Let's get Whizzy!

 

My latest commission piece, a painting of Whizzy the cat, has now been delivered to her new owner and has pride of place in the lounge amongst a collection of animal paintings by other local artists. 

Whizzy the cat has a beautiful dark brown coat, with occasional flashes of beige, so the blue fleece and the rainbow crochet rug in the background really help to bring this piece to life.

Revaling my latest commission painting...Grayson the wise!

It's Christmas Day and that means the moment you have been waiting for has arrived!

It's the unveiling of my latest commission painting...so I introduce you to...
Grayson the wise!

The piece needed to work in harmony with the decoration of my customer's hanging space so I worked with a restricted colour palette using tones of grey, white and black plus a hint of yellow for the eyes and a dash of silver highlights to catch the light.

This beautiful Great Grey Owl is one of a pair that I photographed, along with many other gorgeous animals at Cotswold Wildlife Park, Burford

To follow them on twitter @CotsWildTweets

Keep an eye out for more wild creaturese in my future work!

Westbury Arts Centre Summer Fair

Brilliant day as stall holder at Westbury Arts Centre Summer Fair! 

My acrylic demonstration gave me the chance to discuss my painting technique with new visitors and old friends of Westbury. A great surprise to see my Aunt & Uncle visit the Art Centre today too.
To all those who joined the fun today, a big thank you for coming!

Beautifully colourful Summer Fair banner made by textile artist Helen den Dulk,
isn't it fabulous!

  

My art & crafts stall set up in the Drawing Room

And for the winner of Hilary's raffle, the solar lamp goes to
...yours truly!

Warning - artist at work! My live painting demonstration of a pet portrait, acrylic on canvas

Here are step-by-step pet portrait photos taken during stages of my acrylic painting demonstration.

1: Transpose my sketch onto the canvas.
Starting to fill in indicative areas of colour.

2: With the first wash of colour in place, start to add definition.

3: Adding tone, features and detail.

The next stages will be to add two more layers of paint, one to define shadows/highlights and then the final layer of dry brushing to bring out the texture of the fur.

I'll post more pictures once the portrait is finished!

I can now reveal my debut commission!

My client requested a commissioned piece of artwork for her husband's Christmas gift that would feature the head of a friesian cow on a plain background.

I had to go a little further afield (excuse the pun!) to source the perfect friesian as it was already rather Autumnal weather and most friesian cows were already tucked up in their sheds for the winter.

On a day trip through Oxfordshire, I happened upon a muddy field filled with a herd of friesians. 

This lovely chap was sporting a gentle smile, so I immediately knew that he was to be my chosen cow! 

Whilst working on the cow, it occurred to me that the ear tag would be the perfect way for my client to add her bespoke element to the image and gives it that finishing touch. 

The piece was presented to my client's husband for Christmas, and he was over the moon! The artwork now hangs in his home office with pride of place.