait on there... Over the weekend, just completed a double portrait of these two beautiful German Shepherds Prince and Princess, in oils, for a client living in Germany. It's a relatively large canvas at 24" x 20" and as such has allowed me to paint a great deal of detail.

The Facebook link is...
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pet-Portraits-and-More/108504182572179

Skye and Isis in oils...Update

Just a quick update on the portrait of Skye and Isis now that I am totally happy with the background and sky effect using quite lively brush marks. The range of colours and strategically placed light and dark areas should hopefully make both dogs stand out. 

Now I've blocked in the main areas on Skye (the dog on the right) and have to work from the right hand side of a painting to left because I'm left handed! I will now do the same on Isis.

I am also adding richer shadows around their chest areas in order to give a three dimensional feel, to make them appear as if the are coming out of the background, not to look like flat cutouts. 

The stage after is when my favourite process begins, in painting the strongest darks, wispy fur ( love painting the wisps on Border Collie's ears), selective detail and making the fur effect look softer with blends...

Then lastly the strongest highlights and highlights in their beautiful iridescent blue eyes to bring everything to life...

My latest portrait...

My latest portrait is of Isis and Skye. These two Beautiful Blue Merle Border Collies will be painted in oils on canvas...

Here's the 20"x 22" portrait in it's first stage, the dogs have been drawn onto the canvas, ready to paint in the background tomorrow...

Photos of the next stage of Skye and Isis's portrait in oils.
Just had to wait a little bit longer for the paint to dry a bit and the sheen to go off in order to take some pics.

Decided to go for predominantly shades of blue/ grey with tones to echo the colouration within the dogs fur.
This should enhance the dogs which will be painted in a realistic style and will bring out the beautiful blue colours in their eyes.

This is the second version as the first was too smooth and not as dynamic as I would have liked, had a look at the work of a famous American portrait artist called John Howard Sanden who uses lively brush strokes for his backgrounds to set of his portrait work.

Looking forward to the next stage which is to start blocking in the main colours of the dogs and then I can assess that the background is working and add or subtract colours to this too... I just need to wait a few days for the background to dry off first!

I also have a double portrait of two stunning German Shepherds called Prince and Princess (brother and sister) to paint in artist's watercolours. This is a repeat commission from customer Lorraine and I'm looking forward to receiving some more photos in due course...

An Update on Rhubarb, oils on canvas...

I've just received several commissions that require a realistic representation of the subjects, two lovely black labradors ...ongoing, and a horse portrait all to be painted in Artist's watercolours.

In the meantime here is the update on the contemporary portrait of Rhubarb, an English Bull Terrier that has just been completed. A 20" x 16" commission from my client Louise,

for her husband Dan.

Louise liked my contemporary painting of Cassie and wanted a similar style for the portrait of Rhubarb, who she said is quite a character. Judging by the photos, yes, she certainly is! Some of the reference pics depicted her as per usual... up to mischief! For example: sitting in the baby's pram and peering in the window to see what's for dinner!

I've included some pics of the final painting and a couple of photos of Rhubarb modeling with her portrait.

It seems that being a supermodel must be so easy that you can do it with your eyes shut!

Just a paragraph of feedback from Dan...

"My wife arranged the portrait of our English Bull Terrier 'Rhubarb' for me this

Christmas. It is such a fantastic likeness and has really captured her 'Eyore'

nature!

Steve was great at communicating during the creation of the painting,

sending regular updates to keep us posted. I am absolutely thrilled with the

result and would highly recommend Steve to anyone,

thanks!"

An update on the Christmas Commissions...

An update on the "Six English Springer Spaniels" painted in oils on canvas, as a commission for my client, Rebecca, her brother and mum.

Here we have a super set of photographs depicting the painting now framed and hanging in the living room. Some photos too of Rebecca's dad with the portrait which was very well recieved as a Christmas present.

Just a paragraph of feedback from Rebecca and family... "We all thought the painting was a very very acurate portrail of our dogs, with plenty of detail on all. It really shows their characteristics and personality. we are very pleased with the painting and would like to say a very very big thank you to Steve for the time and effort he put into it.

Many thanks

Rebecca"

January 2012. Portraits in progress part 2...

Also on the easel...

( work in progress ) we have a 16" x 20" contemporary portrait of Rhubarb in oils on canvas.

I have painted a couple of layers of paint on both the background and Rhubarb, but we have quite a few more layers of paint to add until she is finished to perfection.

Some feedback from my client, Louise so far...

Hi Steve,

It's looking great so far, you have captured her well! She is like a canine version of Eyore, so I didn't want her to look mean in any way, she looks great.

Thanks for the updates.

