Commission impossible

Love the title of this post , good eh ! Bet I use that again.

This was no cruise though, oh it gets worse ! 

I was asked to paint these two Lhasa Apso's but using the colouring of the photo on the left but the pose on the right. Clearly there is some time between the two photos as the photo on the left shows the dog on the right as just a puppy. (In my opinion) 

In the photo on the right they look to have just had a haircut plus the younger one seems bored by the whole thing and is yawning. I didn't think that would make a good painting so closed the mouth. 

Lot of fun though , and now I'm just waiting to see if the owner likes it before I put a background in. 

Click on the pic for a larger view. 

Finished .... I think ! 

Horse Grazing

Horse  Grazing 90 mins pastel 12x8

I have done this from a book, "Pastels for beginners" published by Koneman.

Looking at it now the front right leg is pushed back too far but i'm happy with the pastel blending of it.

comments welcome

Nutmegged on the Soweto

I found a photo on Steve Clarke"s Flickr account ( well at least I think it was him) I surf the net looking for good photos to paint and I found this a while ago but forgot to make a note of who it was.

Anyway this is my pastel version of the photo.

Two Dogs

These are two little pooches done in different styles to see which the owner prefers.

|This first one is done with coloured pastels and charcoal.

This second one is a much simpler style being just black and white pastel. 

Arwen after Rolf Harris

This is a copy of one of Rolf's oil painting in  his book.
 Arwen is Rolf's wife and he said that he just loved the little bit of light showing in her eye as she woke up.

My effort is in pastel and took about 2 hrs.

I have issues with the foreshortening of her arm but otherwise I quite like it.

Please comment if you find yourself dropping by , good bad or indifferent.

Henry Cooper

One hour 3 colour sketch of the legend that was our "Enry" and his legendary hammer.

12" x 9" 

Happy New Year to you all

Girl with white cardigan

I have done this for a friend who had taken a photo of his girlfriend walking on a sunny day. I thought it was a stunning photo and I haven't done it justice here but am happy enough with it.

After Robert Liberace

I have just purchased this DVD from this wonderful artist and am waiting for it to arrive.



In the meantime I'm on an early shift at work this morning which means a 5.45am wake up call.
Unfortunately I woke at 0205am and spent the next 1hr 15mins  trying to get back to sleep.

It didn't work so I got up and did this.
I am hoping that having watched the DVD a dozen times I will do this again and hopefully see some improvement. (even though the DVD is on portraits and not figures )

Watch this space....

Charlie

This is another commission which vexed me for a while but I was inspired one afternoon watching Arnold Lowery on TV. He is a fabulous pastel artist and the day I watched he was doing a barge scene but he ended the show with such enthusiasm saying, "have a go, get your pastels out" or something like that.

So I did and managed to do a few pastels of which this is one.

The photo that I worked from shows Charlie playing on the beach so her coat is wet.

Anyway the customer loved it, but think I have a few tweaks on it yet.

Grandad's helping hand

This is a pastel piece and it is taken from a photo in a Yorkshire Dales Book.
Click for a closer look.
It measures 21 inch by 13 inch approx.

Commissioned Beagle

Doing this for a friend at work and its coming along nicely , which is just as well as this is the fifth attempt !
You think this is bad you should have seen the others !

Updated 

Oil Pastel

Tried something new here but dont credit me with the model , set up, etc as I found this in one of many magazines I have and did it some time ago so cant find the actual magazine now.

It is an Oil Pastel and the colours are really vibrant , more so than they are shown here in this photo.

It is approx 16x12 inches on Murano acid free Pastel paper
 

Saffy again

Ok , so here is another version of Saffy (see earlier posts). I have done this because I messed with the other so much that eventually the pastels mixed and all the vibrancy of the colour was lost. So for this attempt (which is or isn't finished !) I have tried a new technique and better materials.
Firstly I have used predominantly "Unison" pastels with a little Conte crayons thrown in. Then I have used a fine grade sandpaper to paint upon(grade P800) for the first time having seen a member at the art club I go to use them. In fact she gave me this piece and it's the first time I have used it, and the "unison" pastels for that matter. So thank you Barbara, but when do the fingerprints grow back ?

Saffy , completed

I am calling this finished , well...

This is my second attempt at a painting of a photo I found in a 1981 photography magazine.
I first painted it about 3yrs ago in acrylics at my third or fourth art class and so I thought I would try again.
This is a long way off finished but because I have a wonderful habit of ruining a painting towards the end I have put it up now.

The photo is of an El Salvadorian refugee in Nicaragua and was taken by Mike Goldwater whilst on assignment.
Of course I cannot show you the original photo for fear of you seeing how bad it is, err I mean copyright reasons.
The girl does however have a mud covered face which I have left out.

This time I have tried pastels , my current favourite medium.
I think I have done her eyes slightly too large which is a common error as we always try to beautify.

I got some great help from Rod Ward a member at the art club I go to, who advised me to be bolder with the darks and lights.

Hopefully I'll finish it off without ruining it.

This is my first attempt and I love this painting and all its faults. It was the painting that gave me some hope.

Beagle hound

Just had a lovely weekend in Keswick a favourite part of the country for us as it's out third visit there.
Stayed at a great guest house just minutes outside the town centre, called Briar Rigg house , check it out if you want to be spoiled.

Also bought some Alkyd paints so looking forward to using those.

I am working on a friends pet , Saffy (think thats the right spelling) and i am liking it so far.



This is Castle Rigg stone circle just outside Keswick and the weird pink haze, well I don't know where it came from , it does not show up on my camera...spooky !

My own gallery

This is better than keeping them under the spare bed !

Study , African woman after Ellen Cooper

This "similar" ( I say that in the loosest sense of the word)  painting appeared in the June July edition of International Arist magazine and is by Ellen Cooper, a wonderful oil painter.

My version here is in pastels and is not quite finished at this stage.

All My Animals, real and not so....

Just thought I would put up all my animals in one place. dogs, cuddly toys (they're real right) horses, donkeys, rabbits and a cat.

Rolf Harris (you guessed !)

Think I messed this up a bit with adding colour but hey there you go, it's all experimentation.