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Whilst in confinement, I plan to complete a 'few' pieces of art that have been hanging around the studio for a while. Over the weekend, I worked on a painting of myself with our old Labrador/Collie cross called Cindy. I am using the Ampersand Pastelbord which allows me to create smooth layers due to its texture. Red Squirrel Traditional Heart paintingLast night, I worked on a painting depicting a Red Squirrel called Tintin. The subject lives in Denmark with his 'Paps' (you can read his remarkable story HERE). Paps, (aka Decan), has a special permit to keep Tintin. He also rehabilitates injured Red squirrels until it is safe to re-release them.  The colouration on Tintin has been darkened which aids definition, ensuring perspectives are kept in check whilst I work up the layers and finish by evenly applying the highlights. The detail already added is quite heavy at this stage, this will be softened down as I continue so the fur looks more realistic. Sections of the bark on the tree has been built up using moulding paste to create additional effect and this will be worked on a little more as I go along.
You can find more of my Acrylic paintings in my online art gallery or see more of my Traditional Heart portraits too. Bespoke commissions are available to book.
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Last year I had 4 portraits that were booked as Christmas Commissions as well as 3 that weren't but that needed to be delivered before Christmas to avoid the postal build up and last year was pretty hectic. All bar one (the Chow Chow dog) were small portraits but this year however I had 3 larger portraits booked in which allowed a much steadier pace. One was not booked as a Christmas Commission and so delayed until the New Year to avoid getting damaged in the overseas post to the USA, and so here are the 2 completed Commissions that I hope were received well by their recipients this Christmas day. Click on either image to see the progress page.
I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas day and received some thoughtful gifts too.
Wishing you the very best for the New Year 2019! Christmas orders began coming in by September last year (2017) and I had little time to spend on anything else. I worked around 10 - 12 hours a day from mid October onwards and had to create a finely tuned schedule list for each day to ensure every portrait was completed for a specific date because there were a few overseas orders, some framed too and I had to ensure frames were received in plenty of time knowing framers tend to be extremely busy in the run up to Christmas too. I was hoping to have finished all my orders a week before I was due to travel to my old home town of Chesterfield so I could relax a bit but I was literally working late into the night before my journey the next morning! Luckily everything worked out well in the end and my final portrait Star the Chow Chow, was literally collected by the Commissionee at the train station when I arrived in Chesterfield, he had travelled the 6 hours with me on bus, coach and then train in my suitcase! I received a lovely bunch of flowers from the lady for his painting and was pleased to see some lovely comments from recipients throughout Christmas day upon seeing the portrait of their much loved Pets. Click on any of the images to visit the progress pages. Now all the Christmas Commissions are all complete and I've had a couple of weeks off to recharge, I am back in the studio working on new articles and 2018 Art Workshops for my Step by Step Art website, there's always so much to do behind the scenes. If you are looking to book your own bespoke Commission with me or are an Artist interested in articles, mini tutorials and possibly taking in a 1 Day Art Workshop with me, click on either of the links below to visit the page/website. Here's hoping 2018 is a wonderful year for you! Karen I was approached by a returning customer from the USA to create a Coloured pencil portrait of a Barn Owl and offered to create a few mock ups of compositions before I began as I always do. As a lover of photography I have a large photo reference library of various animals and birds including Barn Owls and so put together 5 different compositions one of which was the 2 Owls on the wall which became the basis of the portrait. The second stage was creating a few mock ups of the Owls within different backgrounds and finally, with the Owls and background in place the last collection of mock ups made were with various walls for the Owls to stand on which were in focus and added interest to the final composition. Many of my Wildlife portraits are created this way.
I chose a tan toned paper to work on which matches the warm tones of the Barn owls as well as giving strength in colour to the lighter tones such as the whites. The tonal background will be created using Derwent's Coloursoft range pencils which are soft and blend well for great effect and the Owls & the wall will be created using the caran Dache Luminance pencils which are ideal for very fine detail and strength of colour. A base layer of tones and loose detail is first applied to the whole of the portrait before I then apply the stronger & finer details to completion.
The Barn Owl at Cresswell, Northumberland (UK)This portrait is based on actual Barn Owl territory at Cresswell in Northumberland (UK). It is a 40 minute cycle ride from where I live along the beautiful coastal route of Lynemouth through to Cresswell pond, this place regularly has Photographers set up waiting for this little guy to make an appearance. Sitting in the undergrowth of the wide open field which connects to a lagoon where you can regularly see Avocets, Oystercatchers & even Otters on the rare occasion, is an area overlooking the coast and is ideal for field mice and voles. I wait patiently as I see him in the distance, flying silently and hovering on numerous occasions, not at all phased by the long line of photographers with their huge cameras on tripods waiting to get some great photos themselves. There is something breathtaking about seeing such a Bird in the Wild and feeling honoured that this Owl continues it's daily journey passing close by whilst I click the rapid fire button on my camera. Here are some of those photos. Most people visiting my website would understandably think that I only take on Pet & portrait Commissions but I actually create various Commissions if someone is looking for something specific. The 3 images below were created using an editing program to cut and paste various sections of other photographs to create the one 'mock up' which becomes the reference photo for the portrait. As a huge fan of photography, I have collected thousands of photographs of various animals, birds & subjects that can be used for a bespoke portrait whenever requested.
composition and the Artwork, which will be completed in Coloured pencils for a returning customer from the US, will be created by balancing out incorrect lighting and generally offering a more appealing and balanced background. This is currently in progress and a link to the progress page will be applied to the image when available if you wish to see it come together.
If you have your own idea for a piece of Art that you would like to Commission me to create in Coloured pencils or Acrylics, you can drop me an E-mail direct at: karenmberisfordart@gmail.com, fill in my CONTACT FORM or BOOKING/QUOTE FORM or even give me a call on: 07854 677416 with your own idea. Here is another bespoke Commission that was requested for a Wedding Day and another for a very special portrait that captured the moments of a romantic Engagement
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AuthorKaren M Berisford 
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