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...

The Latest Pet Portraits and Website Updates...

Here we have an update on Miranda's double portrait painted in artist's watercolours as a birthday present for husband Steve.
I really like the choice of contemporary frame and the crisp white window mount, they go superbly with the painting.

Some feedback from Miranda...


"Steve was absolutely thrilled with the picture of Barley and Tyeler. 
He said that Steve had captured the pair of them brilliantly.


Steve was really helpful during the whole process from advising me on
how to get a reasonable picture of the dogs to letting me know whatcolour mount 
would look good. We would definitely recommend Pet Portraits and More to anyone who is looking to have a pet portrait done.

Once again thanks for all your help."


Regards,
Miranda

I've also recently painted a portrait of Charlie in artist's watercolours as a commission from new customer Lorraine. The painting is for partner Andy's birthday.
A really enjoyable subject to paint as Charlie has lots of soft wavy fur and beautiful big eyes. I also have some fantastic photos of the portrait of Charlie now framed and I will upload these later on.

Next on the agenda is an update on my website...
I am in the process of re-working the current website, adding all of
the new 2011 to 2012 pet portraits and a better way of navigating through the
gallery, updated home pages etc:. Plus a "New and Exciting" smartphone
friendly microsite so that customers can view my work  more easily on mobile phone 
and ipad type platforms.

Barley and Tyeler in Artist's Watercolours...


Here we have the latest 16" x 12' watercolour portrait of two dogs 
called Barley and Tyeler. This went off last week with Miranda who 
commissioned this as a Birthday present for husband Steve. Should be 
framed and presented sometime soon!


Miranda had a very hard time photographing Barley, even though she is 
fourteen years old, never sits still for very long. Barley (on the left 
of the painting) does look quite a serious girl, however this pose was 
derived from only a few photos in focus enough to work from.
Tyeler (on the right) really likes to be photographed and the problem 
here was to keep her distant enough from camera as not to get too much 
distortion.


Another "wet on wet" watercolour background with rich strong colours 
again for both dogs. Thoroughly enjoyable to paint as each dog is 
different, one has short spilkey fur and the other quite  a smooth wavy 
coat.


Looking forward to some photos and feedback from Miranda in the near 
future...


Hope that you all enjoy viewing the double portrait...

The Latest News and Portraits in Progress...

It's been a busy couple of months with some serious DIY and decorating at my Mum's house and a new car for Cassie to be chauffeur driven in.

I've decided to get rid of my big, thirsty diesel and buy a Fiat Panda as cheap and economical run about. Mainly to take advantage of the low £30 per year road tax and cheaper insurance, plus three years of trouble free motoring, all being well! The next phase will be to

design some "Pet Portraits and More" graphics to go in the rear side windows and across the tailgate!

Just at the beginning of April and here we have an update on one of the current batch of portraits coming off the easel...

This is a 16" x 12" watercolour portrait of Perry. A truly magnificent horse owned by Jenny and her husband, commissioned as a Birthday present for Jenny's husband.

I'm looking forward to seeing some photos of the painting up on the wall to see what frame and mount was chosen. Framing by a well known gallery/ framers in Market Harborough.

I had a great selection of photos to work from, both full head/ shoulders and detail shots of Perry's eyes, ears, nostrils which helped tremendously in getting every detail as accurate as possible. Horses are always great subjects to paint and this one was a highly enjoyable experience with the "wet on wet technique" dynamic background and the challenge in capturing the posture and elegance of Perry himself.

The next painting to come off the easel is another 16" x 12' watercolour portrait of two dogs called Barley and Tyeler, which I look forward to posting in the near future...

Portraits in Progress...

Here we have the latest assortment of pet portrait commissions, all at various stages of completion in my studio.
They are all painted in Artist's watercolours using the "wet on wet" technique for their backgrounds, all of which look at first sight quite similar, but... Have a different selection of blues, browns, purples and greys to suit/ enhance each subject.
The portrait of the horse has now been collected by it's new owner, is being framed and I am currently awaiting feedback from the recipient , the painting was designated as a Birthday present.
Once these pet portraits are completed, time permitting... I would like to refresh/ spring clean the website with new paintings and updated text...

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...

January 2012. Portraits in progress...

Here we have a little 12" x 10" portrait of Molly, painted in artist's watercolours on heavyweight watercolour paper.

She was produced as a surprise present for my client ( Nicola's) mother in Law and I am looking forward to seeing some photos the painting framed in the near future.

Quite a difficult commission as Nicola and Steve could only supply a few small photos of Molly that they had, we could not arouse suspicion or spoil the surprise by taking any new photos!

Some feedback so far...

Hi Steve ,

The painting looks great ! we love it ,we are gonna leave the framing up to

my mother in law ,is it possible for my husband to collect on Saturday ?

Thanks Nicola

Hi Steve ,just wanted to say the painting is perfect and thank u very much. Happy New Year

Nicola

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!

Joe Unveiled...

Welcome to my latest update...

Here we have a fantastic sequence of photos from Mandy, depicting her daughter unwrapping the surprise painting of Joe. Some quite emotional moments and as quoted by Mandy...

"Hi Steve,

The portrait was a great success. I gave it to her the night before the wedding.

I think the photos of her opening it say it all."

I'm glad that the portrait was well received, and looks great in the contemporary pewter frame that we chose. Once again many thanks to Mandy for the great set of photos and for giving me permission to use them.

Joe, Horse Portrait in Artist's Watercolours...

My latest painting is a portrait of a horse called Joe. Commissioned by Mandy as a special wedding present for her daughter who is getting married early this month. Mandy's daughter has had quite a few ponies through the years but Joe is the favourite. In 1997 she rode him and qualified for Horse of the Year Show at Wembley, the hi-light of the horse world.

The 12" x 16" portrait of Joe is painted in artist's watercolours onto Bockingford heavyweight paper. I had some really superb reference photos from Mandy which has enabled me to include as much detail as possible into capturing a quite lifelike representation of Joe.

The background is a moody "wet on wet" technique colourwash and I suggested the irregular edge to the painting, which looks not only contemporary and fresh, but is a bit of a trademark of mine. It should look superb when the portrait is mounted and framed, the icing on the cake! I have included a full crop of the painting and a detail image and would very much like to receive some photos of Mandy's daughter with Joe's portrait, when it is being presented to her on her big day!

Some feedback from Mandy...

"The portrait is amazing. I am absolutely thrilled with it. looking forward to seeing it framed and can't wait to see Sophie's face when she opens it".

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...

Barney's Portrait in Artist's Watercolours...

Here we have a 12"x16" artist's watercolour painting of Barney. He was painted as a belated Father's Day present.

Quite a challenging commission as I had to work from quite small photos of Barney scanned in and enlarged so that I could extrapolate as much detail as possible for reference.

I enjoy working in watercolours as they dry very quickly, therefore you can build up the layers of paint and start adding fur detail in rapid succession. Barney's owner Samantha, who commissioned the painting said that Barney very much loved sunbathing in the garden. We both decided that an atmospheric grassy/ sky background would suit our portrait perfectly and great fun to do in a wet on wet, colour wash technique.

The portrait will be framed and off to it's owner on Monday and I am very much looking forward to Samantha's dads reaction, to his surprise belated Father's Day gift.

Some feedback from Samantha's first viewing of Barney's portrait...

Hi Steve

"I love it, it looks so like him".

"Yes the portrait is brilliant, I can't wait to pick it up".