and happiness to their owners and deserve their memorial portraits, reminding us every day of those happy times spent together and the special bond we have.
There were a few pieces I was unable to complete for the deadline (Springer Spaniel above) as I did not want to rush them being so detailed however, all these pieces will be added to my website with their dedicated page as to how they were completed and for those available for sale, a chance to purchase the original or buy a print or 2. Details will be added on my News page once the Magazine is out (June Issue) with a link to the website where you can purchase a Print copy or a digital copy to download. This magazine is a must for any Coloured pencil lover or for anyone simply wishing to read 'my story' as it's the one and only time I'll share it publicly. Costs are as follows: Printed Copy $5.99 £3.87* €5.46* Delivery (1 - 2 weeks) USA $4.06 UK £2.96* Digital Copy $2.99 £1.93* €2.72* *Due to exchange rate, these prices may vary
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It appears that my side of the art studio is full of Boxer dog artwork at the moment. I have been asked to produce quite a few boxer dog portraits over the years, although I do all other breeds and pets too.
I am currently completing three separate coloured pencil portraits for customers, which are as follows: 10" x 12" of Holly 8" x 10" of Lennox 12" x 16" trio of Boxers called ABBIE, DOLLY & ARTHUR Holly (far right) is nearing completion now and I hope to finish it tonight dependant on my obsessive 'tweaking' necessity. The trio of Boxers (top) are still in the very early stages and the base tones are currently being applied, so the fine detail has yet to be added. This is the second portrait I am completing of Lennox (bottom left), the first portrait was completed last year and his Mum, who absolutely loves her boy, wanted another portrait and chose this lovely pose of him. You can view all the portraits together on this page HERE If you are looking to commission your own pet portrait and wish to find out more, you can find some information on my COMMISSIONS page, just drop me a line if you have a bespoke portrait idea - I love a challenge! I have been creating Pet portraits since the 90's and as with any Artist, we all have to start somewhere meaning many of my earlier pieces are not of the same standards that I create now 20 years later. This is due to a collection of factors such as the obvious one, years of practice on my part but also largely because camera equipment is far more advanced and can now capture higher quality photos for use as reference images than ever before resulting in an high quality piece of Artwork at the end - however my Art has advanced beyond simply copying a photograph and the example seen above is one of these pieces. Introducing Ern the Chocolate Labrador... The photograph above right is such a beautiful capture I thought it would make the perfect reference image however I could tell straight away that his mouth was not closed completely resulting in a puffed mouth, the other factors were the over exposed and under exposed areas of his face due to the strong sunlight and finally the detail in the neck area had been lost in the shadows - for me to be able to create a portrait of Ern, I needed to even all these areas out, this was going to be a rather long process and included the use of around 15 different images, some of Ern himself and the others of Chocolate Labradors in the same type of stance found on the Internet - searching for these kind of images was not easy and it took a good few hours, a little editing but mostly imagination after extensive research. Deciding the final colour tones of Ern was not an easy one either as each photo I had of him all differed and he looked much darker after he had been in the water, so I chose to apply coppery undertones first and darken the finer fur as I went along to create a balance between the 2. The hardest part of Ern was making sure his mouth was anatomically correct after all this was going to be a surprise gift to his Dad and if anyone knew Ern the most it would be the owners. With a little help from our lovely Black Labrador Haze, posing in the garden (having bribed him a tad with treats) I could both study him in the flesh and take some images to pull detail from too. Over all the time spent on this portrait must have been around 25 hours, maybe more! The final portrait is shown above left and here is the feedback from the owners - I think I got it right in the end then!? ;) Thank you so much for all the hard work and effort put in to make the numerous photos I bombarded you wish come to life! The portrait is just amazing, beautiful and captures Ern perfectly!
