Pet Portraits and Wildlife Art

Apologies to everyone for my lack of work and updates. I do have a valid excuse, I got married!!! Anyway, things have now calmed down and I feel slightly less stressed and am running around in a few less circles so it's back to work before Christmas brings more commissions. This is Bramble and for the first time I am using a new support. This is Dayler-Rowney pastel paper. I thought I would try someting a little different as drafting film, although I love it, it is very restrictive with blending. This on the other hand allows blending until my pencils wear out. I can add as many layers as I like and I think it will work in my favour when images are less than perfect as the portraits can have a softer look from blending instead of the individual hairs and fur details which appear when using drafting film as only a very few layers can be laid down.

This is another dog portrait I have just completed. This is Meg, an irish setter. She is almost smiling!

At long last I've found time to update my blog. Here is the latest dog portrait I've been working on. This is Casper who was rehomed by Battersea Dogs Home after he was found tied to a lamp post. It is thought he is part saluki which would explain his very elegant face.

Casper was very quiet and shy when first rehomed but has since been spoilt rotten as you can see by his regal presence on the settee!!!

I now have to frame him and he will be ready for a 50th birthday next weekend.

Here is Oakley, the winner of my pet portrait competition, Oakley received an amazing 1116 votes as he is such a handsome chap.

I've completed a few more commissions in the time since my last blog update (oops) but I've also started a new blog about our garden and home as we are receiving lots of interest from walkers and our egg customers so they can follow the latest news on a seperate blog www.the-garden-farm.net so pop on over and have a look.

And finally back to the animal/bird section. These are our first chicks to hatch with their mummy. She is only tiny and seems to have adopted a few eggs from other hens so not all chicks quite match. She and her sister follow Ronnie around the tractor shed and cluck at him on a regular basis. He was very dismayed when she went missing but happy when she reappeared after a couple of days only to disappear again at bedtime. After a few more days search, we found her and her nest in amongst the tractor parts in the shed. We cordened her off so she wouldn't get found by the fox and once they had hatched we put them all safely into the pen until the little ones are big enough to wander around the garden as well.

And just incase you had forgotten what she looked like, here is dear Willow. She has had a major groom over the past few weeks and her fur has literally halved. We used to have many comments about her unusual curly coat but it seems my comb was simply gliding through her fur but after buying a brush and removing enough fur to fill a pillowcase, we realised she must have been a tad warm under that heavy blanket. She now looks sleek and shiny without any curly bits!!!!