Louise

Watch this space for more progress updates on Rhubarb's portrait and feedback on the batch of Christmas commissions...

A New Wall Plaque and Work in Progress...

I have now completed one of the bigger Christmas pet portrait commissions and I'm hoping to be able to upload it onto the Artist's blog without the recipient finding out. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise on Christmas Day! Here's a sneak preview...

I've also commissioned a Pet Portraits and More wall plaque to go outside my studio entrance. Made from 10mm acrylic and brushed stainless steel it looks superb now fixed to the wall, see photos.

Next on the agenda is the completion of all of the other commissions for the Christmas deadline, should all be done, dry and ready for framing by early to mid December....

I hope to upload these in due course, as well as the one previously mentioned and many thanks to all of my customers for patiently waiting in the queue for completion...

Christmas Commissions... This post will self destruct in five seconds!

It seems like ages since I have had time to write an artist's blog update for the site!

It might be due to the fact that I have several large pet portraits to complete for the Christmas deadline, some large and others not so big.

By "LARGE", the biggest canvas that I have ever worked on is an enormous five foot by four foot commission.

This will be a contemporary pet portrait of three slightly exotic animals, should be great fun to paint in oils on this scale. However... other than that I'm sworn to secrecy.

I also have six traditional style dog portraits to be painted in oils on the go. They are in various stages of completion but are all looking good so far!

Cassie has also had an early present of a harness, which was intended to stop her pulling on the lead so much and worked for a couple of weeks, till she got used to it. I think we will both need some more intensive lead training in due course! However, I feel much happier with her safely restrained when we go out on car journeys, especially in Summer when she might just go out for a ride in the Sebring.

An Update on William's Portrait...

An update on William's portrait which has now been framed and is currently hanging in Margaret's hallway for visitors to see.

We took a trip to the framers in Kettering and it was quite difficult to choose the right frame to set off the portrait but not to overpower the painting. A selection of mouldings were rejected from various timber finishes, antique silver and copper bronze but nothing seemed right. Eventually we spotted a two tone brushed metallic frame and knew immediately that this was the right choice.

Lots of guests and viewers have passed on favorable comments about the portrait of William and Margaret has also kindly posted a paragraph about it....

"I cannot put into words how pleased I am with my oil painting of William. It captures the essence of my little dog, an image I will treasure forever"

Next on the easel is a large 24" x 20" oil portrait of six dogs, to be completed and ready for Christmas...

William in Oils on Canvas...

Here we have the finished 12" x 16" oil on canvas painting of William. Commissioned by Margaret, It's hard to believe that William is sixteen years young, as he looks just like a puppy in the reference photos. As she lives locally, I had an opportunity to go to Margaret's house and take a great selection of photos of William, which always helps for composing the final painting.

The next step is to go over to the framers in Kettering and choose a contemporary frame (not sure what colour as yet?) to complement both the painting and Margaret's decor. I think that we need a quite chunky wooden, possibly oak frame or antique silver but we will see on the day!

This month we also finally made the descision to have Cassie spayed, mainly to make her life easier and her less prone to illness when she gets older. She has been confined to the house for nearly three weeks as a result of the operation and has made a good recovery...now we seem to be getting back to normal at last!

The Pet Portrait Paparazzi....

The Pet Portrait Paparazzi have been out quite recently and taken a few

snap shots...The first is a photo of Samantha with Barney's portrait

framed and ready to be delivered to her dad as a belated fathers day

present.

A bit of feedback following Samantha's presentation to her dad... He

took the painting of Barney into work to show his friends he loves it.

Thank you ever so much again, the painting looks so much like Barney.

And more paparazzi snaps this time of Cassie with her portrait framed

and ready to put up on the wall. I think she was a bit surprised when

the flash went off but the pay off from the photographer ( a handful of

biscuits!) went down well.

I have also been working on a new commission of a horse as a

wedding present which is being painted in artist's watercolours.

Additionally I have a dog portrait,

William, to be painted in oils in progress...

A series of illustrations for JJ Murphy & Co

In addition to the pet portraits, every now and again other quite big commercial projects come along. The featured illustration is part of a series of twenty commercial illustrations for Murphy's Irish Stout. The illustrations re created and in some cases re invented a complete poster campaign for Murphy's Irish Stout. Spanning from the turn of the twentieth century up to the nineteen seventies. Different media such as watercolour, gouache and ink were used for the posters in order to reproduce the techniques and styles of the past.

Commissioned by Whitbread Pub Partnership in order to create brand awareness and a visually decorative element to their Irish pubs internationally.

All of the posters were aged with creases and tears and in some cases a little dab of cold tea before being sealed in decorative frames.

A fantastic project from start to finish and I would very much like to work on another like this in the future!