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

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...