3rd Little Pig's Bliss - Soaking in a Hot Tub

Little Pig's Bliss - Soaking In A Hot Tub

5x7 inches

Coloured pencils on drafting film.

Today, Sydney shivered through it's coldest June day in 60 years (which probably isn't that cold compared to where many of my internet friends live around the world), and on these chilly days (which I love), there really is nothing more blissful than soaking in a nice hot bubble bath. I wasn't really happy with the face on Little Pig here, but couldn't seem to get it right - you get the general idea though!! :))

2nd in series Little Pig's Bliss - Rolling In the Leaves

Little Pig's Bliss - Rolling in the Autumn Leaves

5x7 inches

Coloured pencil on drafting film

Here is the second in this series. I wrote down a few ideas while watching the boys play soccer on the weekend and came up with about 25 ideas for Little Pig's Bliss - what fun these are proving to be, and I do hope you have a bit of fun viewing them!!!!

New Series of Illustrations - Little Pig's Bliss

Little Pig's Bliss - The Smell of Hot Apple Pie

5x7 inches

Coloured pencil on drafting film.

This is the first in a series of illustrations I will be doing featuring Little Pig, a cheeky piglet who's greatest pleasure is gained from the simple things in life, whether it is winter's first snowflakes, or a long soak in a hot tub. I have closed off all my stores for a month, to take a breather and to work on a few ideas that have been brewing. I welcome any suggestions you might like to share :))

Latest Commission - Molly and Kyzak

Molly & Kyzak

8x10 inch

Coloured pencil on Matte Board

I had been wanting to try out a portrait using coloured pencils on matte board and had resorted to attempting another self portrait, which was rather demoralising, partly because I'm the least photogenic person out there, and partly because there are a hundred more wrinkles, sunspots and the skin has given way to gravity since I last did a self portrait - LOL. Fortunately, I was saved with the commission of this gorgeous pair of kids - far more enjoyable than trying to draw myself!!!

Step by step Tutorial - cat portrait

Fry

8x10 inches

Coloured pencils on Matte Board

This will be the subject of my fifth tutorial for the magazine Fine Art and Decorative Painting.
I have used this gorgeous reference photo before and used it again with the kind permission of Kaibara87 from Flickr Creative Commons. Some of you might recognise it from an earlier artwork entitled 'Turquoise Eyes" and it was because of this kitten's stunning eyes, that I decided to use it again for the tutorial.

Dee Dee and Go the Socceroos!!!

Dee Dee

8x10 inches

Coloured pencils on drafting film

Who could resist doing this commission and drawing those gorgeous, soulful eyes.

Am off to bed now, as the whole family (apart from me) is getting up at 4am to watch the Socceroos play Germany - go the Aussie Socceroos!!!! I wish them all the best, but love my sleep, and I'm sure I'll hear all about it from the rest of the family in the morning!!! We have a lovely long weekend this weekend and since 3 out of our 4 boys play soccer we have had soccer games to attend on each of the three days - that's enough sport for me - LOL (I hope I don't offend all you soccer lovers!!!)

Tiny Commission - Monty

Monty

2.5 x 3.5 inches

Coloured pencil on drafting film

I love doing these little mini commissions, they allow you to focus on fine details, without having to fill in large blocks of colour. It is always the detail in any drawing or painting that I enjoy the most. I offer commissions in a range of sizes, but funny enough the two most popular sizes are either this one or the 8x10 inch. This darling little face was a joy to draw!!!

New Commission - Ryker

Ryker

8x10 inch

Coloured pencil on drafting film

It never rains, but it pours. I have been inundated with orders over the last couple of weeks and am slowly catching up. I can go a couple of weeks with no orders at all, and then it often seems I'll get a string of orders within a day or two (not that I'm complaining!) The gorgeous colouring in Ryker's eyes and coat made this a most enjoyable commission.

Latest Commission - Harriet

Harriet

8x10 inch

Coloured pencil on drafting film

It has been a long while since I have been asked to do a horse portrait, and since I always welcome a new challenge, I really enjoyed drawing this beautiful horse.

On a different note, we recently had a tornedo hit one of our small coastal towns Lennox Head, and whilst it caused a lot of structural damage, thankfully no lives were lost. Tornedos are a fairly rare event, here in Australia. It hits home then, when listening to the news this morning, and hearing of the devastating twisters in the US in the last few days that have caused both loss of life and structural damage - what a challenge it must be to live with the constant threat of these tornoados all the time. My heart goes out to those who have lost either homes or loved ones, and hope that anyone reading my blog is not affected.

Commission - Coco Ch marblanc Heavens Chanel

Coco Ch Marblanc Heavens Chanel

8x10 inch

Coloured pencil on Matte Board

I have never done a coloured pencil portrait on Matte board before, but this particular client requested a coloured pencil portrait on a darker background, so I thought I would try this surface for a change. I must say I found it a pleasure to work with - sturdy, and fairly smooth and accepts the pencil very well. The downside is that it doesn't seem to accept a lot of layers, but I applied fixative towards the end and was able to add some lighter highlights to the portrait. There was very little fading of the white on application of the fixative, so I was pretty happy, and would definitely use this surface again. I would really like to try a coloured pencil portrait of a person on the matte board, as I feel it would be easier to achieve lovely smooth skin tones on this surface as compared to the drafting film.

Tutorial now available in Fine Art and Decorative Painting

Some of you may recall that I mentioned a few months ago that I had written a Step by Step Tutorial on doing graphite pencil portraits on drafting film for the educational art magazine Fine Art & Decorative Painting, featuring my nephew Jack. That particular edition is now available (Vol 17 No. 9), and if interested, you should be able to pick it up from most newsagents (they may be able to order it even if they don't regularly stock it). It is available on-line as well, although at this stage it is only for sale at isubscribe where you have to purchase it as part of a magazine subscription. It will be available on-line from other sites once it has been in circulation for a while. I have three more tutorials to follow over the next few months and hope that they might answer some of the questions artists often ask with regard to working with drafting film in particular.