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

Christmas Updates...

Here is an update on some of my commissions required for the Christmas deadline.

"Dad's girls"...
This painting was quite a challenge to incorporate six dogs in a composition that worked plus the gun, pheasant and typography.

A credit to my client, Rebecca, her brother and mum for taking some superb reference photos fueled by copious amounts of dog treats for the six beautiful ( but now slightly fatter!) English Springer Spaniels.
The painting is a Christmas present for Rebecca's dad.









Also...
The largest pet portrait that I have painted "has left the building".
By "LARGE", this is the biggest canvas ever! at an enormous five foot by four foot and we just squeezed it ( boxed up) into the client's 4X4 without any damage to box or the car itself.

A really fun and enjoyable painting to undertake, the three alpacas were painted in a contemporary style using oils, with lots of loose brush strokes and many layers of paint. Michael, the client, has crafted a wooden surround/ border which should set off the canvas really well. The painting is a Christmas present for Michael's wife.

I am looking forward to viewing photos of the unveiling of both on Christmas morning
and hope that you all enjoy viewing the paintings.

On the easel for the mid January deadline are a portrait of Molly in artist's watercolours and a contemporary portrait of Rhubarb in oils on canvas...

Happy New Year to everyone...

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...

An Early Christmas Present for Me!

Regarding Christmas, I have bought myself a digital compact camera, (Leica D-Lux 4) which will be ideal for carrying around to clients and once I have got to grips with it, should take some great photos!

To date I have had a play with the settings and uploaded a few shots taken on our usual walk around the field, where we met up with Cassie's pal Benji and also taken various "arty" shots in the garden.

The camera has had good reviews and true to these I have enjoyed using it so far, messing around with grainy black and white mode and depth of field/ focus.

In fact it seems more versatile than my DSLR plus it is easier to carry around and more user friendly.

A good reason to go on a few extra dog walks as an excuse for taking some more photos!

Well its now time to get back to the easel and carry on with the pet portraits over the weekend...

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...