What an update I have....
SOFA (Society of Feline artists)
First things first - the SOFA exhibition - was great!
I sold one of my pieces there - Molly, a silly upside down piece of my sister-in-laws cat acting barmy - as she does. so I was extremely pleased with that considering it was my first outing at a major London exhibition. I'm already planning what I will take next year and I'm hoping to put some work before the selection panel for full membership......scary!
Open University study
I have FINISHED my last assignment!! Yeay. That's a culmination of 6 years hard study - just a 3 hour exam on 15th October and that is my degree course finished. I have to say although it's been a hard slog it has very much been worth it. So that's the work stuff over with now I'm going to start the fine art degree that I've always wanted to do!!Artwork
Told you it's been busy...lol.
If you read my last post you'll know I was working on the little Siamese kittens; well I managed a little bit more before the commissions that I booked at the last couple of shows started to go a bit nuts. This shows a bit more detail on the first little fella, while in the one below you can see that I've started on the others:
They are very cute and working on the fisher paper is great as you get quite a painterly finish. Very nice to work on....
Then my email went nuts...
Connie, Jake and Jilly
I know - a namesake!
Caroline contacted me with a rush job. She had decided that a memorial portrait would fit the bill for a gift, so she sent through the only shots that she had of her chosen subjects:
Jilly, Connie and Jake
This is Jilly (Sadly no longer with us)
Below the Brown Springer at the front is Connie (passed) and the one at the back is Jake
I made a couple of mock ups in photoshop and Caroline settled on this one:
After a little bit of jiggery pokery I managed to lighten the darker areas to try and see some of the detail to add to the piece. Unfortunately it's not easy to see enough detail when the photos are contrasty so Photoshop can be a real help in getting the reference data that you need.
Here I've started on the outline. I'm working on Fisher paper usig derwent pastels. Although I find it easer to do the outline in sketching pencils - white, black and tan.
Once I have the basic shapes I can move on to blocking in some colour. I start with the Black & White Spaniel - Jilly. Having laid down the base colour I can then add a little detail with the light grey.
This next image was taken with better lighting conditions, so you gt a better feel for the colour. I have started to add base colour to Connie now. As I work on each dog I add more detail into the background. You can see that the basic grass tones are starting to build up now.
In this next image you can see that the detail in the grass is beginning to build and form a very solid foundation. I love the light and dark areas and the looks on the dogs faces they are realy alert in these images. Here I've started work on Jake who has a slightly lighter coat which is catching the light very nicely. 
Just a little more work to be done on the grass and a bit more detail in the dogs' fur and we'll be done.
Next time...
The Bengal 6 have been framed!
Another commission WIP - Sophie the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
And possily more Siamese kitties
Bye
Jilly
x