Click the image to see how it was produced
I am very proud to say that for the 2nd year running, one of my Coloured Pencil pieces has been selected for the UKCPS Open International Exhibition. This year the Exhibition will be held at the Patchings Art Centre, Oxton Road Calverton Notts NG14 6NU All Artworks have been selected anonymously making this a fair selection process for all Artists, both Amateur & Professionals alike. It is also worth noting if you are a budding Artist yourself that the venue also has an Arts & Crafts Materials shop that may be worth a visit at the same time! http://www.patchingsartcentre.co.uk/art_craft_materials_nottingham/art_craft_materials_shop.php The Exhibition begins on the 1st September and is available to view by the public until the 6th of October 2013 A couple of my Coloured Pencil Artworks were put on show at the New Revenues Hall in the Chesterfield Town Centre, Derbyshire in March 2013. The newly refurbished Customer Service centre opened on the 7th of March 2013, and I was asked, alongside local photographer, Les Wilcockson, to be the first to showcase our work at this venue for 2 months. This finished on the 15.05.13 Me working on 'Snow Queen' in Coloured pencils From: 6th of October - 25th November 2012 This was the first year that I have entered one of my Artworks in The 11th Annual UKCPS Open International Exhibition. Very rarely do I enter my work into Exhibitions and Competitions but as this was for the UK Coloured pencil Society, being very passionate about both the medium and raising the profile of Coloured pencils as a serious medium, I decided to enter my Snow Leopard which was produced in a selection of Coloured pencils including Karisma, Derwent Coloursoft & Caran Dache to name a few and produced on Black Colourfix paper, thoroughly enjoying the process from start to finish. The Exhibition enteries were also to be judged by Dr Sally Bulgin - Managing Director & Editor of "The Artist" Graham Brace, founder member of the UKCPS and Leah Lister, Marketing Manager at Derwent. Although 'Snow Queen' did not bring any awards home for her Mum, I was pleasantly surprised to find an envelope drop through my letterbox full of 'Voting slips' from the public who visited the Exhibition. Here are a selection of comments received from some of those visitors, of which I would like to extend a HUGE Thank you for your 'votes' and Thanks to Pat Heffer for sending them "Amazing skill & patience. Beautiful markings. Excellent depiction of subject" "Why no prize???" "Stunning! The eyes follow you!" "Superb detail. Stunning" "Absolutely fabulous" "Beautiful detail and features" "Outstanding! A wonderful picture!" "Blown away by the detail in the picture. Amazing likeness" To see the winner selections of the judges, please click HERE As a huge, lifelong fan of the Coloured pencils, I am a member of the UKCPS, which is a society for all those lovely Coloured pencil Artists out there. As I was preparing for a 5 week Coloured Pencil Workshop working with the Colourfix paper, I produced an article within the folders of my website and also offered it as an article for the up and coming September UKCPS magazine of which it was gracefully accepted and added to print. You can see the magazine here and if you wish to view the content, please click on the picture link which will take you to the original article. I hope this helps all those other Artists out there looking for something 'different' for their work. Enjoy! My completed 'test' piece Monday the 1st of October sees the final installment of my CP 5 week workshop in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Although this is only the second 5 week workshop I have run, (there will be more next year for those who may be interested in booking) this one saw every attendee excelling in my favourite medium! Some are fans of the CP's already (with an ever growing selection of pencils that an ardent fan would be proud of) and then there are those who decided to give them their first test run, with some spectacular results - maybe I am lucky to have a talented bunch or they may say it is down to the Tutoring, personally it is down to an individuals 'patience' , something that is needed for CP's as they are a very intense medium but well worth the results - just take a look at the images below to see some of the students working on week 3 - I am now off to book myself into rehab for Artists who just cannot seem to stop drawing those dang stunning Tigers!! If you wish to find out more on my Art Workshops, please visit: www.chesterfieldartsgroup.co.uk Snow Leopard, Coloured Pencils on Black Colourfix I am pleased to announce that Snow Queen has been selected to join the Annual ukcps International Exhibition which is now in it's 11th year. She will be available to view (and purchase) between the 6th of October & 29th of November 2012 at the Nuneaton Art Gallery & Museum in Warwickshire, UK. For more information on this event, please click here |
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